Anonymous wrote:The 35 year old "native" must have been soooooo sheltered (aka rich, never stepped foot in a carry-out). Mumbo sauce on wings and fries is DC standard carry-out fare. I am from DC and my first time in an away from home wing joint (Chicago) I felt so embarrassed asking for mumbo sauce and realizing they had no clue what I was requesting.
That being said, mumbo sauce is great from the right spot (U st olden days Yums in NW or Hong Kong carry out SE MLK and then Eddie Leonard's was good too). It is/was poorer young ppls pleasure. No need to go seek it out. Great for the lifestyle of low wage workdays followed by all night GoGo parties...a different age. My DC native teenager has never tried it because income allowed her to eat Pho instead of wings when she needs a warm tummy.
Or just ate at different carryouts. I'm from Philadelphia and I never ate a cheesesteak when I was growing up. Did not eat one until I was an adult, didn't see what the big deal was. We ate plenty of takeout. But it was mostly Chinese food, leavened by a bit of Thai or Indian. My mom didn't like beef so we never got it.
I've lived in DC for 10 years. Never heard of mumbo sauce until the Bowser thing. Can point you to all the best Indian and Burmese joints though ...