A Health-Conscious Nigerian Chain Opens First U.S. Location in D.C. | Eater DC
"The Lagos-based, fast-casual chain is opening its first U.S. location this August at The Square food hall (1850 K Street NW) in downtown Washington, bringing a health-food approach that emphasizes nutrient-rich African ingredients locally sourced from the DMV and culinary traditions drawn from across the continent’s 54 countries, including Mediterranean and Indian influences. “We need to tell these stories of how, at the end of the day, we are one people,” says founder Ada Osakwe, who operates six locations across Lagos, adding, “Broader than Africa, just we are one, and we need to break down those barriers for building this community.” The menu presents African flavors in familiar fast-casual formats—warm bowls, toasted wraps, and smoothies—and features freshly baked naan surrounding the toasted wraps as a nod to the Indian diaspora on the African continent; best sellers include the Naanini and Naan Pepper wraps. Osakwe added couscous as a base option because of her four years living in Tunisia: “When I lived in Tunisia, that was an eye opener for me,” Osakwe tells Eater. “That for me was the foundation in terms of realizing that we had such diverse cultures on the continent. North Africans were quite different from us.” West African influences appear in a smoky jollof warm bowl and in the use of fonio, couscous, and rice that “offer the red pepper flavorful spice that jollof is famous for,” while fonio super bowls pair the ancient, protein-packed grain with fresh vegetables as either a cold salad or warm stir-fried bowl. Proteins include tandoori chicken, spicy prawns, and lamb meatballs alongside vegan options such as avocado or veggie meat chunks; Osakwe highly recommends ordering sweet plantain fries as a side. Salad dressings and Tahini-like creamy spreads are designed around egusi, a West African melon seed that’s “rich in essential minerals and a valuable source of creamy plant protein,” and the D.C. menu adds items unique to that location: steamed bean cakes known as moin-moin, moringa smoothies and parfaits (moringa, the so-called “miracle tree”), and gluten-free cassava-flour naan that isn’t available at the Lagos sites; in keeping with African culinary practices, staff will make menu items from scratch each day. Osakwe founded the brand in 2016 to pair exercise with healthy, affordable, convenient food and to build a homegrown African brand that could translate globally; she notes both a mission and an economic imperative: “I was tired of the Burger Kings or the Pizza Huts coming into our countries and people paying huge franchise fees for those, and yet, we weren’t developing and backing our own people,” and she adds, “So yeah, this is like a dream come true.” The brand also channels broader impact goals—part of sales support female-led farmer cooperatives in Africa—and has done bulk corporate business in Lagos (previous partners include Google and McKinsey & Company), while Osakwe aims for aggressive U.S. expansion over the next decade, even likening the goal to established fast-casual trajectories: “What Chipotle is for Mexican-inspired food, what Cava is for Mediterranean-inspired food, [the brand] is that for African-inspired food,” she says. The company name derives from the female name “Anwuli,” unique to the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria, meaning happiness or joy; “Taste Joy” serves as the brand’s tagline and ethos." - Lenore Adkins
