Blandness is banished the second you enter Akadi (2.0), the Ladd’s Addition West African restaurant that’s been winning accolades since reopening in 2022. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve had the punchy sauces and nutty spice blends cooked up by chef and owner Fatou Ouattara—you’ll leave each meal eager to plan your next visit, especially so you can get your hands on their incredible fufu, jollof, and suya. It’s always good energy and smiles all around inside the industrial space with high ceilings bolstered by wooden beams and plenty of hanging greens.

AKADI is a warm, vibrant restaurant in Southeast dedicated to West African cuisine, specifically from Côte d’Ivoire. Why we love it: Executive chef and owner Fatou Ouattara has put together both an incredible menu—think jollof rice, caramelized plantains, aromatic stews and crispy fried fish—and an inviting, colorful space with generous hospitality. Time Out tip: Don’t miss the “Attleke,” a fermented couscous made with cassava.

Verdant plants hang from the timber beams and high, pitched ceiling of this outstanding West African restaurant founded by chef-owner Fatou Ouattara, who grew up in Cote D'Ivoire and learned to cook using clay ovens and wood fires from her grandmother. Akadi's menu draws on traditional recipes like street-style grilled goat with a mustard sauce and plantains, and palm butter stew with shrimp, gambas, crab, fish, and spices.

The chef Fatou Ouattara’s suya-spiced wings alone are a great reason to visit this lively, airy spot on Division Street. The nutty, vibrant treatment, combined with a perfect fry, produces some of the best chicken in town. The tangy lamb dibi and the hearty, earthy okra goat stew are worthy follow-ups; for vegan diners, there are several stews that bring the same depth of flavor.

Akadi serves plates from countries throughout West Africa, with a focus on the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Chef-owner Fatou Ouattara, who moved from the Ivory Coast to attend Portland State University at age 23, rules the kitchen, churning out around 40 vegetarian, seafood and meat items on the menu. Her cooking is transportive, thanks to a deft ability to build flavor, using smoked vegetable mixes in place of spices as the foundation of many of her dishes.

It was easy to love the old Akadi, an unhurried restaurant then on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where Ivory Coast-born chef Fatou Ouattara coaxed impressive flavors from a kitchen we later learned was badly in need of repairs. Closed then relocated during the pandemic, the new barn of a location has tall ceilings and extra dining room real estate by the acre.

Top Chef: Portland, chef-owner Fatou Ouattara from Bouake, Cote D’Ivoire, recently reopened Akadi in a bigger space on SE Division with a broader menu. High ceilings, a large bar, and live music after 10pm, makes the restaurant feel more of a community hall. It was nice to see Akadi bustling with diverse diners, looking to expand their palates to flavors from West Africa.

website | Instagram | neighborhood: Hosford-Abernethy, SE Portland ( get directions) | cuisine: West African | dinner only. I first learned about Akadi when watching Top Chef. “Akadi” means “tasty” in Bambara, a native language of the country Cote D’Ivoire in West Africa.

This acclaimed restaurant is owned by famed chef, Fatou Ouattara, who brings a taste of West Africa with stews, jolof, and the classic, fufu. A starch mash that has a dough like consistency.