Naija Wife Kitchen

Call Directions

Naija Wife Kitchen James Beard Semi Finalist Best Chef Southwest 2025! Gluten Free Nigerian Restaurant in Downtown OKC 🇺🇸❤️🇳🇬 Available for delivery!

10/14/2026

The 3 reasons I’ll be returning to work soon… and it’s 50lbs of audacity between them all …they will only eat Friskies🙄🤣 of Big Back Tabby Cats

So this weekend ya’lls Internet Niece (my 8 year old) came and showed me the Christmas list she is making for Santa…this...
10/13/2026

So this weekend ya’lls Internet Niece (my 8 year old) came and showed me the Christmas list she is making for Santa…this year it’s on a IPad with screenshots drawn circle identifying markers for which particular baby doll. I was talking with my sister and cousin about it and we are all HIGHLY suspicious that sh actually knows that I’m really the one buying the gifts and not Santa 🤣🤦🏾‍♀️ What do y’all think LOL 🤔

Have a great week! Love y’all! I have something in store for everyone but just give me some time. Ya girl is in her healing era getting myself all the way together 🫶🏾 Miss y’all and stay tuned!

Had to come out of hibernation real quick and yell BOOMER 🗣️⭕️☝🏾 because for the past 3 years…that’s been my FAMILY y’al...
10/10/2026

Had to come out of hibernation real quick and yell BOOMER 🗣️⭕️☝🏾 because for the past 3 years…that’s been my FAMILY y’all! I’m so proud of my boys 😭 Aunty Naija owes y’all a wholeeed bunch of fufu LOL!

I’ll come on with an update soon, love y’all and miss y’all!

Thank you so much OKC Young Professionals for allowing me to be among those gracing the cover of 2026 Most Influential Y...
10/05/2026

Thank you so much OKC Young Professionals for allowing me to be among those gracing the cover of 2026 Most Influential Young Professionals of Oklahoma City! It is truly an honor to be part of this amazing community!

From OKC Young Professionals page:

ROOTED IN INFLUENCE. DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES.

The cover of the 2026 Most Influential Young Professionals of Oklahoma City special edition is officially here!

Congratulations to William Tate Dunn, Stephanie Heller, Miriam Ortega and Tahnee Francis on gracing this year’s cover, four outstanding young professionals representing the leadership, ambition and impact shaping Oklahoma City’s future.

But the cover is only the beginning.

This year’s Most Influential rankings were determined by the 2026 Horizons Honoree Class, putting the recognition directly in the hands of fellow young professionals and community leaders who are making an impact across Oklahoma City.

And the final rankings are still under wraps.

The 2026 Most Influential Young Professionals rankings will be revealed LIVE at Horizons 2026.

📍 Coles Garden
📅 October 22, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM

Join us as we celebrate this year’s honorees, reveal the rankings and recognize the young professionals whose leadership and influence are helping shape what comes next for Oklahoma City.

Congratulations again to our 2026 cover honorees:

William Tate Dunn
Stefani
Miriam Ortega
Tahnee Francis

ROOTED HERE. INFLUENCING WHAT’S NEXT.

Presented by Oklahoma City Young Professionals

YoungProfessionals OKC Leadership BuildingWhatsNext

Yesterday, I moved my last few pieces of belongings from The Robinson Renaissance building. For 3 years this was Naija W...
09/30/2026

Yesterday, I moved my last few pieces of belongings from The Robinson Renaissance building. For 3 years this was Naija Wife Kitchen’s home, February would have made 4. It may not have looked like much to some, but as we were cleaning the empty bay yesterday, the smell of bleach brought back memories of our move in process. The late nights until after midnight and sometimes 1am. This bay was NOT turn key ready, we moved into an empty box and I was completely okay with that…because it was MINE! We had to install everything including the sinks, hot water heater, and even fill in the huge countertop gaps in the buffet line because that bay had been abandoned and forgotten for the previous 3 years. Every single piece of commercial equipment, I either watched or physically helped with getting them through my doors. It was a PROCESS and it’s something I’ll never regret.

This was my first location that wasn’t a shared space, it had my name on the lease and mine alone. This little underground bay in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City took my business to heights I would have NEVER dreamed! Some people boldly said it was a bad location, but honey it was PERFECT for ME! It worked and I’m grateful for the brand that I was able to continue to build and grow to a national level down here.

These walls saw me laugh, cry, and even lay out on the floor in physical agony at times. These walls saw my kids finish homework and served as a solace for the community. Whenever someone needed to fed (and I’m not talking paying customer wise), needed directions, or resources…they were drawn directly to these walls though I was the only restaurant on that side of the food court. Most people were automatically drawn to the left when coming down the stairs looking to buy food simply because there were 3 restaurants lined up, but those NEEDING something would always be drawn to the right…straight to these walls. I always wondered why that was and asked myself that question many of times.

It was truly a blessing to be here and I have soooo many memories attached to this place. I am grateful for these 1600 of sq feet that served not only as my 2nd home, but truly served the community. Thank y’all for being part of my story at the Robinson Renaissance. This part of my journey is now complete.

