Kola Restaurant & Ultra Lounge

First I would like to start of with; worst African food I have ever I looked at and tasted! As an African I am extremely disappointed! The kids meal was TRASH, chicken was hard and rice tasted cheap! The stews just looked like they weren’t made with love! I spent $72 dollars and most of the food went to the trash! It genuinely didn’t taste like African food! The lounge was dope tho! The people were kind but food was TRASH 4/10

-Atmosphere- The atmosphere is nice, plenty of room for seating and has a nice low-lit, club type ambience with good music and good times all around. Problem for me was my table was shaky as hell but I put a napkin under it and kept up the good vibes. They had a DJ and a dance floor and everyone was having a great time. Definitely for the grown and sexy crowd and if you like to do the hustle, this is where it’s at. -Service- The service was good, the server was nice but I think she may have been a little busy and overwhelmed so it could have been a little better but all in all it was good solid service. -Food- I honestly think I had the best what soup that I ever had here. The food was hot, tasty, and fresh to order. The prices were reasonable for the style of food and the portions were nice that I had leftovers. The drinks were good and reasonable. Definitely a must try. 4/5 🔥 for me, would definitely recommend and will return again.

First time visitors. I had moi moi, oxtails and plantains; while my husband had the meat pie, egusi, and pounded yam. I was more than satisfied with the food. Tender, fall off the bone meat, and I really liked the sauce. Food was well seasoned, with a kick of heat! My husband is Yoruba, and wasn't too pleased with his soup, barely touched it. Being the only persons in the spot (5pm), I think we could have gotten more attention. Felt like we had been forgotten about a couple of times. Our water came out in plastic cups. Don't know if that's normal, but it's tacky. Maybe 10-15 min later, another couple came in and were given glasses with a pitcher of water 😧 But we will go back and give it another try

Came in at 1am, no problems at all. The music and atmosphere was great. The service was incredible and they were really nice. The food is incredible. 🔥 🔥 🔥 Got the oxtail, jollof, jerk wings and meat pies. Definitely want to come back when I visit again.

I have been wanting to try Kola for years. My husband and I went tonight and oh my goodness I wish I came sooner. By far the best restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. The food was absolutely amazing and the young girl at the counter was very kind and helpful to us 2 newbies. We will definitely be back to try more of the menu.

The food was fabulous. There were so many things to choose from. I wanted a little bit everything. I was lucky other people came and ordered stuff and I got to taste a little bit of almost everything. Next time when I go back, and there will be a next time. I will have to order something new. I was Inspired by the poetry reading. When I say inspired, I want to go back and read some poetry.

It was my first time dining in with my family celebrating Baba's birthday. It wasn't busy at all, but I was greeted with smiles and hospitality immediately. Kayla and Erica were amazing. The moi moi was delicious. I also loved my fufu and egusi. Everything was fresh with lots of flavor and spice. Highly recommend the Rum Punch for an extra razzle dazzle. And their place list was fire!

We had a Sorority event at this venue and it was great! The atmosphere was good; the food and drinks on point. Overall good experience.

Ambiance is super cool. They have hustle classes and then afrobeats afterwards. The food was amazingly good. The jerk chicken was excellent! Everybody enjoyed the food and drinks! We had a time! And there's plenty of space! All the place needs is maybe a few updates and some air conditioning. I thought it would be more crowded on a Saturday night, but that's okay, my group enjoyed themselves

First time coming here, came here on a Friday night, I was staying at a nearby hotel. Liked their hours too and it was close in distance. Staff here was absolutely friendly, great selection in their restaurant when it came to food, doesn't have the best selection of alcohol but I settled on their daiquiris which were great. It's loud on Friday night with their DJ playing music. People here are social too which seems hard to find nowadays! Great, delicious wings too! Food times can be long. It's definitely a bit pricey and a bit daunting to come by and visit. Sure it's a bit expensive too but I am satisfied with my visit. It was very welcoming

We came to watch a live Jazz band perform. The service was awesome each server checked on us continuously throughout the evening. We were addressed and served promptly.

