Hamissi Mamba's mother sold chapati and brochettes in the markets of Bujumbura, Burundi, when he was a kid. Decades later, he and his wife Nadia Nijimbere are opening their second Detroit restaurant in the same spirit, in a building that mattered for almost as long to a different community. Waka by Baobab Fare is moving into 2465 Russell Street, the Eastern Market storefront that was Russell Street Deli for over 30 years until the deli closed in 2019.
The space has sat empty since. Mamba and Nijimbere first announced the deal in May 2024, and as of fall 2025 the build is approaching completion. Waka started as a food truck in 2022, an offshoot of the couple's Burundian restaurant Baobab Fare in New Center.
The yellow truck parks at Eastern Market once a month outside Shed 5 and serves chapati wrapped around stewed meats and vegetables, plus brochettes, the East African charcoal-grilled meat skewer. The brick-and-mortar version expands the menu and the hours but keeps the format fast-casual: order at the counter, eat in or take out, around 30 seats. Renovation costs are estimated at $600,000.
Russell Street Deli's closure was a real loss for Eastern Market regulars, who treated the place like a neighborhood living room. The new build does not try to replace it. Mamba and Nijimbere, both refugees from Burundi, have always treated their restaurants as cultural projects first.
Mamba won Food Network's "Chopped." Baobab Fare has been a James Beard Award nominee. The Soko retail line they launched stocks beverages, coffee, and chocolate from East Africa. Waka fits a pattern.
The Eastern Market space is the second of three projects the couple has in motion, alongside a planned second Baobab Fare on Detroit's east side. Annual revenue projections for Waka's brick-and-mortar are around $1 million, roughly five to seven times what the food truck pulls. Twenty employees are planned.
The space is leased from Sanford Nelson's Firm Real Estate. Waka by Baobab Fare, 2465 Russell Street, Detroit.
