Tag: African food in America

African Food

There Are 616 Ethiopian Restaurants in the U.S : A State-by-State Breakdown
Advertisements

By Addis Insights

Ethiopian cuisine has firmly established its presence in the United States over the past few decades. Known for its flavorful wot (stews) served atop injera – a tangy, spongy flatbread made from the grain teff that doubles as both plate and utensil  – Ethiopian dining offers a unique communal experience.

Diners traditionally share a large platter, tearing off pieces of injera to scoop up bites of richly spiced meats, lentils, and vegetables.

The first Ethiopian restaurant in the U.S. opened in 1966 in Long Beach, California , marking the beginning of Americans’ introduction to this ancient cuisine. Since then, Ethiopian restaurants have spread to numerous cities across the country, becoming beloved establishments in many urban dining scenes.

Continue reading “There Are 616 Ethiopian Restaurants in the U.S : A State-by-State Breakdown” →
African Food

Best West African restaurant in Portland named one of the best in US
Advertisements

By Samantha Pierotti | Eugene Register-Guard

Akâdi is located in a warehouse in Southeast Portland. But the moment customers step inside, they are transported to the Ivory Coast of Africa, where chef Fatou Ouattara grew up and learned to cook.

Walls are painted in an ombré of sunset colors, a display of tribal masks hangs near the door and Mali music lilts through hidden speakers. Lush plants dangling from rafters blur the line between indoor and outdoor decor, something Ouattara remembers being important in her childhood home in Bouake, Cote D’Ivoire.

Continue reading “Best West African restaurant in Portland named one of the best in US” →
African Food

Amen Cafe brings Ethiopian and Eritrean flavors to San Antonio
Advertisements

By Polly Anna Rocha | MYSA

The building at 5115 Fredericksburg Road was home to beloved local hot spot, Sangria on the Burg, for seven years before its chef and owner rebranded the space into a new concept, Saucy Birds, in early 2024. By summer, Saucy Birds was out, and the location sat vacant until recently, as a new restaurant has opened in its stead.

Amen Cafe Eritrean & Ethiopian Restaurant is now open on Fredericksburg Road, offering an assortment of East African dishes. It is not clear when exactly the Ethiopian restaurant moved in, but social media posts show activity around early January. MySA has reached out to Amen Cafe to find out more about the business.

Continue reading “Amen Cafe brings Ethiopian and Eritrean flavors to San Antonio” →
African Food

A Memorable Senegalese Chicken Dish from Yassa African Restaurant
Advertisements

By Daniel Hautzinger | wwfw

If you go to Senegal, yassa is very, very popular,” says Madieye Gueye. “People who go to Senegal say it’s what they remember the most, because it’s easy to remember: yassa!”

It’s not surprising then, that when Gueye opened a Senegalese restaurant in Chicago in 2004, he called it Yassa African Restaurant, after that memorable dish.

Continue reading “A Memorable Senegalese Chicken Dish from Yassa African Restaurant” →
African Food

Sam Osemene’s place is not just an African market, it is a meeting place for African immigrants in Austin, Texas.
Advertisements

By Ebimo Amungo

Sam Osemene and his team must be doing something right. A steady stream of Uber Eats and Door Dash delivery drivers strolled into his restaurant to pick up orders for clients just as plates of an assortment of African dishes were being served to dine-in clients.

Seated on different tables were a potpourri of African immigrants that included Congolese, Cameroonians, Ghanaians, Nigerians and Liberians eating and chatting over beer about their work and life in Austin, Texas.

Continue reading “Sam Osemene’s place is not just an African market, it is a meeting place for African immigrants in Austin, Texas.” →
African Food

At The Green Place in Brooklyn, Fufu is the favorite food of Americans
Advertisements

By Ebimo Amungo

Jollof rice may be the rage but at The Green Place, fufu is the food that is ordered the most by Americans.


Joy Green, owner of this Nigerian restaurant on Rockaway Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, gave this insight with a laud guffaw.


“They also order a lot of okra soup” she added laughing.