I attended a meet & greet event at Kola in the early evening. It was a full house by the time the event started. Everything was well organized with set menus already on the table. The servers were friendly, and the food came out within a reasonable time. The set menu was a lot - plenty to take home for a good price - and I love the Carribean spices in the Chicken Suya, Edikang Ikong, and Jollof Rice. The Fried Chicken Wings were well-seasoned and crispy. The Puff Puff is my favorite kind of dessert - light, crispy, and not sweet. This is a good place to host an event outside the restaurant's club hours. It's also nice to support a black-owned business.

I went to an open mic poetry session and met with my peoples. I sampled a couple of their dishes and was impressed with the goat meat, the bread, the kale dish also. The waitress was friendly and service was good. I'm going back to check out other events and order my own food! Stay tuned!

I thought l'd already given review for this restaurant. Everything was excellent, the atmosphere, the service and the food! The food was good" looked good, smelled good and tasted good! The vegetable soup? Delicious, fist time for foo foo Delicious! Ox tails..very very good, Wanted more..but that was just greed

Service was terrible! Had the oxtails and rice the food was cold and the oxtails were tuff as leather. This is near our home never again! We had to track down the rude waitresses to place an order. Then inquire about our meal after a 20 minute wait Only for the waitresses to come to the table to CHECK me and inform me that if you order food your food together it comes out together. I was again ed and never again checked on for water or anything. All because I defined APPETIZER for her.. YEAH ITS A EAZY NO TO KOLA AND YALL NAST FOOD!

I have been coming to this place for years and they never disappoint! I environment is very nice during dinner & I love when they have live performances. The food is always great, well prepared. The staff is absolutely amazing, polite, friendly just amazing.

Bad costumer service from Dominique, I will never return there again. If you do go check your order to make sure they gave you what you order. Or They management will treat you as you planned to take advantage of them, in order words stealing food. In my case they acknowledged they messed up, but can't fix my order even if I wasn't able to eat what they gave me ( pounded yam itself). She stated you buy that and we will redo only your goat meat. That's by itself it bad costumer service. And never again I'll go there. We encourage people I know to do the same.

I ordered from Kola on DoorDash. I can't believe I just discovered this! I was in the Peace Corps in Cameroon (which borders on the east of Nigeria) and hadn't found anything to satisfy my cravings for West African food--nothing was ever quite right. I had the goat stew, coconut rice, and the egussi from Kola. It was such a treat--flavors that other cuisine can't come close to meet, and not any other restaurant.

I always enjoy my time at kola's . From the food to the social events, I do open mic night myself. They have always been so welcoming. Thank you, Kayla. For serving' us. Stop by and see for yourself.

Only went for the food which was excellent. But it seems like it's a vibe in there. Will definitely be back

I went for the first time for my birthday, second stop btw We had A BALL!!! The music was Fabulous, they have Great DJs. I didn't eat...I forgot. Family loved the food. I can attest that the drinks Hit!!! We danced, all night. The atmosphere is great. The servers were on point. I even met the manager, forget her name but she made sure we were satisfied. What more could you ask for? I will be returning for my birthday in 2023. I did go back and I had drinks, they were good and the food was Delicious! I have had the rum punch and it does, I also had the peach Margarita, and it was made to perfection. I tasted the red snapper and I'll be getting that next time. I ordered the oxtails and I really enjoyed them. Others had the Kola wings, jerk wings and the sides were good as well. Go and enjoy the music, the food and drinks and the atmosphere, you'll love it too.

I came here to celebrate the birth of my cousin. We had "baby doll", she was superb. She made sure to communicate with us about any delays or outages, she was very attentive to our needs. Baby Doll was overall very pleasant for my experience. Please ask for her if she's available.

Food absolutely delicious!! Staff very nice. Will definitely revisit. I hear the whole red snapper is delicious but they were out of all fish so we couldn't try it this time.

Best Nigerian food around. The service is amazing and if you are looking to have a fun time, stop by Kola.

I absolutely love the food & vibes! The customer service was awesome as wel! Please advertise events more on social media so I can come!

It's Father's Day, my son and I took his Dad to a nice African Restaurant. It was closing in 40 mins, plus it was empty. We came in and they welcome us with open arms. Its a very casual dining restaurant connected to a night club the lighting was very dim, no special interior decor'. The Wait Person was nice and friendly. My husband was so happy to see so many dishes he was familiar with, on the menu. We ordered several dishes: Suya Chicken & Beef, Jolif Rice, Egusi, Ox Tail Stew and Pounded Yams, They gave us large portion. We should have ordered one entree and shared. . The Food was delicious, it's great authentic Nigerian food. We had so much left over food to take home. You would love this restaurant if you like Nigerian food. I'll come back again, with my husband.

