Minneapolis and its northern suburbs carry one of the country's deepest West African and Somali food corridors, and the two kitchens should never be read as one cuisine. This guide separates the egusi and jollof rooms of Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park from the sambusa and suqaar counters of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Savage, and ranks each on the plate, not the plaza.
№ 01
African Deli
Brooklyn Center $$
6930 Brooklyn Blvd, Ste 13, Brooklyn Center, MN 55429 · +17635610086
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Egusi soup (ground melon seed stew) and pepper soup share the menu with jollof rice and a puff puff worth ordering fresh rather than held. The goat meat in the jollof has drawn complaints for toughness, so the soups are the safer order here. A big menu covers several West African kitchens under one Brooklyn Center roof, useful for a table that wants to sample rather than commit.
What to orderegusi soup, pepper soup, jollof rice
№ 02
Milah's Royal Bistro
Brooklyn Park
7648 Humboldt Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55444 · +17634322100
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Doro wat (chicken in berbere sauce) and kitfo anchor a menu that has held its Brooklyn Park regulars for close to a decade. Portions run generous and the dining room stays small, so takeout moves faster than the handful of tables. The injera and doro wat pairing is the reliable order, and the room's staying power says more than its size.
What to orderdoro wat, injera, kitfo
№ 03
Taste of Africa The Best of African Cuisines
Brooklyn Center
6838 Humboldt Ave N, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 · +17634326646
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A spinach stew eaten with injera is the dish the counter steers newcomers toward, and that guidance matters on a menu spanning several African cuisines. Doro wat rounds out the order for a table unsure where to start. The Brooklyn Center room works best for anyone new to the cuisine who wants a plate chosen for them rather than guessed at.
What to orderspinach stew, injera, doro wat
№ 04
Joe & Nya African Restaurant
1831 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403 · +16124055439
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Fufu and jollof rice are the entry point at this Minneapolis room, with staff walking first-timers through both. The fish pepper soup has split opinion, landing closer to a thin, oily broth for some than the peppery depth the dish should have. Family history with West African cooking shows in the regulars who keep returning for the fufu.
What to orderfufu, jollof rice, fish pepper soup
№ 05
Glamaur African Kitchen
Brooklyn Park
8527 Zane Ave N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55443 · +17637107982
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Egusi and fufu are the pull for Brooklyn Park regulars, though the kitchen's consistency swings hard between visits, from praised broths to an egusi that has caused real stomach trouble and a fufu served cold. Doro wat is the steadier alternative on a menu spanning multiple African kitchens. Free water service is a small, consistent touch.
What to orderegusi, fufu, doro wat
№ 06
Zawadi Restaurant
Bloomington
1701 American Blvd E, Bloomington, MN 55425 · +16122840880
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Injera and doro wat sit on a menu built for groups, and the Bloomington space doubles as a community center with a prayer area and a Somali cafe attached. Nyama choma (grilled meat) rounds out the East African end of the menu. A quesadilla ordered off the wider menu drew a service complaint, so the East African plates are the stronger order.
What to orderinjera, doro wat, nyama choma
№ 07
Karibu Grocery & Deli
St. Paul
719 Payne Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55130 · +16514140799
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Sambussa and a lamb sandwich lead a halal counter menu in St. Paul that runs on quick, affordable plates rather than a sit-down room. Chicken wings round out the order, and portions run generous for the price. The counter service format suits a fast lunch more than a lingering meal, with a television usually running in the background.
What to ordersambussa, lamb sandwich, chicken wings
№ 08
Value Foods African Market
Brooklyn Park
7609 Welcome Ave N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55443 · +17635618888
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Doro wat and injera come out of a butcher counter attached to a Brooklyn Park grocery store, the kind of setup where the meat case backs up the kitchen. Long-running regulars call it reliable, though at least one recent visit turned on a foreign object in the food. Jollof rice rounds out the steam counter for a fast, market-adjacent meal.
What to orderdoro wat, injera, jollof rice
№ 09
Mama Safia's Kitchen
720 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407 · +16123536322
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Beef sambusa and beef suqaar (spiced minced beef) served with canjero, a spongy flatbread, are the dishes that convert newcomers to Somali food at this Minneapolis counter. Orders can be placed by phone ahead of pickup, and wings sell out fast enough that they are not always available. It runs as a quick, unfussy introduction rather than a sit-down production.
What to orderbeef sambusa, beef suquaar with canjero, wings
№ 10
Sambosa Restaurant
Savage
3995 Egan Dr, Savage, MN 55378 · +19527361188
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Beef and chicken sambosa share the menu with calooley, cow stomach served in a mild, approachable preparation, at this Savage room built for groups with room to spare. Shaah, spiced Somali tea, rounds out the order. The interior stays plain and large rather than dressed up, and it has pulled in diners with little prior exposure to Somali cooking.
What to ordersambosa, calooley, shaah
Frequently asked
What is the best African restaurant near me in the Minneapolis area?
It depends on which kitchen and which suburb. Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park hold the metro's densest run of West African rooms, Minneapolis and St. Paul carry strong Somali counters, and Bloomington and Savage each have a standout East African or Somali room worth the drive. Check the Insider Score and city listed for each entry above before picking one near your actual location.
What is the difference between West African and Somali food on this list?
West African kitchens here, in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, and Minneapolis, serve dishes like egusi soup, fufu, jollof rice, and pepper soup. Somali and East African rooms serve sambusas, suqaar, canjero, calooley, and shaah tea, along with Ethiopian staples like doro wat and injera where the menu crosses over. They are distinct culinary traditions even when they share a strip mall.
Are any of these restaurants ranked using a star rating or Michelin recognition?
No. Minnesota has never had a Michelin star, and Michelin's newly announced Minneapolis coverage does not begin selections until 2027 and excludes St. Paul entirely. Rankings here use the Insider Score shown next to each restaurant's name, based on the public review record, not any star system.
Do restaurants pay to be included in this guide?
No restaurant pays for placement. Every entry is selected and ordered using its Insider Score, which is generated from the public review record, and the writeups are built from the signature dishes and operating patterns documented in that record.
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The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Hodan Abdi
Staff Writer · Top of Minneapolis
Hodan Abdi is a Staff Writer at Top of Minneapolis. Raised in Cedar-Riverside two floors above the Somali mall her aunt worked in, she now lives in Eagan and covers the whole metro ring. She writes the guides, sweeps the suburbs, and covers the Somali and East African tables as the beat she knows best.
