Eastern Market just got a new favorite. Waka, a fast-casual spot for East African street food, opened its doors September 26 at 2465 Russell St. in Eastern Market — giving a permanent home to a concept Detroiters have been chasing around the city for nearly four years.
Before the brick-and-mortar, Waka rolled as a food truck, serving savory handhelds across Detroit. Now you can pull up for chapatis — chewy, charred flatbreads filled with stewed beef, chicken, eggplant or fish, served with shredded red cabbage and sweet fried ripe plantains or crispy fried potatoes — plus brochettes, skewers of lamb or chicken marinated in warm spices and cooked over a live fire, and golden, crispy sambusas stuffed with chicken, fish or veggies.
Waka comes from Hamissi Mamba and his wife Nadia Nijimbere, the owners of Baobab Fare, the Milwaukee Junction favorite for Burundian cuisine. The couple announced plans for the Eastern Market storefront back in 2024, making it one of the city’s most anticipated openings, and they moved into a space with big shoes to fill — the former Russell Street Deli, a Detroit mainstay for 30 years. Inside, a mural wraps the room in the same line drawings from their bright yellow truck, with pops of yellow and a drawing of the Eastern Market sheds.
The momentum doesn’t stop there. On October 27, Baobab Fare broke ground on its second location, heading to the East Warren corridor on Detroit’s East Side. Mamba and Nijimbere have been named James Beard Foundation semifinalists three times, and were finalists for Outstanding Restaurateurs in 2024. Detroit keeps proving it: world-class food, built right here, by people who never stopped showing up.
Read the full story: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2026/10/29/waka-restaurant-opens-in-eastern-market-detroit-baobab-fare/92482929007/
Tap in. — LORDZ
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