I've been to Kola's twice before, both times to meet up with friends and to hang out, listen to music, and to just kick back! Both times were a great vibe! The DJ and music were cool, and the ambiance was a good vibe. It's a smaller venue/bar/restaurant, but it was still a really nice time! Also, what I do remember the most, were the drinks (very strong), and the chicken wings! The wings were so good! I just remember tearing the wings up, and enjoying my food, lol! I would definitely go back and hang out one weekend, to just listen to the music, and to try more of their food.

I was invited to this restaurant for a birthday party. I had heard about it in the past and wanted to visit. It is located off of Northwestern in a shopping plaza. There is a decent amount of parking but on a busy weekend I can imagine it can fill up pretty quick, however, there is other parking in another area. Upon entering there was a cover charge of $10. I guess this is what they do for weekends after 9pm. I was warned so it was no shock. This is a Caribbean style place with music that equals the feel On entering there are some high chairs in the middle, a bar to the rear, a dance floor and a lounging area at the front. The ambience is more like a dance/night club. The lights are dim but not too the part where you will bump into something. There was a bland playing a mix of Caribbean music with a little pop. The band actually sounds pretty good. I decided to get a drink and order something. The jerk chicken was suggested. The Jerk chicken came with fried rice and they give you a lot! The chicken was tasty and spicy just like I like it. I also tasted a piece of the fried chicken which was good but I preferred my Jerk chicken. There was plenty of rice to go around so I shared with others. This is not your Asian style fried rice. It has less grease in it and really taste like rice with chicken stock. The wait staff were friendly. Nothing above and beyond but they did their jobs. Overall it was a good experience and I would recommend checking it out. I plan on visiting one day in the future myself.

The food was pretty good. We had the curry chicken, jerk chicken, Egusi soup, jollof rice, and meat pie. The meat pie was flaky and contained perfectly seasoned beef and potato. The chicken dishes are leg quarters and were tasty and not too spicy, safe for children but I myself could've used more spice. The jollof rice was my favorite seasoned really well, similar but unlike any other rice from other cultures. The rum punch was hittin, and my bartender/ waitress was holding it down and didn't miss a beat. There were a variety of races in the establishment, some with kids and everyone seemed comfortable. The owner even came over to each socially distanced table to check on our experience. The vibe was nice the music combined with the food and hospitality has definitely earned a return visit. Great way to sp Friday evening

Enjoy the atmosphere great service locations not that bad during the covid , they still allow you to have some social fun , food with the spices was just a bit too much for me but my lady enjoyed it

Awesome place. Love the food and ambiance. The service was on par. Waitress was attentive.

I saw the review of the restaurant on Fox2 Detroit, so I had to try them out. Let me tell you that the service for my carry out order was top notch. I ordered the jolof rice with the goat. The manager asked me if I was adventurous because it was spicy. Let me tell you, the spices were heavenly!! The jollof rice was flavorful by itself, but when I added the goat it made my mouth sing!!! The food is deep, flavorful and complex. I will definitely be back!!!

This is the place to be for happy hour, live music and African food. I just learned of this place and will definitely be going back soon!!

I feel bad doing this to a small business but I was so disappointed. They forgot most of the order and the part of the order they had right was nothing as described. I used their bathroom and that should've told me enough to run. Nothing was even moderately tasty. I really hope you put more effort into a place that has potential if someone there cared.

Bartender-Waitress is terrible. They should not have the bartender serving tables because she is clueless on the menu. She didn't know anything! We literally had get up from our table to go the cashier and ask about things on the menu. The cashier informed us that they did have the items that we asked the bartender-waitress about, even though she told us that they did not. I can also tell that she had no clue about the Nigerian culture because she brought us our entre before our appetizers. We drove from Lansing to try this place and was disappointed for the most part. But, the food saved this place from getting 1 star because it was really good, and pricey. The food also did not take that long to come up, but again, our bartender-waitress was trash so we received our food in parts (that didn't even match up). Why would she bring out fufu (however you spell it) and plantains? Fufu is a part of a dish! Anyway, we ordered a lot so look at the pictures.

