Maty’s African Cuisine doubling size with new building

After several years, the city of Detroit has sold a vacant building to Maty’s African Restaurant on W. Grand River, allowing the owner to double his footprint and expand the menu.

An immigrant from Senegal, owner Amady Gueye opened the restaurant in 2017 with menu items like whole grilled red snapper, lamb shank, deep-fried street food item fataya, and sides like fried plantain and yellow rice. In 2018, the restaurant made the Detroit Free Press Best New Restaurant list.

In 2021, Gueye applied to buy the adjacent building to expand the restaurant, which triggered a years-long waiting game with the city. On April 2, City Council approved the sale of the property, 21607 W. Grand River, for $36,000.

“I’ve been waiting a long time. It’s too long, way long time,” said Gueye. “I want to extend it so I can have a big kitchen, I can have more food, a big dining room.”

City spokesperson John Roach said the city sold the property to Gueye as fast as it could and that an issue with the previous owner delayed the sale. Gueye first applied to purchase the building in May 2021, but the prior owner hadn’t vacated it yet and there was a moratorium on evictions at the time, Roach said. It wasn’t until last summer that the previous owner was evicted and the building was cleared out, allowing Gueye to move in.

“The city moved as quickly as Maty’s and the law would allow,” said Roach by email.

Gueye said the next step is to try and get a loan to do the renovations, including fixing the roof damage. After he expands, he said he will add several more employees for a total of 9 or 10 and will also build out the food menu with more baked goods, like African doughnuts and other dishes.

Beyond his own restaurant expansion, Gueye said he wants to see the local neighborhood thrive and wants to throw block parties or festivals to help it get there.

As of 2019, there were approximately 14,000 African immigrants living in metro Detroit. Today, there are approximately 17,700 in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area, according to 2022 census data. Northwest Detroit, where Maty’s is located, has become one of a few concentrated areas of African immigrants in Detroit.

“I want this area to be booming, like Livernois. That’s what I want and I need help for that,” he said, noting that it takes a lot of money to advertise his business, and a lot of community support to sustain a restaurant.

Chef Gabriel McNeil, who owns the building that Gueye rents for Maty’s African Cuisine, echoed his sentiment.

“I’d like the neighborhood to build up, the whole reason we got the building in the first place was to add more flavor,” said McNeil, who is also the kitchen manager at the Detroit People’s Food Co-op, a Black-led cooperatively owned grocery store opening in the North End on May 1. “I’m excited,” he said, to see Maty’s African Cuisine expand.

Rachsed Laya, also from Senegal, stopped by on a recent Tuesday afternoon after work. He said he has been coming to the restaurant every day since it first opened.

“I don’t have a favorite [dish], all of them good,” he said. “It’s like family. [Gueye] is a friend, we from the same country, so this is my favorite food,” he said, adding that an expansion would be great.

“People love it.”

Maty’s African Cuisine is located at 21611 Grand River and you can follow them on TikTok.