Continue reading “At The Green Place in Brooklyn, Fufu is the favorite food of Americans” →
African Food

Spice Kitchen wants to change the world with its stellar Nigerian food
Advertisements


By Tim Carman | The Washington Post

Thin strips of beef, dusted with a formidable West African spice blend, are scattered atop a waxy sheet of “The American Times,” a faux newspaper whose motto is “All the News That Changes the World.” The slogan, an obvious riff on the Gray Lady’s 19th-century retort to yellow journalism, seems custom-made for Olumide Shokunbi and Spice Kitchen.


Shokunbi earned his stripes in the restaurant business at Chipotle Mexican Grill, rising to the level of general manager at a store in his native Bowie, Md. The chain left its mark on him, not so much with its approach to customization but with its big-tent philosophy.

Continue reading “Spice Kitchen wants to change the world with its stellar Nigerian food” →
African Food

Celebrating the African Influences in African American Cuisine
Advertisements

By Taiwo Balogun | Okay Africa

Africans have been instrumental in shaping the cuisine of America and the rest of the world for centuries — from the slaves who were forced across the Atlantic and brought with them unique foods, culinary traditions, and technologies, to the later African American chefs, farmers, innovators, and businesses who have profoundly impacted the way we eat and think about food. The Africa Center’s exhibition, titled African/American: Making the Nation’s Table, curated by Dr. Jessica Harris, a leading expert on the culinary culture of the African diaspora, seeks to honor those individuals and their legacy.

Continue reading “Celebrating the African Influences in African American Cuisine” →
African Food

East Africa is responsible for America’s favorite morning brew
Advertisements


By Simran Sethi | npr

For most people in the United States, coffee is synonymous with chains like Starbucks, or third wave cafes boasting Panamanian pour overs — not necessarily the continent of Africa.

But the place where coffee originated, and where the most diverse varieties of coffee thrive, is Ethiopia and South Sudan, as recently confirmed by a research team led by coffee genetics expert and president of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Sarada Krishnan.

Continue reading “East Africa is responsible for America’s favorite morning brew” →
African Food

Gambian immigrant’s restaurant brings spicy West African food to Jackson
Advertisements

By Todd A. Price | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Sally Demba, 56, brought her family to the United States in 2007 from West Africa. For her new friends in America, she cooked food from her native Gambia. They told Demba she should have her own restaurant.

Last Saturday, Demba finally opened a restaurant, Sambou’s African Kitchen in Jackson, with her son, Joseph Sambou, 34, and her daughter, Bibian Sambou, 36.

Continue reading “Gambian immigrant’s restaurant brings spicy West African food to Jackson” →
African Food

Has Black Immigrant Food Become America’s New Main Course?
Advertisements

By Richard Fowler | Forbes

Whether they are from the Caribbean or the African continent, Black immigrants have remarkably impacted the growth and diversity of the United States. These immigrants, many arriving in the U.S. with flavor pallets tuned to their home country, have made America’s main course options full of flavor, with staple grains, well-seasoned meats and seafood, and of course some spice. 

Continue reading “Has Black Immigrant Food Become America’s New Main Course?” →
African Food

She forgot her childhood in Nigeria. Then she ate moi moi at Charlotte’s Cooking Pot
Advertisements

BY EMIENE WRIGHT | Charlotte Observer

I must introduce you to an old family friend of mine: moi moi. It’s a simple dish of humble ingredients: steamed black-eyed peas, mostly, with a few garnishes tucked in for flash. But food, like other aspects of culture, is more than the sum of its parts. Moi moi is one of the ways I found home, and the first dish that I thought of when I was asked to produce this series on African diasporic foods.

Continue reading “She forgot her childhood in Nigeria. Then she ate moi moi at Charlotte’s Cooking Pot” →
African Food

Toyin Kolawole | Iya Foods founder leverages her Nigerian roots to tap into a new market
Advertisements

After CEO Toyin Kolawole noticed there wasn’t adequate representation for African-inspired flavors on U.S. grocery shelves, she began pitching her products at trade shows and to buyers.