Kola is a nice place to eat some Nigerian and Caribbean food while listening to afrobeats and top 40 music. Seems to always be some sort of function going on. I notice a lot of Frats and sorority's have events there. On Friday there is a live band. Saturday is ballroom and hustle lessons from 5-9 and around 10 the DJ comes in. He plays the video along with the music. I love a DJ that does that!!! Food: There is a restaurant side and lounge side. You seat yourself. My personal favorites are the chicken wings (seasoned soooo good), jollof rice, coconut rice and peas, plantain and stew, and the beef suya. The waitresses and bartenders are nice. Bar: Nice size bar. The bar has many options. Liquor, beer, and wine. The house drink is the rum punch. It's sweet and strong. Last but not least happy hour is 5-9!!!!!

They should probably have a greeter station or something because walk-in in is weird and you don't know what to do... eventually someone saw us and said sit down wherever. She ended up being our waiter, she was nice and attentive. There was about 15 people there but I think we were the only ones eating. There was a line dance group there the whole time I was there (8-9ish on a Saturday night). I Ordered a rum punch and hubby ordered a Long Island both were tasty but not strong took, it took about 10 min for drinks and 15 for food. I ordered beef Suya and stewed oxtails. Both delicious. He ordered Jerk chicken and rice and beans.. good with a spicy kick. I'd come back.

We just found this gem. The food and atmosphere are a delight to have in the area. I ordered plantains and jerk chicken while my partner ordered beans and rice and the snail appetizer. We left very happy.

The food is hit or miss. The jollof rice can be good but the more often you order the worse the quality gets. The food gets drier, rice crunchier, meat less meaty. They get comfortable. Often they'll accept an order via a delivery service but won't have the food available so you'll pay and have to wait for a refund. Also, I was given the wrong change and the cashier tried to lie about it. She finally admitted they just don't have exact change, but it wasn't worth lying about.

I am from Texas, and wanted some African food, so I found this place on Goggle. The rice portion was small and the meat was terrible. The staff were busy gossiping and not giving the best customer service. Cute concept but just not up to par.

Drove an hour to eat some goat for my birthday. We loved the African/world music. The goat was tough and very grisly. We ordered fried chicken wings that were good but I could had found better at home. The fries were not crisp. The plantain was good but I could have made them easily at home. The goat was very disappointing. One star for the music and one for the plantain.

I attended this restaurant while visiting from Chicago. We went around 9:30p. Food is delicious. Service is decent. When I went,they were having a line dance session with some senior citizens- right in the front of the restaurant. I was confused and didn't really care to have been forced to look at it. A little annoying. I ordered Jollof Rice, plantains with beef. It was delicious! The DJ was nice. If I go back- it will probably be during the day.

My Birthday was a success because of the gracious staff at kola!! Every one was really sweet and kind!!! My Birthday was super fun!!

They have very delicious beef Suya and nice jollof rice. The plantains are always fresh and fried well. One star off for the slow table service that occurred whenever we visited pre-COVID. I hope to be back soon.

Amazing African & Caribbean venue for food, concerts and chill spot. One of my go to spots for a great meal served with love and the best drinks. The staff is friendly and the atmosphere out of this world.

Excellent Food! Excellent Service! Also great for hosting events. Held several events there and will have more events at Kola.

This review is for the food only, as I didn't check out the lounge. Had a craving for some Nigerian food, and had heard good things about this place. Stopped by on a Sunday around lunch time and ordered a meat pie and chicken jollof rice. The meat pie wasn't as flavorful as I've had elsewhere and the chicken was dry and bland. For the price (paid over $20 for the two), I was left expecting more.

Honest review: I have been working in the Detroit area for 6 months and every time I dine at Kola Restaurant and lounge is a disaster. Customer service is ZERO and the food is tasteless, I tried to endure and just fill my stomach but it's not encouraging with their outrageous pricing... A plate of a Nigerian dish cost $16, that's Pathetic. And I decided to order an extra Ègusi with no meat, I was charged $9.50.... I am saying this because I have dine in quite a number of Naija restaurant and this Kola Restaurant and Lounge is way out of the wazoooo. See attachment

Got a carry out of the red snapper! Fish was fresh, seasoned and cooked to perfection! Jollof rice was good as well! Food was nice and hot!