Though I’ll never own another brick and mortar or food truck, just know that Naija Wife Kitchen is wherever I AM 😉 I love y’all…see you on the other side where the sun shines bright ☀️

09/28/2026

Me after checking my Cowboys final score after them having the lead literally 3 minutes in the 4th Quarter 😭😭😭😭 Y’all told me get ready to start taking blood pressure medicine 😮‍💨 That’s ok though, the season is still young! 💙🤍🩶

So what’s Tahnee up to these days? I’m just simply learning to exist lol. Today was my original last day of service for ...
09/25/2026

So what’s Tahnee up to these days? I’m just simply learning to exist lol. Today was my original last day of service for Naija Wife Kitchen before we had to unexpectedly close on 9/4/26 instead. Since then there have been a wave of emotions on my end, both good and not so good.

Do I feel like a failure? Absolutely NOT. Naija Wife Kitchen accomplished everything I aimed for it to do which was make West African cuisine popular in Oklahoma alongside other more common ethic cuisines. From 2020-2026, I managed to keep a brick and mortar open 5 of those years which became more and more successful each location, each year, which eventually led me all the way to the James Beard Awards. We didn’t just go local, honey we went NATIONAL! So no, I don’t think I failed in a business aspect …I honestly just believe I failed in separating my own personal identity from my brand.

This week has been rough physically because of an ugly back to school bug I was “blessed” with by my 3rd grader lol so we have both been down on antibiotics since Monday. Then with me being in bed most of the time, my mind wandered so much that I had a full on anxiety attack Wednesday because I DONT have anything to worry about 🤦🏾‍♀️

For 6 years I’ve been the Hustle Woman, The Boss Lady, the one putting out fires, worried about inventory, marketing, going to the next level, new menu items, improving original menu items, managing staff, pivoting with call ins and late arrivals ect. I was the Chef, the GM, Marketing Director, Server, HR, and Cleaning crew. Plus dealing with constant harassment both online and in person because some people believe that an American woman shouldn’t be cooking Nigerian food and certainly not owning a Nigerian restaurant…like y’all they tried to basically run me out of MY hometown. I will sit down and tell EVERYTHING when the time is right because it is my story to tell and it finally deserves to be heard. From random individuals, to other cooks and even other local restaurant owners and their “peers” …it was pure evil for literally the most stupid reason ever. The stress that caused me almost daily was enough to keep my blood pressure elevated and mentally on edge because I didn’t know what they were going to do next or who they were going to send to intimidate me the next time. It was CRAZY and has been going on for YEARS.

But anyways, Wednesday I literally started panicking …because for the first time in 6 years I couldn’t think of a single thing I had to panic about and my nervous system didn’t know how to regulate that feeling. It’s crazy how the human body works. Survival mode, “fight or flight”, chronic stress…our bodies are not meant to function this way, yet this has been my reality for a long time.

So like I said, these days I’m just learning to exist. I have some time to discover Tahnee apart from Naija Wife and it’s just in time for my 40th birthday coming up in a few months. I won’t be gone from the culinary scene forever y’all. Just give me a little bit of time and I’ll brb lol. Love y’all and thank you for rocking with me for so long. Don’t go anywhere because I have something for you soon. Have a beautiful weekend and I’ll be seeing you soon 😉

Love,
Just Tahnee 🫶🏾

I miss y’all so much 🥹 One of my longest loyal customers who has been with me for years decided she was just gonna try t...
09/25/2026

I miss y’all so much 🥹 One of my longest loyal customers who has been with me for years decided she was just gonna try to do it herself this morning 🤣🤦🏾‍♀️ Yes the Naija Fusion Fries were one of my original Naija/American fusion dishes I came up with years ago. I just stopped serving them because as my customer base increased, they took too much time to make. They were did well tho! Hope y’all are doing well. I want to come on and talk to y’all soon, it’s just been a rough week physically for me. Love y’all!!!!

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art event One Work, Many Voices was a complete success! It was an honor to be able to co lea...
09/22/2026

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art event One Work, Many Voices was a complete success! It was an honor to be able to co lead a community discussion centered around a beautiful art work, but also to serve and connect with the community! A major highlight of the event was getting to meet
Langston University president Dr. Ruth Ray Jackson in person! Her husband had come into my restaurant a couple of years ago and was the kindest spirit! We had about a 30 minute conversation and I have never forgotten his kindness! Dr. Jackson said that he spoke so highly of me that she had to come meet me in person herself as well 🥹 She spoke so much life into me and I was just blown away that she took her time out on a Saturday to come all the way out to see me! It was such an honor to meet her! Here’s to a beautiful and successful year to The Langston Lions 🦁!!!!

09/21/2026

I love it here already 😜🤣🙌🏾We Dem Boyzzz💙🤍🩶 oh and Congratulations Dak setting the new record!

Address

119 N. Robinson Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK
73102

Telephone

+14693158724

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Naija Wife Kitchen posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category