Mira Mai — “look mom!” — is more than a restaurant. It’s a love letter to our Taíno ancestors, a way of honoring the traditions that came before us while showing them something new we’ve created. Every bite is our way of saying: look what we made.

We source quality indigenous ingredients alongside post-Columbian staples that have been woven into our culture over generations, bringing them together in inventive, boldly flavored food built for life on the go.

 

About Chef Rashad:

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Rashad Abushaikha grew up in the DMV, raised between two rich culinary worlds — Taíno and Palestinian. From an early age, the kitchen called to him, even when it probably shouldn’t have. He cooked in secret, made legendary messes, and may or may not have nearly burned the house down a couple of times. But nothing slowed him down.

He learned by watching — sitting close while his parents, uncles, and grandparents cooked, sneaking tastes whenever he could get away with it. Those moments shaped everything.

 

Every year after Thanksgiving, Rashad and his cousins would raid the leftovers and turn them into unforgettable stacked, creative, & deeply satisfying sandwiches. That tradition followed him all the way to Los Angeles.

Eventually, a hobby became a calling. Rashad dropped everything to pursue cooking full time and go to the institute of culinary education— with a vision to bring Taíno culture to LA and build the kind of community staple his grandmother was in Puerto Rico and his uncle became in DC.

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Chef Rashad grew up in a house where the kitchen was where culture lived. Taíno traditions passed down through family meals, the flavors of the Caribbean folded into everyday cooking, a grandmother's hands turning something simple into something worth remembering.

 

Mira Mai is that essence, brought to the streets. The sandwiches carry the DNA of a diaspora — bold, layered, unapologetic — wrapped in the kind of food that feels like someone made it just for you.