Fans of raw fish were gutted when Sushi Taro announced in May that it would not reopen as a dine-in restaurant after more than 30 years in business. “So far I haven’t seen anybody who understands this horrible, horrible future view,” co-owner Jin Yamazaki told City Paper at the time. While D.C. has entered Phase Two of reopening, the outlook for many restaurants remains bleak. Many diners aren’t comfortable eating inside based on the recommendations of health experts.

Yamazaki is holding steady. Welcoming diners back into the dining room they recently remodeled won’t be possible anytime soon, if at all. “The original plan hasn’t changed,” he says. But reopening for take out was always going to happen after a two-month break. The restaurant sees to-go food as the future.

Starting this Friday you’ll be able to order sushi, bento boxes, and other offerings from the long-tenured Dupont Circle restaurant. Take out will be available Tuesdays through Fridays from noon to 9 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Customers can place orders on Toast through Sushi Taro’s website starting July 17.

Yamazaki says he spent the break looking for more attractive to-go containers. “We want to focus on this to-go business as a permanent business, so we’re focusing on the small details,” he says. “I want to do take out like we do in Japan. There are so many varieties of containers. We don’t want to lose our quality.” 

The new containers might be a different size than Sushi Taro was using before, so customers might see some price increases on dishes like chirashi and bento boxes. 

Sushi Taro, 1503 17th St. NW; (202) 462-8999; sushitaro.com