Crown Heights Restaurateur Brings McDonalds Lessons To Nigerian Menu

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — A Nigerian sandwich shop in Crown Heights created a stir in its first few months in business, serving traditional Nigerian dishes and sandwiches with a fast food spin.

Akara House, which opened in mid-February near Bergen Street and Nostrand Avenue, is known or its "veggie fritter" sandwiches — a twist on Nigerian akara, a black-eyed pea fritter.

Owner Funso Akinya serves akara like a veggie burger on a bun with pickles, mayonnaise, cheese and sometimes sauce.

The sandwiches — which sell at $6 for one and $10 for two — include products from local indigenous farms and a homemade sauce, which also sells on the side, according to Akara House's website.

"We launched akara veggie fritter sandwiches in New York City to give the plant based community a taste of this healthy meal alongside our homemade mildly spicy sauce," Akara's website reads.

Akara House quickly landed on NY Eater's list of hottest new Brooklyn openings in April, and shined in a Grub Street feature just a month after opening.

Akinya moved from Nigeria to Brooklyn about 20 years ago and initially took a job cooking at McDonald's, Grub Street reported. Akinya took lessons from this job with him to Akara, like that "Americans like mayonnaise, they like pickles, they like garlic," he told Grub Street.

His family in Nigeria thought he was crazy for adding mayo to the sandwich, Akinya told Grub Street.

"They were just looking at me like, ‘What are you doing?’” he said.

Akinya searched for and prepped the perfect Crown Heights spot for over a year, Grub Street reported.

Akara also serves Nigerian dishes like moi moi, a side made with black eyed peas steamed in banana leaf, and jollof rice, a rice dish cooked with tomatoes, peppers and onions.