By Lillianna Byington’s | FoodDive

Continue reading “Toyin Kolawole | Iya Foods founder leverages her Nigerian roots to tap into a new market” →
African Food

Afra Grill | A place for Somali gourmet, with characteristics of Indian, Mediterranean, and Ethiopian food.
Advertisements

By G.A. Benton | Columbus Monthly

Few new eateries embodied the spirit of Columbus in 2020 like Afra Grill on the city’s North Side.  It’s a pandemic-practical operation that’s inexpensive, offers an easy online ordering system, a handy drive-thru window and a sparkling dining room with a starkly impactful design scheme. 

Continue reading “Afra Grill | A place for Somali gourmet, with characteristics of Indian, Mediterranean, and Ethiopian food.” →
African Food

West African fufu is the latest viral food on TikTok
Advertisements

By ARIT JOHN | Los Angeles Times

Joeneen Hull had never tried fufu, but for weeks the 31-year-old nail artist watched mukbangs of people dipping warm chunks of starchy dough into rich, spicy soups.

“One day, I was just like, ‘you know what? Today’s gonna be the day’,” she said. “I’m craving it so bad. I don’t even know what this food tastes like and I’m craving it.”

Continue reading “West African fufu is the latest viral food on TikTok” →
African Food

My auntie’s jollof rice, and other things Covid-19 stole from me
Advertisements

by S. Fambul | The Counter

We West Africans take our regional dish—and communal celebration—seriously. When I remember the days when an unmasked face at the bank did not frighten me, I cannot help but to think of the ways I have called my family outside of their names in the act of love.

Continue reading “My auntie’s jollof rice, and other things Covid-19 stole from me” →
African Food

New Jersey restaurants: Where to taste the foods of the African diaspora
Advertisements

When it comes to food, those who aren’t lucky enough to call New Jersey home think the Garden State is only good for a few things. Pizza, bagels, and that beloved salty breakfast meat are our calling cards (and we would add top-notch Italian and fresher-than-fresh seafood, too). But beyond the Parmigiana and pork roll is a world of cuisines some might not expect. Ethiopian, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Moroccan, Caribbean, Southern and soul food: These are the cuisines of the African diaspora.

Continue reading “New Jersey restaurants: Where to taste the foods of the African diaspora” →
African Food

African food is the latest — and oldest — cuisine
Advertisements

More Americans are craving the vibrant tastes of Pan-African cuisine

By Jim Beckerman, and Shaylah Brown, NorthJersey.com

Continue reading “African food is the latest — and oldest — cuisine” →
African Food

Yewande Komolafe’s 10 Essential Nigerian Recipes
Advertisements

“We don’t say a dish is spicy — we say it has pepper.” The recipe writer Yewande Komolafe, who grew up in Lagos and found herself searching for the heat and flavor of Nigerian food in New York, chooses the dishes that define the cuisine for her.

By Yewande Komolafe | New York Times

Continue reading “Yewande Komolafe’s 10 Essential Nigerian Recipes” →
African Food

Niyi Okuboyejo | A Designer’s Endlessly Adaptable Nigerian Stew
Advertisements

By Nick Marino | The New York Times

Nigerian cuisine revolves around starches, stews and soups served in celebratory portions. “We don’t sit down and have light bites of food,” says Niyi Okuboyejo, the Lagos-born fashion designer behind the New York-based men’s wear brand Post-Imperial.

Continue reading “Niyi Okuboyejo | A Designer’s Endlessly Adaptable Nigerian Stew” →
People

Marcus Samuelsson | Ethiopian-born adoptee who came to America with $300 and became a world-famous chef
Advertisements

By Tom Huddleston Jr. | CNBC

Marcus Samuelsson is one of the most famous chefs in the world: an entrepreneur and culinary star with a long list of TV and book credits as well as ownership of a namesake global hospitality group that includes over a dozen restaurants headlined by three locations of his Red Rooster restaurant brand.

Continue reading “Marcus Samuelsson | Ethiopian-born adoptee who came to America with $300 and became a world-famous chef” →
African Food

Mourad Lahlou’s roast chicken puts a Moroccan accent on a holiday bird for intimate Covid-era dinners
Advertisements

By Shoshi Parks | 7 x 7

In Marrakech, Morocco, Mourad Lahlou’s life revolved around family meals. Three times a day, without fail, grandparents and parents and children came together to eat and argue and eat some more.

