Within about a 10-minute drive stretching from College Park to Beltsville in Prince George’s County, you can get a taste of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal.
Some of the finest I’ve found include staple dishes such as jollof rice, a tomato-infused bed of rice that buoys rich, flavorful stews. Or follow your nose (and your phones) to the plumes of smoke emanating from grills firing up some of the finest cuts of beef and lamb, rivaling complex barbecue preparations.
More than 70,000 African immigrants call Prince George’s County home, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. These residents have brought a rich culture of cuisines with them. Some of the best spotlight traditions and showcase the ingenuity of keeping them alive in a new environment.
For Rudolf Tse, the owner of Bros J Suya, which started in Beltsville in a trailer in 2021, it began within his community.
He immigrated from Cameroon in 2013, and friends invited him to grill at their events in 2017. He knew right away that he should make suya, a street food native to West African nations.
“Our technique is based on family recipes from Cameroon and the passion I have for cooking and doing BBQ,” Tse said in an email to The Banner.
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That idea of connecting his new community in Prince George’s County with tastes from home fueled the rise of his business.
“There are a lot of Africans around PG and Suya is an African street food,” Tse said. “Although we have a lot of customers from all over the DMV, some customers drive from New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware, Fredericksburg, etc. just to come and buy from us.
“I live in PG and I wanted to give my best to the PG community.”
Bros J Suya
Grill: 11210 Old Baltimore Pike, Beltsville; restaurant: 8310 Annapolis Road, Suite C, New Carrollton
Blink and you may miss the grill. But, when you get situated, you’ll certainly smell the alluring aroma of smoke and beef.
The original grill location in Beltsville is nestled in an industrial park near railroad tracks and fires up beef suya, chicken wings and tilapia from noon-7 p.m.
The truck is geared toward larger orders, but individual diners can get $10 cups of suya and jollof rice — or visit the New Carrollton brick-and-mortar location, which opened in 2025.
My recent order came with a side of a fiery, habanero hot sauce. I couldn’t resist dunking strips of charred, fatty beef even as my mouth begged for mercy.
Tse said he appreciates recent truck visitors who have patiently waited, partly because of a recent surge in customers from a viral social media video.
It’s well worth the wait.
Jodeem African Cuisine
6000 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt
Beltway Plaza Mall isn’t necessarily where you’d expect to find savory Nigerian stews, but just down the hall from a Planet Fitness, Jodeem African Cuisine has been serving some of the county’s finest since 2014.
Some classics, such as okaro (okra) and egusi (ground seeds from melons and gourds) soups, are worthy orders on a wide-ranging menu.
But I gravitate toward a classic preparation of comforting jollof rice with stewed chicken drumsticks and a bed of chopped spinach. It’s an elegant and dependable meal that punches well above its mall setting.
Koité Grill
4936 Edgewood Road, College Park, and 8626 Colesville Road, Silver Spring
The Koité family’s namesake grill spans two brick-and-mortar locations, one in Silver Spring and a kitchen in College Park, and a mobile grill that pops up across the counties.
What you want here is the dibi lamb.
Koite’s menu proclaims it: “DMV’s best grilled lamb period.”
It’d be hard for me to disagree.
Chunks of tender, bone-in lamb are served a la carte or over a bed of broken-grain rice and accompanied by thick, charred ribbons of sweet onions. The lamb is a simple preparation of salt meeting a hot grill.
A small portion could be enough food to feed two, but on a recent visit I unashamedly inhaled the scorching-hot takeout container in one go.
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