Spicebird

This takeout operation within the Columbia Heights Malaysian hot spot Makan specializes in Southeast Asian–style roast chickens. The birds alone are packed with flavor from 15 different spices, but it’s all kicked up a notch by chef James Wozniuk’s sweet-tangy-spicy “KL” (Kuala Lumpur) sauce, perfected over years of attempting to replicate the work of Malaysian street vendors. Family-style meals come with your choice of sides—try the turmeric cabbage and Thai-basil fried rice.

Amoo’s Restaurant

It looks humble from the outside, but this is one of the area’s top Persian kitchens. Feast on kebab combos portioned for two—we always make sure lamb or Cornish hen is in the mix—and load up on shareable rice dishes, which include a fragrant and sweet shirin polo studded with carrots, pistachios, and barberries, plus a lovely basmati with sour cherries. Another can’t-miss: the silky eggplant dip.

Charga Grill

This street-food menu is all over the place, literally, from mozzarella sticks to burritos to chicken tikka masala. But we’re here for the global takes on rotisserie chicken: Peruvian pollo a la brasa, South African peri-peri, and two styles—one mild and smoky, the other spicy and flash-fried—of Pakistani-style birds. Try them all in a sampler, which comes with international sides ranging from curried chickpeas to lime-cilantro rice.

Odd BBQ

Two former sous chefs from the late mod-Korean restaurant Mokomandy are behind this barbecue stand tucked inside Hawaiian-inspired Ono Brewery. Its $72 family platter feeds two (with leftovers) to four and is piled with zesty, sesame-studded pork belly; smoky chopped pork shoulder; dry-rubbed ribs and chicken; and a choice of sides (we go for the honey-mustard potato salad and the classic baked beans). Four giant, ultra-cheddary buttermilk biscuits come along with it, and there are a slew of sauces to choose from, such as hoisin curry and peppery vinegar.

Beteseb

Few cuisines lend themselves to carryout as well as Ethiopian, with its long-simmered stews and cool vegan-friendly salads. Much of the menu here is meant for communal dining. We go for the excellent veggie combo, a colorful palette that includes berbere-spiced red lentils, tender collards, mild yellow split peas, and plenty of injera.

Doro Soul Food

Chef Elias Taddesse, who came up in Michelin-starred kitchens, has created his own brand of soul food—fired up with Ethiopian spices—at this carryout near Howard University. The menu’s best ex-ample: buttermilk-marinated fried chicken spiced with brick-red berbere. We go for the middle of the three spice levels, which has a nice slow burn. Four-piece platters make easy shares, especially when you add in black-cumin cornbread and an injera-topped mac and cheese that deserves a gold medal.

Unconventional Diner

David DeShaies’s Shaw dining room dips into an atlas’s worth of flavors, but our favorite thing on the menu right now is his shatteringly crunchy, all-American fried chicken. It’s available à la carte, but you can also get a $50 whole bird—which could easily feed three or four—for carryout. It’s sided with fluffy buttermilk biscuits, mashed potatoes, and peppery “granny gravy” (so good you’ll want to order extra).

This article appears in the August 2023 issue of Washingtonian.