Kevin Tien loves to zigzag, artfully tacking his career between finer dining concepts—Moon Rabbit, Himitsu, Emilie’s—and fast casual efforts, including Hot Lola’s, his Sichuan-spiced fried chicken joints, and too many pop-ups to mention, while simultaneously honoring both his Vietnamese roots and his Louisiana upbringing. The award-winning chef’s latest project is Doki Doki BBQ, a collaboration with co-chef Judy Beltrano, whom he first met when they both helped open Momofuku CCDC. Blending his Vietnamese heritage, her Filipino ancestry, and American influences, the concept is situated in Edgewood’s Bryant Street Market food hall alongside Blowfish Poke, Taqueria Habanero, Tiger Sugar bubble tea, Jaliyaa Coffee, and other concepts.

Though Doki Doki is billed as a barbecue spot, don’t expect to see a smoker parked outside. “A lot of times, when people hear the word ‘barbecue,’ they think Texas or North Carolina style,” says Tien. “For us, when we hear that word, we think very differently. We think of grilled meats and braised meats.”

Think a grilled, then fried chicken leg on a bed of coconut rice turned a head-swiveling green thanks to the incorporation of pandan—a fragrant tropical plant with leaves tasting of coconut, vanilla, and toasted rice, which is a popular flavoring agent in Southeast Asian cooking—and pork belly burnt ends with fish sauce caramel. 

There are five “sandies,” including the Fancy Fried “Bologna” made with truffle mortadella and American cheese; a club featuring fried chicken thigh, pepper jack, and buttermilk miso ranch; and a fried Maryland blue catfish po’boy. A must-order is the McDoki Ribb, their take on the McRib. A sesame seed-studded Martin’s roll clutches a bracket of boneless ribs glistening with five spice-amped char siu barbecue sauce, turmeric pickles, and raw onions; it’s an homage to the OG that stands tall on its own.

The sandwich resonates deeply for both chefs due to the outsize role McDonald’s played in their upbringings. Beltrano’s father was in the Navy, so the family moved around a lot. No matter where they ended up, the Golden Arches were always there, a rare constant, always a go-to when they had a little extra money. Tien’s family had a tradition of picking up bags of cheeseburgers on Wednesday nights when McDonald’s sold them on special for 39 cents each, a bargain meal that helped them feel they were embracing Americanism. To this day, the two chefs enjoy hitting the drive-through after a long shift; it’s one of the few places that’s still open and they’re both diehard McNugget fans, especially when they’re dunked in the new mambo sauce developed by Mahal’s Jerome Grant.

The menu’s sides riff just as hard as the mains. Potato salad hides the flavors of tom yum soup—a panoply of lemongrass, chilies, and galangal—while mac ’n’ cheese gets remixed with a crawfish boil and egg rolls come stuffed with smoked shrimp fried rice.

Bonus: Guests can order a selection of Hot Lola’s favorites, too, including several fried chicken sandwiches and choose-your-spice-level chicken fingers. 

For drinks, there are canned beers, batched cocktails, such as a pandan Old Fashioned, and nonalcoholic sweet teas and lemonades, made in house.

Desserts are handled by rising-star pastry chef Susan Bae, who also oversees Moon Rabbit’s sweet offerings. A play on banana pudding blends Southern and Southeast Asian influences by stacking layers of lemongrass pudding, Café du Monde coffee pastry cream, vanilla wafers, and meringue. Other finale options include miso-enriched chocolate chip cookies and hand pies in rotating seasonal flavors. 

Doki Doki will initially be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week and will ultimately offer breakfast. Expect breakfast sandwiches stuffed with lemongrass sausage or fish sauce caramel-lacquered bacon, and breakfast burritos wrapped in scallion pancakes. 

On top of the barbecue stall, Tien serves Moon Rabbit dinners at the food hall Thursdays through Sundays. He hopes to reopen the restaurant and an adjoining bar concept by end of the year in a new location in Penn Quarter.

Despite all the projects, he is trying to make sure his team can strive for work-life balance and reset when they need a break. “We are very flexible when people take off,” he says. “If we’re short, so what; the restaurant will be there the next day.”

There’s only one rule: The employee must bring back a magnet from their vacation, which is why the side of a fridge at Doki Doki is decorated with a colorful collection representing destinations ranging from Miami, Austin, and Denver to Ghana, Dubai, and the Philippines.

“That way, when we’re looking for inspiration,” says Beltrano, “we can think of our travels and the food we’ve all had around the world.”

Doki Doki BBQ, 670 Rhode Island Ave. NE. dokidokihospitality.com/concepts/dokidokibbq