Safari Express, Minnesota - USA
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Safari Express success
The proprietors of Safari, the Midwest’s most adventurous African restaurant, have opened a spin-off in the Midtown Global Market. Safari Express offers fast food based on the innovative menu of the original Eat Street location, but with its own signature style.
The new restaurant is a buffet serving much of the eclectic menu popularized by Sade Hashi when he opened the original Safari on Nicollet and 15th Street in 2000. Safari quickly gained notice by adding a gourmet touch to East African dishes.
Safari Express is the brainchild of younger brother Jamal Hashi, who has worked alongside Sade the past several years.
“I got the idea in 2004 on a visit to Europe,” said Jamal. “I was in Stockholm, Sweden, and there was this amazing international bazaar. I thought Safari would really fit a mix like that, and when Midtown Exchange opened, I knew I had to get in there.”
And get in there the Hashis did, with considerable help from the African Development Center. ADC provided training, extensive technical assistance and financing over the past two years to help launch Safari Express, its fifth client business to open inside the Midtown Global Market.
That opening came in mid-September of 2006, after much anticipation. Jamal acknowledges that he had hoped to open in June, catching the wave of the Midtown Global Market’s grand opening. However, the financing and construction came together slower than anticipated.
“Challenges like that are what teach you,” Jamal said. “You’ve got to expect the unexpected. Adapt.”
He said traffic was brisk during Safari Express’ first week. At one recent dinner hour, the restaurant had a steady stream of customers, Jamal’s outgoing personality drawing people in, and the food — including a Safari Express signature dish called “green chokula” — bringing them back.
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Mr. Jamal Hashi is serving one of his clients
“It’s different, it’s new,” Jamal says of people’s interest in Safari Express. “I think when you open a restaurant you need to ask yourself, ‘Why should people eat at here?’ For Safari Express, it’s the uniqueness. For most people, we’re exotic because we’re serving African fare, but even then we have a twist because we have our own taste that adds new flavor to traditional recipes.”
Indeed, with its fusion of ethnic dishes and a contemporary style, Safari Express has the catchy menu and brand awareness that has launched other immigrant-owned start-ups on Lake Street into local chains. Two such expanding brands, Manny’s Tortas and La Loma Tamales, are Jamal’s neighbors in the Midtown Global Market. Jamal says proximity to other growth-oriented entrepreneurs is one of the perks of being part of the market.
“It’s great meeting these guys and hearing their stories,” he said. “They’ve walked in my shoes, and I take inspiration from what they’ve done.”
Jamal said Safari Express has five employees on its busiest shift. He himself is a constant presence, working from 7 am to 9 pm every day, a schedule made a bit easier because he lives upstairs in an apartment at the Midtown Exchange.
http://www.adcminnesota.org/page/success-stories/safari-express
Safari Express success
The proprietors of Safari, the Midwest’s most adventurous African restaurant, have opened a spin-off in the Midtown Global Market. Safari Express offers fast food based on the innovative menu of the original Eat Street location, but with its own signature style.
The new restaurant is a buffet serving much of the eclectic menu popularized by Sade Hashi when he opened the original Safari on Nicollet and 15th Street in 2000. Safari quickly gained notice by adding a gourmet touch to East African dishes.
Safari Express is the brainchild of younger brother Jamal Hashi, who has worked alongside Sade the past several years.
“I got the idea in 2004 on a visit to Europe,” said Jamal. “I was in Stockholm, Sweden, and there was this amazing international bazaar. I thought Safari would really fit a mix like that, and when Midtown Exchange opened, I knew I had to get in there.”
And get in there the Hashis did, with considerable help from the African Development Center. ADC provided training, extensive technical assistance and financing over the past two years to help launch Safari Express, its fifth client business to open inside the Midtown Global Market.
That opening came in mid-September of 2006, after much anticipation. Jamal acknowledges that he had hoped to open in June, catching the wave of the Midtown Global Market’s grand opening. However, the financing and construction came together slower than anticipated.
“Challenges like that are what teach you,” Jamal said. “You’ve got to expect the unexpected. Adapt.”
He said traffic was brisk during Safari Express’ first week. At one recent dinner hour, the restaurant had a steady stream of customers, Jamal’s outgoing personality drawing people in, and the food — including a Safari Express signature dish called “green chokula” — bringing them back.
Mr. Jamal Hashi is serving one of his clients
“It’s different, it’s new,” Jamal says of people’s interest in Safari Express. “I think when you open a restaurant you need to ask yourself, ‘Why should people eat at here?’ For Safari Express, it’s the uniqueness. For most people, we’re exotic because we’re serving African fare, but even then we have a twist because we have our own taste that adds new flavor to traditional recipes.”
Indeed, with its fusion of ethnic dishes and a contemporary style, Safari Express has the catchy menu and brand awareness that has launched other immigrant-owned start-ups on Lake Street into local chains. Two such expanding brands, Manny’s Tortas and La Loma Tamales, are Jamal’s neighbors in the Midtown Global Market. Jamal says proximity to other growth-oriented entrepreneurs is one of the perks of being part of the market.
“It’s great meeting these guys and hearing their stories,” he said. “They’ve walked in my shoes, and I take inspiration from what they’ve done.”
Jamal said Safari Express has five employees on its busiest shift. He himself is a constant presence, working from 7 am to 9 pm every day, a schedule made a bit easier because he lives upstairs in an apartment at the Midtown Exchange.
http://www.adcminnesota.org/page/success-stories/safari-express
