Doug M.
Yelp
Levels has a really nice vibe to it. It's fairly simple, yet also immersive in that it celebrates the culture. I can best describe it as relaxed, casual sophistication. It made for quite a pleasant meal.
A few reviews from November and early December mention that the service was slow or lacking. I'm guessing that might have been a temporary situation with staffing. Our service was excellent. We were there early, so that also might have factored, but they looked to be well staffed. Every single worker we interacted with was friendly, polite, and competent. Food and drinks came fairly quickly, too.
Once we were seated, we were served waters and a small bowl of chin chin, basically a Nigerian street food that is little cubes of fried, sweetened dough. They were crunchy and tasted of cinnamon and/or nutmeg. A small touch from the restaurant, but nice - and that little bowl actually contained much more than it appeared.
I ordered the Party Jollof (jollof rice plate) with beef. The rice was deeply flavored with a light smokiness. Just a bit of heat from spice, but not much even for a spice-baby like me. The beef came on the side in 1 inch or larger cubes. They appeared to be from a roast that must have been very well braised and seasoned. The rendering and seasoning made it fork fall apart and so savory. Also on the side was a spinach-based hot vegetable mix. Don't know all the ingredients or spices, but it was good. Coleslaw was the alternative to that. And a bunch of tasty fried plantains rounded out the platter.
The wife ordered Efo Riro. It was described as a vegetable soup medley, but appeared to me to be the same spinach/greens mix that I was served, except much more. Still good, though! She ordered beef with hers, too, and it came under the greens in her bowl. Same savory beef as mine. A grapefruit sized ball of fufu filled out her order (vs. a white rice option), which she broke up and added to the dish as needed - to soak up the flavors.
One other highlight: The Party Jollof was $24, and the Efo Riro was $26. Both were reasonably priced. But both were also huge amounts of food - much more than they appeared to be on the plates. Now I forced all mine down, but the wife brought more than half of hers home. Will make a couple of nice lunches for me!