AFRA GRILL EXPRESS @ Easton | AFRICAN & SOMALI CUISINE — Restaurant in Columbus

We tried Afra Grill for the first time at 6 pm on a Saturday night. Parking/Access: large parking lot across the street. I had to circle a few times but not too bad finding a spot in Easton even for a Saturday night.

Atmosphere: casual, fast food eatery. Clean. Inviting smell of spices. A woman can be seen in a beautiful dress cooking in the kitchen with two younger gentlemen serving at the front.

Service: The man fulfilling our take out orders didn't speak much English with us but he was polite enough to understand our orders without issues.

Food: we ordered the Pilipi chicken and the Chicken Afra both with Jollop rice, beans, plantains and corn. Protein: both dishes had very tender and flavorful chicken. Not one bad bite with either chicken.

Flavor: The restaurant menu declared "favorite dish" Chicken Afra had a nice, thick savory sauce with medium sized cuts of chicken and with a enjoyable blend of spice. The Pilipi was a large drum stick jerk spiced that even my teenager thoroughly enjoyed. Both dishes had just a slight touch of heat from spice but very mild. The Fantastic sauce added some sweetness to the dish but largely wasn't needed. The Jollop rice, beans and corn weren't anything extradinary. But the plantains were delicious.

The food traveled 30 minutes to home and even though it was food sitting in their serving tin the food still seemed very fresh. So our takeouts traveled very well.

Value: the portions were nice sized and definitely filling but no leftovers. For two Afra Chickens and one Pilipi with extra plantains the price came to $51.

I would characterize the food as happy comfort food as we all throughly enjoyed our meals and sharing bites to compare made for a fun atmosphere.

Would we return? The consensus among the three of us was the food was good but we wouldn't rush back for more. We were glad we tried and it was an overall better food experience than we had with other local African restaurants. I think overall the dishes were just heavily starched and needed a little more depth. Perhaps we should've ordered more veggies (maybe a recommendation by a server would've helped if we asked).

Overall rating: I can't rate prepared/sitting food at 5 stars. But I would say the meals were 3.5 stars but add .5 star for the quality of chicken. 4 stars! I would definitely recommend Afra Grill to anyone looking for...

My wife and I had been wanting to visit Afra Grill for a while now. Our opportunity finally came when we were hungry and wandering around Easton!

We both opted for the jollof rice – I paired mine with jerk chicken while my wife chose the salmon. Both of us went for the spicy sauce to add an extra kick to our meals. Admittedly, our initial impressions were mixed due to the mediocre service and high prices. The staff didn't seem particularly attentive, we felt that the customer service could use some improvement. Because of this, our expectations for the food were tempered.

However, once we took our first bites, we were absolutely blown away. The food turned out to be some of the most flavorful we've ever had. My jerk chicken was bussing as my nieces and nephew would say. The chicken was bursting with spices and perfectly cooked, while the jollof rice was hands down the best I've ever tasted. My wife’s salmon was equally impressive – moist, well-seasoned, and delicious. The spicy sauce added just the right amount of heat and enhanced the flavors of both dishes.

We also decided to try the french fries, which were surprisingly good, adding a delightful crunch to our meal. To wash it all down, we had the mango drink, which was refreshingly tasty and a perfect complement to the spicy dishes.

While the prices were on the higher side and the customer service left much to be desired, the incredible food more than made up for these shortcomings. Afra Grill serves excellent, flavorful dishes that are worth every penny. Despite the service and cost, we will definitely be returning to explore more of their menu. If you're looking for a place with outstanding African cuisine, Afra Grill is...

Stopped here for dinner before a football game. I was excited since the reviews were so good and we weren’t disappointed! Food was amazing. Everything had so much flavor I really didn’t need the extra sauces. I ordered the jollof rice with goat, veggies, corn, noodles and plantains. My bf ordered the jollof rice, lamb shank, veggies, plantains, fresh salsa and pickled onions. Goat was very flavorful with some bone-in pieces and good slow heat. Lamb was probably some of the best we’ve ever had, better than the goat. Rice was amazing with just the right amount of heat. Plantains stole the show, especially when eaten with the pickled onions. Noodles were very interesting, almost more of a dessert as they were sweet and tasted like Christmas with cloves and nutmeg in the seasoning. I had the juice with coconut in it, he had the mango and we shared. Both were very good. The coconut drink was thicker and would make an excellent smoothie! Only downside was the guy at the counter. This was our first time eating African food and my bf had questions, but the guy had a heavier accent, was difficult to hear/understand and it didn’t seem like he was interested in answering questions. Still, so wish we had one of these locations in Lansing, MI. Next time we’re in Columbus we will for...