Fola Jinadu’s career as an immigration lawyer and, later, a Lt. Commander in the United States Merchant Marines was far from fulfilling and actually took a damaging emotional toll. Looking “to do something that made me happy on a daily basis,” he turned to his Nigerian roots and had an epiphany when he observed a restaurant in his native country serving Suya-style cuisine. Immediately upon returning to the United States in late 2015, he started Suya Spot in the Randallstown section of Baltimore County. His second restaurant, situated at Metro Centre at Owings Mills, is expected to open at the Transit-Oriented Development in mid-June.
“The philosophy of the restaurant is ‘eat, sit and connect’ and that is apparent when you observe the consumers at Suya Spot interacting, having fun and enjoying the cuisine of their native African-American heritage,” explained Jinadu. “The experience is quite different from any other restaurant concept as evidenced by the large group of people that are eating the food they crave, as well as completely being immersed with the other patrons.”
The Suya Spot menu emphasizes food items accented with yagi spice, which is an organic product that will be exported directly from Nigeria. “It is our secret sauce if you will, and creates a completely unique flavoring when applied to our variety of grilled items,” Jinadu explained. The Suya menu items include grilled beef and lamb, chicken, shrimp, fish, Asun (goat), Nkwobi (cow foot) and snail, as well as catfish pepper soup and assorted meat pepper soup. A number of side dishes are also available including Moimoi, which is Nigerian-steamed bean pudding.
“We slightly upgraded our Randallstown restaurant to achieve an environment that will encourage patrons to linger at Metro Centre,” Jinadu explained. “We were attracted to the project because it is pleasing to the eye, is extremely well-designed and situated in a section of Baltimore County that attracts many different audiences, including businesspeople and local residents. Best of all, Metro Centre helps accomplish my goal, which is to operate a location that people will look forward to going to. And they will have fun, relax and enjoy everyone’s company.”
Suya Spot joins existing restaurants Eggspectation, Times Square Kitchen, Subway and Fractured Prune. World of Beer is also expected to open within the next several weeks.
“Fola is a seasoned restaurant entrepreneur and among the most passionate and energetic businesspeople I have ever encountered,” stated Ken Bernstein of David S. Brown Enterprises. “He understands his audience completely and has perfected a restaurant concept that will immediately become a destination.”
Metro Centre at Owings Mills is being developed by Owings Mills Transit, LLC and managed by David S. Brown Enterprises, Ltd. It is designed to support more than 1.2 million square feet of Class “A” office space; 200,000 square feet of complementary retail space; 1700 residential units; educational facilities totaling 120,000 square feet and a hotel offering 250 rooms.
David S. Brown Enterprises, LTD., founded in 1933 and headquartered in
