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This Nigerian Immigrant and Restaurant Owner Is Supporting His Community One Meal at a Time
From free meals to spice bundles and authentic recipes, this entrepreneur is committed to sharing the love through the flavors of his home.
Nearly 11 years ago, Lookman Afolayan and his business partner Nat Goldberg opened Buka, a Brooklyn restaurant serving the best of Nigerian flavors and recipes in a comfortable, polished restaurant space. “Often you can find one or the other, but you can’t really find both,” Goldberg explains. “So that was our mission: Authentic, traditional Nigerian cooking with the quality of service and professionalism that one could expect from an American or European restaurant.”
“We were really going for a feeling of nostalgia,” she continues. “Most of our customers are Nigerian, so we want to give them the feeling of being at home. There’s a place for [fine dining or fusion], but that’s not what we’re trying to do.”
Everything from the food and drink names to the physical decor of the space pays homage to home. There’s even a vintage yellow van — Nigeria’s signature public transit bus — that’s been transformed into a cozy booth for photo ops.
“He’s very bold. He has big ideas and he’s not afraid to just go after them. And his heart is very much in the right place with everything that he’s doing,” Nat says of Lookman. Like most of the restaurant community though, the pandemic has brought obstacles.
“In addition to the things that are very self-evident — and all the stress that goes along with not knowing what the future holds — restaurants, in particular, come under the umbrella of so many government agencies,” she explains. “It’s a full-time job in itself just trying to keep up with the changing requirements, so that’s been really hard,” Nat confesses.
Still, they’ve kept their focus, adapting in whatever ways they can to continue to show up and serve their community. They’ve altered their work schedules to keep employees on the payroll as much as possible while minimizing contact to try and keep everyone healthy. “We’ve also put notices up on social media to the Nigerian community. If someone doesn’t have the finances to eat, we’ll give them food,” Nat says. Once a day, Buka offers free meals, no questions asked, with the motto: Eating is a must, payment is by choice.
He’s very bold. He has big ideas and he’s not afraid to just go after them. And his heart is very much in the right place with everything that he’s doing.”– Nat Goldberg
They’re also launching a selection of grocery items for purchase. “I’ve been packaging up a lot of the spices and dried ingredients that we use to cook our recipes. We buy them wholesale, imported from Nigeria, because you can’t buy them here. It’s an idea we had a long time ago but didn’t have the resources to implement,” she explains. They hope to expand their reach, sharing Nigerian flavors and recipes across the U.S.
Although the future is unknown, Nat and Lookman are proud of the impact they’ve had in their community. “People have come to us and said, ‘I met my fiancé at your restaurant!’” Nat says. “We’ve really been a foundation of the Nigerian community over the past 10 years. It’s been about so much more than just filling stomachs.”
Lookman’s story is part of a powerful series highlighting the hope and resilience of small business owners across America. Whether your business is well-established or just starting out, U.S. Bank has all the banking tools and support you need to keep your business dreams alive and thriving.
