Brooklyn Suya, a Nigerian Fast-Casual Spot in Crown Heights, is Here to Stay

CROWN HEIGHTS—On Franklin Ave., a Nigerian fast-casual restaurant that began as a pop-up will soon begin its sixth month in the neighborhood, where it serves traditional Nigerian cuisine with a twist to make it more accessible to a broad clientele.

Crown Height-born Folusho Adeyemo co-owns Brooklyn Suya, located between Park Pl and Sterling Pl, with his friend Hema Agwu, 29. The two met while working in a restaurant and in catering.

“Suya in Nigeria is one of the iconic happy meals,” Adeyemo, 28, told Bklyner Tuesday afternoon while chopping onions in the restaurant, ahead of opening for the day. “It’s one of those things where, when everyone comes together to sit down and they hear the word suya or smell suya, it’s just a happy, joyous feeling.”

In Brooklyn, Adeyemo says, “the same energy applies.”

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we want something that is going to have a strong connection to us, our heritage, the community that we grew up with.”

The menu at Brooklyn Suya, which will begin its sixth month in July, is simple.

You pick a meat—grilled steak, grilled chicken or shrimp— and select two from the options of plantains, hard-boiled egg, kale and avocado. The generous portions come in medium or large, in a bowl of rice with cherry tomatoes and onions.

In a Nigerian family-meal setting, Suya—the name of both the spice and the dish—would just include steak, suya spice and red onions, he said.

“Traditionally, it would be slices of small little steaks, no chicken no shrimp, no nothing at all,” he said. “Just spices and red onions.”

But the hole-in-the-wall Crown Heights eatery, which has just three employees, offers something for everyone, explained Adeyemo.

“I know the key things that every customer wants to have,” he said. “I know that the flavor and the texture that they’re used to has been overplayed out, has been saturated by every restaurant, but there are those key items that everyone will always go to at the end of the day.”

What are they?

Tomato, egg, kale, avocado, plantains, Adeyemo says.

For people from all backgrounds and cultures who walk into the smaller fast-casual spot, those foods are “a familiar thing to you,” said Adeyemo.

“I can’t just make something that’s just based on Nigeria,” he said. “Everyone needs to have something that they can familiarize themselves with in order for them to be like, ‘I definitely want to try that.’”

Sprinkled on top of those staple items and the meat is the signature 16-ingredient, peanut-based spice, which is offered in three different spice levels—miya (mild), yaji (medium) and ose (the spiciest option).

“Everyone has different spice tolerance,” he said.

Brooklyn Suya, which delivers, is open on weekdays from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on weekdays from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. The price of bowls range from $9 to $20, depending on the size and amount of ingredients you choose.

After attracting enough business to warrant keeping the restaurant for more than just a few months in accordance with their original plans, Adeyemo isn’t surprised people from all walks of life enjoy the distinct Nigerian flavor.

“If you put love and kindness into the meal that you’re making … people are going to love it,” he said. “When you start doing that, and you’re not just looking for a buck, and you’re just saying, ‘I’m going to make this meal because it’s going to taste fucking amazing,’ then everyone’s going to rock with it. That’s the best way to go.”