A new fast casual restaurant called Buredo—meaning "blade" in Japanese—is bringing burrito-sized sushi rolls with fusion flavors to 825 14th St. NW this April.
The place comes from childhood friends Mike Haddad, a record producer and former DJ whose family has operated local delis, and Travis Elton, who works in business consulting. "We saw that everything is sandwiches, tacos, kabobs, stuff like that," Haddad says. "There isn't anything sushi where you can go in there and just get something really good without having to sit down and order from a waitress and blowing an hour."
Like other Chipotle-esque concepts, Buredo will let diners choose from a variety of options to build their own oversized rolls, which will be cut in half instead of sliced. House rolls will also be available. The sushi won't be traditionally Japanese. Rather, Buredo will incorporate ingredients and flavors from around the world. The restaurant will do pickling in-house and offer a lot of vegetarian options in addition to fresh fish.
"We're really focusing on fresh ingredients with a nod toward mindful eating," says Ariadne Haddad, Haddad's wife, who's managing marketing and PR for the restaurant.
Buredo will also have a wall of retail, where guests can pick up snacks like wasabi peas or rice chips. They're partnering with a yet-to-be-disclosed local pastry chef to provide cookies, too. Juices and teas—including some "crazy flavors"—will also be available.
Note on the location: Buredo's address will be 825 14th St. NW, but it is located in a building whose address is 1350 I St. NW on the corner of 14th and I. The space previously housed Yogen Fruz.
Photo by Jessica Sidman