Baobab Fare breaks ground on second Detroit restaurant on East Warren

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Baobab Fare, the East African restaurant at Woodward and Grand Boulevard, is adding a second home. On Monday, owners Mamba Hamissi and Nadia Nijimbere broke ground at 16900 East Warren—a roughly 3,000-square-foot building that sat vacant for about a decade after housing a video store and a tax preparation office.

City officials call it a $2.5 million investment. Hamissi and Nijimbere, refugees from Burundi and 2024 James Beard Foundation Award finalists, had chances to expand elsewhere. They chose to stay in Detroit, betting on the East English Village corridor where residents pushed for more sit-down dining.

Why it matters

If it opens as planned, a decade-vacant East Warren storefront becomes the sit-down anchor residents said they wanted most.

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Key Indicators

$2.5 million

Planned investment in East Warren location

Figure cited by city officials at the groundbreaking.

3,000 sq ft

Size of the former video store building

The structure at 16900 East Warren had been vacant about a decade.

Baobab Fare locations in Detroit

The Woodward and Grand Boulevard original plus the new East Warren site.

8,700

Homes reached in 2021 Invest Detroit outreach

Sit-down restaurants were the top request from residents.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Mamba Hamissi

Co-owner, Baobab Fare

Led groundbreaking for the East Warren location

Nadia Nijimbere

Co-owner, Baobab Fare

Co-led the East Warren expansion

Joe Rashid

East Warren Development Corporation

Recruited Baobab Fare owners to buy the building

Latisha Johnson

Detroit City Council, District 4

Advocated for the restaurant's arrival

Organizations Involved

Baobab Fare

East African restaurant

Expanding to a second Detroit location

East African restaurant at Woodward and Grand Boulevard founded by two refugees from Burundi.

East Warren Development Corporation

Neighborhood development organization

Key partner in landing the restaurant

Detroit group working to revive the East Warren commercial corridor.

Invest Detroit

Community development financial institution

Funded neighborhood demand research

Detroit-based nonprofit lender that funded community outreach on East Warren.

Timeline

2021 October 2026

4 events Latest: 4 days ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
Groundbreaking on East Warren location
Latest Construction

The couple breaks ground on a $2.5 million second Baobab Fare at 16900 East Warren with district officials present.
4 days ago
March 2024
Couple buys vacant East Warren building
Purchase

Hamissi and Nijimbere buy 16900 East Warren, a 3,000-square-foot building vacant about a decade.
March 2024
2024
James Beard finalist recognition
Award

Baobab Fare is named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurateur award.
2024
2021
Invest Detroit outreach finds diners want sit-down restaurants
Research

Outreach knocking on 8,700 homes names sit-down dining the top resident request for East Warren.
2021

Scenarios

Baobab Fare's East Warren restaurant opens in 2027

Likely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Eater Detroit, which reported an expected opening in 2026, and East Warren Development Corporation

Construction proceeds through 2027 and the restaurant opens to customers. The owners have a track record of following through, and the opening would give East English Village the sit-down anchor residents requested.

Construction delays push East Warren opening past 2027

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: BridgeDetroit, which originally reported a late-2024 target that already slipped

The schedule drifts again. The project has already moved from an initial late-2024 target to a 2026 estimate, and permitting, funding, and build-out issues could push the opening into 2028.

East Warren success fuels a third Baobab Fare location

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: District 4 Council Member Latisha Johnson, who says every district wants a Baobab Fare

The East Warren location opens and draws steady business, echoing the original restaurant's growth. The couple, who already turned down expansion to other cities, announces plans for another Detroit site.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2005

Slows Bar BQ anchors Corktown's revival (2005)

Slows Bar BQ opened in 2005 in a long-vacant building in Detroit's Corktown, then a struggling, sparsely populated neighborhood. The barbecue restaurant quickly drew lines down Michigan Avenue.

Then

Other restaurants, bars, and shops followed, and foot traffic returned to the corridor.

Now

Corktown became Detroit's most cited example of a restaurant-led neighborhood revival, drawing developers and new residents.

Why this matters now

Like Slows on Michigan Avenue, Baobab Fare's East Warren location is a single independent business betting it can anchor a corridor residents want revived. The precedent shows one strong restaurant can shift a neighborhood's trajectory.

1982

Zingerman's Deli roots in Ann Arbor (1982)

Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw opened Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor in 1982 with a few thousand dollars. The deli grew into a multi-business local food institution with its own training programs.

Then

The deli became a destination and a model for high-quality, community-focused food service.

Now

Zingerman's grew by adding businesses in its home community rather than franchising, becoming a national case study in local scaling.

Why this matters now

Baobab Fare is following a similar playbook—expanding within Detroit rather than taking offers to move elsewhere. The owners say the growth is meant to mean something for the neighborhood, not just for the business.