According to a Crains Detroit coverage, Baobab Fare has recently closed the purchase for its second location. The new property, located inside Detroit’s East English Village neighborhood at 16900 E. Warren Ave, is a 68-year-old historic building and is about 1,000 square feet larger than the restaurant’s existing location at 6568 Woodward Ave. The property was purchased from the city at $145,000.
Baobab Fare was established by the husband-and-wife team of Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere. The pair was recently nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award as Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalists. The new restaurant will also incorporate the couple’s street food concept, Waka brand.
Mamba and Nijimbere arrived in Detroit in 2015, fleeing from political violence in their homeland Burundi. In 2017, the couple won a $50,000 prize from Hatch Detroit, a local entrepreneurship program. The funds were used to help them get their restaurant off the ground. The couple then opened Baobab Fare amidst the pandemic in 2021, bringing East African food to Detroit.
Since then, the couple have won multiple recognitions, including the culinary industry’s Oscar: the James Beard Award. The second location has been part of the plan since 2023, but the sales did not close until last month. According to a Bridge Detroit coverage, renovations on the new location are anticipated to begin in July. Detroit-based Urban Alterspace, who worked on the first Baobab Fare location, will again spearhead the design and construction.
What Now Detroit reached out to Mamba for more details but hadn’t heard back by the time this coverage was published.
