Africatown Restaurant Week showcases Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia

The food choices span the Caribbean (notably Jamaica) and nations including Liberia, Nigeria, and Senegal. All restaurants are offering 15% discounts on orders of $20 or more.

The smoke of lamb being grilled pours from a chimney at Le Mandingue, an African restaurant on Woodland Avenue at Shields Street in Southwest Philadelphia.Read moreJOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer

by Michael Klein

Published April 12, 2023, 9:00 a.m. ET

The first Africatown Restaurant Week, through April 16, is putting the spotlight on a dozen restaurants, mostly in the neighborhood and commercial corridor of Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia.

It’s the heart of a thriving African and Caribbean community. The Pew Research Center estimated last year that the Philadelphia region is home to more than 120,000 African and Caribbean immigrants from about 35 countries. About half live in Southwest Philadelphia.

The restaurant week’s food choices span the Caribbean (notably Jamaica) and the nations of sub-Saharan Africa known as ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), including Burkina Faso, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria, and Liberia.

For good measure, there’s also a pizzeria. (Two restaurants, Abyssinia and Youma, are in West Philadelphia, outside of the zone.)

Each restaurant is offering a 15% discount on food orders of $20 or more.

Abyssinia, 229 S. 45th St.

Ackee Tree Restaurant, 6631 Woodland Ave.

African Small Pot, 6505 Woodland Ave.

ECOWAS African & American Restaurant, 6421 Woodland Ave.

Jam Rock Jamaican Restaurant, 6155 Woodland Ave.

Le Baobab Restaurant, 5353 Woodland Ave.

Sahara African Food, 6528 Woodland Ave.

Taste Is Yours (aka Fast Break), 5411 Woodland Ave.

Le Mandingue Restaurant, 6620 Woodland Ave.

4 Seasons Café & Snack, 6643 Woodland Ave.

Pete’s Pizza II, 6047 Woodland Ave.

Youma Restaurant, 4519 Baltimore Ave.

Sponsors include the Philadelphia-based African Cultural Alliance of North America, which helps new immigrants; the African and Caribbean Business Council, which supports businesses; Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson; and the city Commerce Department.