Man Must Wak Adding a Restaurant to its New Oakland Market

According to KQED , local African and Caribbean market Man Must Wak debuted a new Oakland location on June 15, “and announced plans to build out a fast-casual restaurant on the premises by summer 2025.”

“This is a decades-long dream,” owner Queenkay Amamgbo tells the Journal. She adds, “I wanted a place where I could have a kitchen and a parking lot.”

While it is new at 401 E. 18th Street , Man Must Wak was founded around 26 years ago. “The original market on 8th Street in Old Oakland is the place to go for hard-to-find ingredients that offer a taste of home, like goat, stockfish, egusi (melon seeds), and plantain chips,” KQED shares.

“The big renovation is still to come, but the vision for the fast-casual restaurant is a hot bar lined with steaming trays of grilled meats, fried rice and more. So you’ll swing through the door, hit the hot bar right in the center, peruse the market over to the left, and snag a seat at one of the tables outside,” the Journal continues.

It’ll be a fusion of African and Caribbean cuisine,” Amamgbo continues — “The best of both worlds… The best Nigerian jollof rice. Period.”

The market is currently open for business, and locals can look forward to events leading up to the restaurant’s debut.

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