Nations Cafe Lounge

My friend and I ventured in here one night. We were both a little apprehensive since neither of us are African and the other patrons seemed right at home. The waitress was cute and sassy and she guided us through the intimidating menu and gave me a lesson on eating foo-​foo (it was NOT easy, but maybe I’m just basic). Overall, it was quite a culinary adventure. It’s a place that I would bring guests from out of town when seeking entertainment through food.

My husband and I Occasionally go there to eat and the food is always excellent. Best African restaurant in Atlanta. Best place to eat Igbo or Calabar food. The egusi is cooked exactly like home food and the nkwobi was to die for… We’ve had dryfish and stock fish peppersoup for starters and it was truly amazing… You even get Nigerian Tv channels and listen to Nigerian music all through and the waitresses and waiters can speak to you in several languages– both local and international languages like pidgin, Igbo, calabar, Yoruba, French, Arabic, Spanish and Russian.
You should give the Afang or Edikiakong a try, and you can get Nigerian drinks like Bitter lemon and palm wine and many others you won’t get anywhere else. Best place ever in Atlanta and close to the Nigerian embassy and nice shopping spots. We have even met celebrities Kanu Nwankwo, Jim Iyke, P-​Square on occasion while dinning in.

Nations Café has authentic West African food. I used to live in Africa so I love to eat there for the memories it gives me and the food is good! Personally, I like the okra soup with oat foo foo. Plantains or rice rather than foo foo would probably be more comfortable for people who haven’t had African food before. Just like in Africa, they’ll tell you what they have from the menu and they don’t necessarily have everything. I do think the prices are a bit steep but I’ll keep going back when I’m in town.

We drove across town and arrived 15 minutes before closing and they told us the kitchen was closed. What kind of establishment is this? If 10 pm is close time you have to respect your customers and serve them up until 10. The waitress who greeted us was rude from the start. Will not be coming back.

Writing this review for the nation’s café that’s in hapeville. 2 out of 5 stars due to poor customer service, calling in to place an order to go and still having to wait 30 minutes after it took you 30 mins to get there. The food score was a low B but I gambled with my health because I have eaten food from there before and did not get sick. Most of my west African friends love this place. They make some of the best west African food in atlanta, I can’t dispute that. I haven’t been in awhile since I’ve learned how to make my favorite dishes from nigeria. The prices are about $ 12 — $ 15 a plate, some people may find that expensive but I think it’s a good deal considering making it from scratch at home costs more and is time consuming. Worth checking out but don’t expect stellar service and expect a possible wait.

Oh my …
Honestly, I am a bit conflicted with this …
Service: so very slow, so very awkward, but the lady was nice and seemed intrigued at the fact that we were interested in their dish.
Food: how do I put this? If you are not used to this type of food, then I truly sincerely suggest to stay clear. Although I have never had authentic African food (or at least, not that I am aware of), I imagine that this food is as close to the real thing as you can get. Their flavor combinations are very different to that of an American palette… not even close to Hispanic or Italian or Chinese elements that most of us are accustomed to, most especially in this part of the world.
Now, I tried the Fufu and edikangkong (?) and i must say that it is a very challenging meal. Yet, I like greens and i was able to finish the edikangkong, but the Fufu was much too new for me… although I dont have anything bad to say about it, I cant honestly tell you that it was anything more than: «it was quite an experience.»
Now, my friends had the curry chicken and it is NOWHERE near like the indian or thai curry type of dish that you may imagine. It has strong notes of cinnamon and other spices that is indeed very foreign to even someone like me who has been exposed to a lot of different dishes and different flavor combinations. It is, however, a big plate of food.
Prices: Their prices is quite steep to be honest — considering the fact that they mainly use cheap ingredients and cheap cuts of meat, it is definitely not justifiable.
Bad experience alert: Bottled waters are $ 1 each and they automatically give each a bottle without advising you that it is an extra charge. We realized this only after half of our party has already opened their bottles. We then asked for sweet tea and we had to ask our waitress SEVERAL awkward times for our drink. After a long while, she finally just nonchalantly told us that they dont have sweet tea and did not bother to offer anything more. We just sat there kinda dumbfounded. So we then ordered a pitcher of «country style lemonade» and to our disappointment, it was not freshly squeezed lemonade … or not even the soda kind of lemonade … it was the lemonade literally from the plastic container labeled «country maid.» LOL? And it was oh so sweet that it was quite inedible. We then asked for just a pitcher of tap water, which again took so much longer than needed. I dont know why it was like pulling teeth to get something to drink from this place, but it was definitely not a cool experience.
All in all, if you are feeling brave … I mean, VERY brave and want to try something new — then, maybe you should try this place.
But for the price you will have to pay, along with this little knowledge that their dish is VERY different from what many Americans are used to, and the fact that they are not really tweaking their dishes for the American palette … you may have to dive in here with some full on determination … otherwise, i cannot really recommend this to anyone else.

I went to the location in Hapeville, GA and it was pretty good. I ordered okra soup and vegetable soup with pounded yam. They allowed me to do half/​half because I wanted to try them both without paying full price for each. I paid $ 17 which I’m not sure is good or bad compared to similar restaurants but I enjoyed it. Service was a bit slow but I came in after a really big order so they may not take as long on a normal day.

This is my first time in a Nigerian restaurant, even though I tasted it before at friend’s house. I didn’t care for the stew. Too oily for my taste. Service was just Ok.

The quality of the food has changed since the cook, Adele has
stopped working at Nation’s Café. My egusi has been gritty the past two times I’ve gotten it and the portions have decreased. I expect a full portion of food and properly cleaned food for the cost of this ethnic cuisine.