{"id":354869,"date":"2026-06-10T16:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354869\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T16:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:26:10","slug":"the-south-bays-first-nigerian-restaurant-takes-off-in-san-jose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354869\/","title":{"rendered":"The South Bay\u2019s First Nigerian Restaurant Takes Off in San Jos\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

FolaFela specializes in jollof rice and a large variety of delicious soups and stews.<\/p>\n

Jun 10, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated 9:19 am PT<\/p>\n

\"Reddish-orange<\/p>\n

One of FolaFela’s best dishes is its bold, smoky jollof rice. The San Jos\u00e9 newcomer is the South Bay’s first Nigerian restaurant.\u00a0(Octavio Pe\u00f1a)<\/p>\n

When Folake Adewole first moved to San Jos\u00e9<\/a> in 2017 to take a job as a travel nurse, there wasn\u2019t a single Nigerian restaurant in the area. For the past 10 years, whenever she was craving beef suya or jollof rice, she had to drive up to Hayward \u2014 or, more likely, just cook it herself.<\/p>\n

In March, Adewole finally decided to take things into her own hands: She opened FolaFela<\/a>, a small Nigerian restaurant tucked into a strip mall in East San Jos\u00e9. It\u2019s the South Bay\u2019s first proper brick-and-mortar Nigerian restaurant.<\/p>\n

The shop has only a handful of tables, along with a mini African grocery store in the back. But the menu is surprisingly expansive, featuring dishes like gizz dodo (fried gizzards and plantains) and asun coconut rice. The main draw is the assortment of fourteen Nigerian soups, served with starchy dough balls known as swallows or okele. Already, the thick, complex soups have been a hit, drawing flocks of diners from as far away as Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorOpen since March 2026, FolaFela also features a small African grocery store in back.<\/p>\n

Adewole didn\u2019t have any restaurant experience before opening FolaFela, but she has been selling Nigerian dishes since her youth. Growing up in the city of Ile-If\u1eb9, in Nigeria\u2019s Osun state, Adewole would help her mother prepare and sell ofada rice \u2014 a rice dish topped with a crayfish and pepper stew that now serves at the restaurant, using the same recipe. Soon after she settled in San Jos\u00e9, she decided to fill the culinary void by making Nigerian plates to share with coworkers and friends from church. By 2021, she was catering for events with as many as 300 guests. So, after much encouragement from her customers, she decided to open the restaurant while still juggling her day job as a registered nurse at the Stanford hospital.<\/p>\n

\"AThe restaurant\u2019s calling card is its selection of 14 different Nigerian soups. The egusi, pictured here with a ball of pounded yam, is the most popular.<\/p>\n

Most of FolaFela\u2019s soups, on the other hand, highlight leaves and seeds native to Nigeria. The most popular one is a Yoruba dish called egusi soup, named after the dried ground melon seeds used to thicken it. Adewole\u2019s version is specked with bitter leafy greens and served with poundo yam, a type of swallow made with yam flour. The stretchy, pillowy dough balls have been trending on social media lately, as mukbang influencers<\/a> post videos of themselves dunking them in stew and theatrically chewing on each sauce-soaked bite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adewole decided to focus on soups because it\u2019s a food that\u2019s deeply nostalgic for West African people, in particular. Since the soups are often associated with celebrations and other large gatherings, she offers them in increments of up to four liters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have customers come in asking for particular soups that their grandma used to make,\u201d Adewole says. Meanwhile, she recognizes that other customers might be having Nigerian cuisine for the very first time. For those newcomers, FolaFela can be a great place to learn about the origins of the food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AFolake Adewole has been cooking Nigerian food for friends and coworkers ever since she moved to San Jos\u00e9 in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of Africans in the Bay Area are very scattered,\u201d Adewole says. She sees her restaurant as a place for the community to congregate\u00a0 \u2014 where African immigrants can have conversations about what part of the continent their family is from and chat about their regional dishes. The grocery store section provides another point of connection, as Adewole travels to Los Angeles and Sacramento to stock the shop\u2019s pantry and freezers with hard-to-find flours and spices. Her largest struggle is sourcing frozen and dried kote fish, or horse mackerel, which she serves fried and in stews.<\/p>\n

Although FolaFela is still in its early stages, Adewole has ambitious ideas for where it\u2019s heading next. Eventually, she hopes to open a second FolaFela location somewhere near Palo Alto to make Nigerian food more accessible to people on the Peninsula. And she is developing recipes to expand her menu to include dishes from other Nigerian ethnic groups like the Hausa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I would love to do is bring more Igbo food onto my menu,\u201d Adewole says. \u201cI\u2019m thinking of doing a white soup with cocoyam.\u201d<\/p>\n

FolaFela<\/a> is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30\u20139 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m.\u20139 p.m. at 2762 Aborn Rd. in San Jos\u00e9.<\/p>\n