A Belgian fry cone at Fry Brothers. (Photo: Jordan Sheckman)

From the moment Micah Lubens and Evan Chiacchiaro began work on their Belgian fries project Fry Brothers, they knew they wanted to give it a D.C. identity.

“I didn’t want a feeling that this could just be a concept from any city in the world that was just dropped in the middle of Washington, D.C.,” Chiacchiaro says.

But giving a global snack like fries a local flavor is no straightforward task. So Fry Brothers—which recently started operating as a permanent pop up on Fridays and Saturday nights at 1341 H St., NE), decided to go beyond boring mayonnaise and ketchup in favor of creative dips that tap into flavors of the region. They hoped to get people thinking of their product as not just another French fry and also shine a light on the D.C. area’s diverse culinary scene.

“D.C. gets a bad knock sometimes, but it’s got a wonderful immigrant community and a wonderful local food culture that doesn’t get the credit that it’s due,” Chiacchiaro says.

Fry Brothers started with a Mumbo sauce, perhaps the most well-known local condiment, and branched out from there. Another creation is the “D.C. Fry Sauce,” a ketchup and mayonnaise blend amped up with a hit of African berbere spices that’s a nod to the city’s large Ethiopian population.

For something truly unique though, try the pho sauce, which remarkably hits on all the aromas and spices of a bowl of steamy Vietnamese soup. The dip uses a mayonnaise made with pho spice-infused oil along with ingredients like lime, Hoisin sauce, Sriracha, and fish sauce (turns out soy sauce wasn’t cutting it). It’ll take you from the far corner of the Atlas District all the way to Eden Center in Falls Church. It shouldn’t work, but it does, and it’s reason enough to make a stop here.

Each sauce makes a worthy accompaniment to Fry Brothers’ thick fries, which have both a crunchy exterior and a velvety interior. That’s not by accident either, as Lubens and Chiacchiaro did extensive experimentation with a small electric kitchen fryer, evening using a spreadsheet to document everything from type of potato, frying time, oil and temperature.

After six months of serving fries at events around the area, Fry Brothers’ is now popping up Friday and Saturday nights from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. inside Star & Shamrock (1431 H St. NE.). A small fry cone with one sauce is $4, a regular cone is $6, and extra dips are $1 each. Ketchup is always free. They also sell a combo paired with a can of D.C. Brau Citizen, a Belgian-style pale ale.