Photos by Michael Piazza

For years, residents have worked diligently to cultivate the historic identity of Roxbury as other neighborhoods of Boston fall victim to gentrification. Nubian Markets has added a part to Roxbury’s identity to ensure this neighborhood continues to be for and by the community.

On any given Saturday afternoon, Nubian Markets is a place where you’ll encounter elders shopping effortlessly, neighbors popping in for a quick sandwich or a local organization hosting its community event in the beautifully designed gathering space. This combination café, halal butchery and grocery store celebrates the individuality of residents from all over the continent of Africa and the cultures represented in and around Nubian Square.

Founded by chef Ismail Samad and Yusuf Yassin, the duo partnered with anchoring institutions to create a space with a foothold in the neighborhood for legacy residents and for those to come generations later. The team was able to secure funding to purchase the square footage of the space, guaranteeing Nubian Markets stays in the community for a long time.

“Nubian Markets is not a silver bullet,” says Samad. “We have a lot of work to do and we’re trying to be intentional in getting everyone involved in shifting power and advocating for legacy residents. Nubian Markets is just a continuation of all the hard work residents have been doing to maintain the identity of Roxbury.” This innovative space aims to change the food system by providing residents with quality food options, all while promoting a cooperative economy that centers Black ownership and wealth creation.

Nubian Markets is open Monday through Saturday from 7am–8pm. In the morning, the café serves freshly baked pastries and drinks. Each item showcases flavors of the African diaspora, including signature items like plantain buns with cardamom caramel and the collard-and-cheddar bun. Couple either with a vanilla orange blossom latte or Yassin’s famous chai latte. Around lunchtime, the kitchen shifts to serving hearty meals including bowls and plates, sandwiches and salads.

The made-to-order menu at Nubian Markets is thoughtfully curated to highlight foods from North, South, East, West, Central and Diasporic Africa including various dishes like lamb couscous, ginger beef and injera, jerk chicken, chickpea peanut stew and chicken bunny chow, a kind of bread bowl. Their most popular dish is the Butcher’s Burger, made with halal ground beef from the butchery, cheddar, berbere citrus mayo, tomato jam, shaved onion and lettuce all tucked into a housemade golden pita.

In addition to the dishes representing the cultures and flavors of the communities that live around Nubian Markets, the team intentionally sources from local and regional makers. They’re proud to serve high-quality products that are ethically raised by local farmers with the priority to serve the prominent Muslim communities of Greater Boston. For example, the butchery sources all their meat from regional halal farms.

Signage also plays an important role in how Nubian Markets shares its story with those who walk into the space. The grocery store spotlights products from the African continent and the diaspora, and local vendors like Hillside Harvest Hot Sauce and Hapi African Gourmet. The team at Nubian Markets works with local growers and entrepreneurs to ensure each product is directly sourced from the maker. Every product has a story. It’s an experience that so resembles the streets and villages of many regions in the African continent that some may feel a little nostalgic when they find products that remind them of home.

“We are speaking to as many people as we can, welcoming people to our home, welcoming people to our neighborhood,” says Samad. “It’s an invitation for us to stay, to work together and to stabilize the economy and Nubian Square.”

2565 Washington St., Boston
nubianmarkets.com

This story appeared in the Fall 2023 issue.