I went on a Friday for lunch with some coworkers and it definitely did not disappoint. Our waitress was very informative and nice, since it was our first time there. Per her recommendation, we got the beef suya as an appetizer. It was very well seasoned and we finished the plate. I ordered the jerk chicken with coconut and beans rice, and a side of plantains. I tried my coworkers loffa rice and it was the better option. Overall, I liked it and would coming back!

The Kitchen being slow.. I'm okay with that. My crowd didn't think the food was bad. First, ordered a Margarita. Waitress did not ask if I wanted Salt or Sugar on the Rim or If I wanted it Frozen or On The Rocks. I figured Screw It, Jamaican Restaurant Maybe it only comes one way.... Until the was a FREAKING GNAT IN MY DRINK. YEP NO BS FREAKING BUG.. Took another chance and ordered a Martini. Yep I'm a Daredevil. Asked for it to be in a plastic cup, didn't happen. Okay with that. Not Okay with the drink though.. Worse FREAKING MARTINI EVER! Never had a sweet Martini before. Thought I was being punked. Not sure. Service was slow as a snail and it wasn't crowded at all. NEVER GOING BACK! SERVICE WAS SO FREAKING BAD I WROTE MY FIRST REVIEW EVER.

This is My Second time Here and Last Time Going to the place. The waitress was HORRIBLE the Food SUCKED the Second Bartender SUCKED. I am DONE with this PLACE. Good Luck !!!!!

Food and service was very good. Attended a reggae show there this weekend and was subjected to the DJ's way too loud music. For an hour before the band started no one could talk because the ridiculously loud music. People just sat at thier tables plugging thier ears. I love loud music when there's a band to watch but this was just dj's ego on steroids! The owners had the audacity to leave TVs on behind the band for the entire show! Talk about disrespect! I'd go for the food but not for a live band again.

GOOD FOOD but Bad service :( Always seems to be the case when it comes to African restaurants (excluding Ethiopian) . I have friends that are regulars and we came here for dinner on a Friday evening walking in as the first customers. Food came in 2 hrs after we placed our order and we had to call the waiter multiple times to even get an understanding of what was going on. If the service was average this would be a 3 star restaurant, Good music,Great DJ and dance floor makes up for the 1 star :)

Came here to have a good time with my mom for her birthday. There was a $10 cover charge. We went in and heard lit African music playing. One man out on the dance floor. It was mellow when we got there at 10 pm but began to liven up as the night went on. There was a full bar with no cocktail/drink menu. Luckily there were bad ass bartenders working the bar and they told me they'd make whatever I ask for. I ordered a Long Island iced tea and it was made perfect. It was strong! So I kept ordering them all through the night. I drank 4 strong long iced tea! Drinks are affordable at $8.50 a cocktail. I needed food to calm down the effect of the alcohol so I ordered Oxtails and jollof rice and my mom ordered the pepper soup with goat meat. It was filled with goat meat, like a leg! The pepper soup was spicy but flavorful spice. The goat meat was seasoned but it was tough to eat. It needed to boil for a longer time to break down the meat. Same for the oxtails. Other than that the food was really good. One of the bartenders asked if my mom would like to request a birthday shoutout with a song so my mom requested to play It Wasn't me by Shaggy. We saw her talking to the DJ and he never played it! No birthday shoutout :( The DJ was doing his own little thing but that song would've got me on the dance floor. Overall it was a good time. The atmosphere, food, drinks were great. Definitely will be coming back with my fiancé to have a few drinks and dance.

I really enjoyed the food and the rum punch. The bartender, Laurie, was very kind and attentive. A little expensive but DELICIOUS! I highly recommend the jerk chicken wings.

Establishment does not care for its patrons. Waited 2 hours after order to find out that it wasn't started. 6 tables in the dining area with 3 female servers and a cook in the kitchen. Waitress highly incompetent and after asking her what was taking so long twice did we finally discover that nothing was started. Never walked out of a restaurant before, this place is frustratingly slow and inefficient. How does a waitress waiting only 2 tables not recognize that an order was not put in and sees her guest sit there for 2 hours. We asked midway through to see the status of our order to be told it would be out shortly. If shortly in their dictionary means never then I guess that would be accurate. If you are here just to dine and not enjoy the bar experience then be very very patient. Alcohol will help you forget how long you've actually been there.