Niema's
Texas Street at sunset from the restaurant's balcony, palm fronds in the foreground
Grand opening weekend · Oct 16–18

Kushɛ. Welcome to Niema's.

West African and Caribbean cooking from Chef Niema DiGrazia of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Upstairs at 617 Texas Street.

See the menu Directions

Kushɛ means hello in Krio, the language of Freetown.

Texas Street at dusk from the balcony, street lamps glowing
Palms and string lights along the balcony rail at sunset

Texas Street

Downtown, one floor up.

The balcony

Dinner over Texas Street.

01 · Upstairs at the Robinson Film Center

Now showing: Niema's.

The entry: brick wall, host stand and a Niema's poster
Scene 1 · Past the red rug
The bar, a row of round-back leather stools
Scene 2 · The bar
Lamp-lit tables beside a velvet curtain in the dining room
Scene 3 · The dining room
The painted jungle mural beside a curtain tied back with rope
Scene 4 · The mural

02 · Where it comes from

The flavors of home.

Groundnuts, cassava leaves, palm oil and pepper, from Freetown and the wider West African kitchen.

04 · Chef Niema DiGrazia

From Freetown to Texas Street.

Niema grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, watching her mother cook over a coal pot. In Shreveport she started with a food truck in 2020, opened Niema's Cookery Corner on Youree Drive, then ran the kitchen at Abby Singer's Bistro. Now the room on Texas Street is hers.

  • Won Beat Bobby Flay with her maafe · 2025
  • Louisiana Cookin' Chef to Watch · 2022
  • Cooked for Shreveport-Bossier at Essence Festival · 2026
“Every time I cook, I carry both places in my spirit — the boldness of Sierra Leone and the soul of Louisiana.”Chef Niema, to the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate, 2025

05 · Visit

Kabɔ. Come on up.

Hours