A Nigerian restaurant is set to open its doors on San Antonio’s East Side next month, taking over the building that housed a beloved barbecue spot for a decade. Oringo Africana will open at noon on September 5 at 1701 E. Houston St., bringing dishes like suya tacos, egusi soup, and stretchy fufu made from yam-based poundo flour to the historic Dignowity Hill neighborhood.
The restaurant is the brainchild of chef Ugochukwu Ijoma, who is originally from Arochukwu, Nigeria, according to CultureMap San Antonio. Oringo Africana started small, as a cottage take-out business, before expanding into a food truck at 9501 Computer Dr. Now it’s making the leap to a full sit-down restaurant, joining what the outlet describes as only a handful of African restaurants currently operating in San Antonio.
The address carries some local history. The building spent ten years as the home of Dignowity Meats, a barbecue destination that closed for good on December 30, 2024, according to KSAT. That restaurant was originally founded in 2014 by co-owners Andrew Samia, Shane Reed, Denise Aguirre, and Noel Cisneros, and it earned national attention after appearing on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” per the San Antonio Current.
From Home Kitchen to Storefront
Before Oringo Africana had a truck or a storefront, it operated as a home-based pickup and delivery service out of 111 Probandt Street, according to a Facebook post detailing the business’s progression. Ahead of the storefront opening, the restaurant highlighted egusi soup served with fufu as its top-selling item on social media, alongside dishes including okro stew, fried tilapia with plantains, and efo riro, a leafy vegetable stew. Jollof rice with chicken will also be on the menu, per CultureMap’s reporting…