Nigeria Breeze Restaurant Bringing West African Food to National City | Eater San Diego

"I'm looking forward to Nigeria Breeze, which is aiming to open by the end of the month in National City and hopes to widen the spotlight on West African cuisine. It will be owner Maria Onisemo’s first establishment in the United States, though her family has operated restaurants in Nigeria; she and her mother — who will serve as the head chef — moved from running a private catering business to sharing their regional family recipes. The menu is anchored by jollof rice (a tomato-based rice dish paired with chicken and plantains) and includes efo riro, a spinach-and-pepper stew; egusi soup, thickened with ground melon seeds and served with starchy pounded yam or fufu; and asara, a savory yam porridge. The operation will occupy a 1,788-square-foot space in the South Bay, plans to be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., hopes to offer beer and wine in the future, and envisions eventually franchising into malls and hotels to help bring Nigerian food more into the mainstream." - Candice Woo