I'm an American of Nigerian descent, a local journalist, and a foodie. I had just about given up on Nigerian food in Atlanta. I've never been fond of my native cuisine. That's a confession. The cultural disconnect is real.
I live four minutes away from Tolex. I drive by it every time I leave Pine Lake. I've been in this restaurant before, under previous ownership, and been disappointed. But I visited the home village in Imo State at Christmas for the first time in my life a few months ago, eating as much authentic Nigerian food as I could. And I wanted to compare notes. I'm glad I did. Tolex beat anything I ate in the village, and anything I had at the high-end restaurants in Abuja on the way home.
Purists will hear that and argue that claim to death, of course. But the truth is, Nigeria is hurting right now and it shows up in the food culture. The quality of ingredients available in a market in Nigeria has deteriorated with the economy. People have been struggling to find enough to eat. Those conditions can shape the practices of a cook, and a real chef makes something work.
Take that skill, and apply it to what can be obtained in an Atlanta-area farmers market - which is to say, absolutely anything - and you get Tolex. It is operating in the better traditions of Black American food, produced with ingenuity, well seasoned without a lot of flash.
I ordered suya, which is traditionally a northern Nigerian dish, along with jollof rice and plantains. Suya is a simple dish - grilled meat prepared with a peppery spice that includes roasted peanut, garlic and paprika. Jollof rice is a spiced tomato dish omnipresent in west African cuisine. Plantains are universal.
Each was perfect. Plantains done properly are actually hard to find in Atlanta. It an easy measure of the quality of a kitchen for me. If they can do plantains well, they should have the gear and skill to do other basics well. The suya was tender without being overdone, with an excellent spice blend. The jollof rice was flavorful and did not have unnecessary embellishments - everyone wants their jollof rice to be special, and invariably that ends up turning a simple dish into an overwrought, time-consuming error.
Tolex is a hole in the wall at the end of a strip mall filled with ethnic African businesses that is likely to be overlooked by anyone who can't read Amharic or Somali. But the parking lot was full. So was the counter, with brown bags for takeout. This iteration of the restaurant appears to be surviving on a robust DoorDash business. The restaurant interior is what you'd expect in a strip mall: working class seating with a TV playing Burna Boy videos.
Atlanta has had dozens of Nigerian restaurants open and close over the years. Many have been marketed as flashy, upscale "elite" establishments designed to project an image of success - Yahoo Boy aesthetics - while overcharging for average fare, counting on ethnic affinities to get them through without actually building those relationships.
As I sat there, a parade of customers came through, most of whom were Nigerian, many of whom were familiar with the owner and the business. Tolex is the equivalent of the family restaurant in a Chinatown or Indian neighborhood that is primarily patronized by the diaspora community. And that might be why it works.
Tolex is not cheap. But it's also not more expensive than any other decent restaurant on the east side. A plate, a drink and a side will set you back about $28 before taxes and a tip. So far, it's worth every penny. read more