An Afro-fusion pop-up that hit obstacles opening up its first brick-and-mortar in Detroit has found a new home at the East Warren Corridor.
Little Liberia will open in the fall of this year, owner and chef Ameneh Marhaba told Hour Detroit, and it will be on the ground floor of a mixed-use development called The Ribbon at 16530 E Warren Ave.
The new space will feature a bar serving cocktails and mocktails, along with a main dining area, high-top tables, a retail area for Little Liberia’s merch, and garage doors that can be opened in the summertime to lead to an outdoor dining space.
The restaurant was originally going to open at 6513 Woodward Avenue, What Now Detroit previously reported, but Marhaba said in a social media post in December that the project “had a couple roadblocks.”
According to its website, Little Liberia’s cuisine is “an admixture of African, Caribbean, and Antebellum-South African American influences.”
The business began as a catering and pop-up business for Marhaba since 2016, after which she auditioned for MasterChef in 2019 and then won the 2022 Comerica Hatch Detroit contest. She took home the $100,000 grand prize from the contest, which “will support her dream of moving into a brick-and-mortar location,” according to the website.
[Editor’s Note: What Now Detroit has reached out to Marhaba for more information.]
