Asante African Market in Sharpstown Plaza

I had passed by this market one time and found it closed for the day. I was floating around this area after driving through Chinatown and eating a massive churrasco dinner, and had some spare time and saw this again. After having been to Kenya, I know what the first word means and think this might be yet another place in this area of town to find East African groceries. The hours on the door say closed at 6pm and it’s 7:35, but I see people still inside and open the door – it opens up. The owner is totally fine with me coming in anyway – I later find out they kept the store open for some customers who were coming from far away and got delayed. The aisles are really tight to navigate, but stocked with a ton of obscure East African products, including small-brand coffee from Rwanda and Burundi, various traditional flours, curry powders for traditional Kenyan and Tanzanian dishes, and chili oil including Rwandan akabanga (think Chinese chili oil but with habanero instead, thus way hotter). I bought a bar of Ghanaian chocolate and will come back to explore more. Especially because the owner, from Rwanda, was incredibly kind and gracious and treated me like a regular. I may get to go to Rwanda next year and will make this store a regular stop if so.

The address is 7555 Bellaire Blvd A, Houston, TX 77036.