Aboba’s African Eatery

We’re dying out here! Open, open, open! Miss you so much and we’re starving for good African-​inspired meals!

We tried calling on three different days to only get busy signals and finally a disconnected notice on the last day.
Posted 11÷5÷2015 on their Facebook page, «Aboba’s has closed Temporarily! Follow us for updates when Aboba’s 2.0 will be making its debut!!!»
We miss the food and their family.

Outstanding, authentic African food. Friendly owners, great atmosphere. Chicken shwarma and beef sambusa !!!

I stopped in here for lunch and was completely blown away! I ordered the Chicken Schwarma Pita and a side of the grilled vegetables to go not knowing what to expect. When I got back to my office and dug in to the meal, my first bite of that schwarma hooked me. The savory flavor of the chicken was outstanding, the sauce added a layer of flavor that really brought the dish to a whole new level. The grilled vegetables was a blend of string beans, sweet red peppers, mushrooms and onions, making a perfect compliment to the main dish.
I strongly suggest you try this place, they have a good thing going, the atmosphere of the restaurant is very much a hole in the wall kind of place with some beautiful masks on the wall and clean tables. the Price… Excellent! the portions… Perfect! Does Aboba’s African eatery have new loyal customer. Absolutely!

I actually found this place on Unilocal.My boyfriend and I were looking for something unique and low cost. This place was great! Firstly, the owner was very friendly and helpful. He took our order, made our food, and was our waiter. You could tell he was passionate about his food. The food had the perfect blend of spices and the rice must have had saffron and other aromatic spices… yum! We will definitely be going back. What a little treasure!

The 5 of us shared a family platter of chicken and steak kebabs, deep fried tilapia, and chicken sambusas. Very delicious food! The basmati rice is fluffy, has well separated grains, and well seasoned. The tilapia is surprising good, still moist inside and the batter coating is very light and seasoned. The sambusa is not oily, has a thin light crust (very good technique!) with juicy and tasty chicken mince, carrots/​peas. Altogether, we really like the food, and were pleasantly surprised by the well executed dishes. None of the thick yucky crust and soggy batter on deep fried items here! Keep it up Aboda! Will be back to try other dishes and their catering.

I am now addicted. Best falafel I’ve ever had, fall-​flavored tea to die for, and super friendly owners! A must-​visit for anyone looking for good eats in Rochester.

Diamond in the ruff! Affordable, nutritious, and delicious East African cuisine. The sambusa are AMAZING. The flavors of the cuisine indeed make the experience adventurous. Nice staff too!

Sambusa is good but I feel they cut some of the spice out for the Midwesterners. Other times and places I’ve had it, it’s usually got a little more spice to it. Which I prefer. They were smaller than other ones I’ve had home made but tasted good. The beef was cooked well. $ 2.50 for one didn’t seem too high even though they were kind of small. Chicken shwarma pita was good as well. Similar to a chicken gyro for those wondering. I was told someone came through and cleaned them out of their rice with a large order before I arrived. I’ll be going back to try it.

Wow. I still crave the sambusas. My wife and i went there for a date night not long ago. It is a nice and small little place. It doesn’t have a parking lot close to it. So park either along the street or be ready for a little walk. The restaurant itself is a little space, but clean and well lit. As soon as you walk in, you can smell the spices and oil used for cooking. It was an immediate salivary experience. Walk up to the front counter and see the little menu taped to the counter. They don’t have a lot of options, so rest assured that each one is good. My wife had the chicken with pita and I had the fish over rice. The rice was cooked to perfection and spiced beautifully. The fish was pan fried and had a nice and clean texture and taste. The spicing in the coating was pleasant and the meat was juicy and flaky: perfectly cooked. The sambusas come with a sweet chili sauce and comprise a deep fried heaven. The price for our entire meal was also under 30 dollars as well. Excellent value for an excellent meal. We will be back over and over again.

I had lunch there today and the food is out of this world! I had the chicken shwarma and rice it was excellent. The owners are warm and welcoming. I am telling all my friends and hope this new restaurant will be around for a long time!
I will definitely return whenever I’m in Rochester!!! Thank you for awakening my tastebuds!!!

So glad to see a new «African» place in town after the recent closing of The Nile (though admittedly there is no overlap in cuisine). Can’t say I’ve had a lot of authentic Schwarma or Sambusa, but the chicken schwarma and beef Sambusa I had today were fast, hot, fresh and tasty. Everything you could ask for out of a perfect lunch. I’ll definitely be back with friends for dinner to try their other dishes!

This is hands down some of the best food I had in months. This place is a nice and tidy family run joint that offers excellent food for a great price. I had the meat sumbousa and the chicken shawarma with rice and my taste buds were celebrating every bite. The originality of the recipe and the fresh ingredients combined with the nicest modest attitude from the owner makes me want to go back for more. Chicken is tender and tasty, rice is cooked to perfection with gold and orange colors of saffron and the crunchy fresh dough of the samosa, in all a divine meal. Thank you!

Aboba truly is a hidden gem. It is in between the Middle Eastern place and the bike shop.
I ordered the sambusa, falafel pita and chicken shawarma with rice. The woman working there was so kind and friendly, and when she rang us up with out adding the chicken, she gave it to us anyway (in return, I promised I will be back, which I plan to uphold, especially after eating my delicious meal!)
The sambusa is delectable! It is so flavorful and comes with a unique dipping sauce. The falafel was perfect, and it the balls were cut, which allowed me to scarf it down with out fussing. The chicken had such great flavors, and the sauces for both the chicken and falafel were also a nice touch. The rice with the chicken had a bay leaf, in my book that’s a sign that a restaurant truly cares about the food they are serving.

The atmosphere is still under development, but the FOOD – WOW! the owners obviously put their hearts and souls into creating an awesome dining experience for their guests. And the hot tea was incredible.
Our party tried a little bit of just about everything on the menu, and every dish was outstanding. The sambusas are ridiculously good, and the kofte was some of the best I’ve ever had.
We kind of wished we lived in Rochester so we could be regulars here. The consolation is they’re thinking of eventually expanding to the Twin Cities. We’ll be first in line!

The address is actually 1205 7^th st NW. Phone number is 507−990−1971! Closed on Sunday’s!

This food, man… hits the spot! Just came back from stuffing my face with their delicious chicken pita, sambusa and steak and rice. The flavor profile? Like west india meets Africa. The sambusa was full of fennel and some other tasty things. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would eat again. Good service to boot.

You want good food at a great price? Then this is the place! Goat, beef, chicken & the fish all taste great! Without any doubt this restaurant tops my list for Rochester!

Best Falafel I have ever had. So, so good. The new location (right next to the old one) is much nicer as well.

Great food. Served quickly by the friendly staff. Really inexpensive too for a very generously portioned meal. You can tell it’s menu is made from scratch and they use locally sourced high quality meat. I will be back!