Continue reading “Mourad Lahlou’s roast chicken puts a Moroccan accent on a holiday bird for intimate Covid-era dinners” →
African Food

Six Fantastic East African Eateries to Dig Into in the twin cities
Advertisements

by Julie Zhou | Eater Twin Cities

In addition to the abundance of Ethiopian and Eritrean eateries along St. Paul’s University and Snelling, the Twin Cities are home to a wealth of restaurants reflecting cuisines from other communities within the East African diaspora: milky, fragrant cups of shaah from Somalia, seared beef suqaar, tender, puffed flats of Yemeni mulawah.

Here are six favorites across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Continue reading “Six Fantastic East African Eateries to Dig Into in the twin cities” →
African Food

Chef Marcus Samuelsson celebrates the variety of Black food
Advertisements

By MARK KENNEDY | AP

NEW YORK (AP) — If anyone asks chef Marcus Samuelsson what African food taste like, he has a ready answer: Have you ever had barbeque? Rice? Collard greens? Okra? Coffee?

“All of that food comes from Africa, has its roots in Africa,” says the Ethiopian Swedish writer and restaurateur. “Everyone has had African American dishes, whether they know it or not.”

Continue reading “Chef Marcus Samuelsson celebrates the variety of Black food” →
African Food

‘Coffee is everything’ for this immigrant duo running Louisville’s new Ethiopian cafe
Advertisements

By Dahlia Ghabour | Louisville Courier Journal

In the middle of the summer, a new specialty coffee shop opened in Louisville with little fanfare. Cousins Tar Molla and Kidest Getachew aren’t really about recognition — except for the detailed and expert way they make their coffee. 

The pair, who immigrated from Ethiopia to the U.S. more than 10 years ago, opened Abol Cafe to share their love of coffee with Louisville. 

Continue reading “‘Coffee is everything’ for this immigrant duo running Louisville’s new Ethiopian cafe” →
African Food

Tiffaney and Avo Odewale | Husband-and-wife team set to open Jollof Rice Destination in Houston
Advertisements

by Kayla Stewart | Eater Houston

Jollof Rice King, a new destination for Nigerian cuisine, is just about ready to make its Houston debut. Located at 3833 Richmond Avenue, the exciting new addition to the city’s dining scene is set to open its doors on October 13, after multiple delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue reading “Tiffaney and Avo Odewale | Husband-and-wife team set to open Jollof Rice Destination in Houston” →
African Food

West African Standby Appioo Reopens for Indoor Dining With Two New Dishes
Advertisements

by Vinciane Ngomsi | Eater DC

The Ghanaian restaurant in Shaw has added a seafood okra stew and a minced lamb goat with yuca fries

Continue reading “West African Standby Appioo Reopens for Indoor Dining With Two New Dishes” →
African Food

Nigerian fried rice taught me to love being like my mother
Advertisements

By Kitchen Butterfly | Food 52

I am my mother. In every line I speak, no, every word. Every sway of the hips. Every pot of fried rice hurriedly spooned into red Freezinhot coolers with flower motifs, full of blackened pieces of beef — not burnt, just colored by hot oil — and chicken, fried in groundnut oil so the fragrance of freshly roasted peanuts lingers sweet.

Continue reading “Nigerian fried rice taught me to love being like my mother” →
African Food

Fudena: West African Food, But Make It Fast-Casual
Advertisements

With Fudena, Ruth Nakaar is betting that Ghanaian jollof rice and Caribbean curried goat can, one day, be as ubiquitous as kale caesar salads and conveyor belt pizza, if given the chance.

by ALEX TEWFIK |PhillyMag

Continue reading “Fudena: West African Food, But Make It Fast-Casual” →
African Food

A taste of Ethiopian cuisine at Abyssinia in Santa Rosa
Advertisements

By CAREY SWEET | THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Traditional Ethiopian dining involves an interesting setup: you park yourself on a low-to-the-ground barchuma stool at a multicolored mesob wicker table. The mesob has a domed cover that looks like a mini woven Taj Mahal, and when you remove it, a centerpiece tray awaits with a dramatic array of dishes arranged around African injera flat bread.

Continue reading “A taste of Ethiopian cuisine at Abyssinia in Santa Rosa” →