Barry’s African Restaurant

Food is really good. This place was not busy when we came. Family owned, clean and have a little kid running around which is funny.

Where do I begin. I stopped in unplanned and I'm so glad I did. I was greeted by a pleasant and helpful young lady. I mentioned to her that I had not had African food. I asked what she recommended? She picked a juice and the meal for me. It was Delicious!! I had jollof rice with stewed chicken and drink called, bissap. They also make the juices. She educated me on the part of Africa the food was from and that she spoke two different languages common to the area. I assume the customers who came in while I was there were very familiar with the restaurant and staff. They all even greeted me when they came in. The decor was very simplistic, yet comfortable. I plan to return.

This place was fantastic! I'm so glad that I overcame a few of my initial concerns walking into this place, since the food and my experience there were so good. I stopped by since I was in the area, and the place had just opened and it was empty. The interior was decorated simply with touches of African art. The guy sat me down and talked about their different foods and offered some recommendations. I decided to go with the peanut butter beef stew. While I was waiting, the man working there said the food was from the Mali area of western African and that many people there spoke French. The beef stew came out with some white rice and hot sauce on the side. As I progressed through my dish, I tasted different flavors in every bite. First it was the peanut butter, then the cinnamon, then some pepper. The rice definitely took the spiciness down, but I kept gravitating to the hot sauce and had a mixture of the rice, stew, and hot sauce in every bite. On my way out I grabbed a fresh ginger juice to go. It was a great complement to the intense flavors of the dish I had. I can't wait to go back and try other dishes!

The food was definitely a culinary experience. Always wanted to try it...and I was not disappointed. I had issues making a delivery order so I called the restaurant. The nice woman explained why I could proceed and asked what I was planning to order to make sure I'd get my choice's. That was very helpful and customer-oriented. I ordered the Peanut-butter chicken stew, and the Tilapia with cassava rice.... It was so delicious! The portions are huge! Could feed a family of 4. Thank you !

I have a friend from Côte d'Ivoire who is one of the most amazing cooks I know. He moved away a few years ago and I have been missing Ivorian food ever since. So, on a whim, I googled certain dishes and Barry's popped up. I'd love to tell you that the food is just hood and I've only had it once or twice, but this place has me in a chokehold. I've been at least once a week since I discovered them. My initial visit was for peanut butter sauce and rice. It's a traditional west African dish that is exactly what it sounds like: chicken and smoked Turkey with a tomato and peanut butter based sauce. I like mine a little spicier, but this is as good as the homemade version I love. What has kept me coming back is the attieke and fish. Attieke is couscous made from cassava. It's served with a whole pan seared tilapia, a habanero sauce, caramelized onions, and a cucumber tomato salad. Chef's Kiss! They make it fresh to order, and the portion is enough for two people. This place is family-owned, the staff is super sweet, but there may be a little language barrier depending on who is there at the time. They are expanding their menu, so definitely ask what they have available. They also have online ordering and are on some of the delivery apps.

It's certainly not a fancy place, but the food is so good that none of the other stuff matters. I have had the fried tilapia as well as the peanut butter stew. The tilapia was served whole and perfectly cooked, crispy and juicy. The jolof rice with it was also good. The peanut butter stew was some of the best tasting food I've ever had. The chicken in it had barely any meat, but the flavor was better than any other chicken I've ever had. All dark meat. The stew itself was perfect spooned over rice with some habanero sauce added.

I was actually driving on Lafayette Rd to a different restaurant when I noticed the sign for Barry's. It's a small, strip mall restaurant with about 12 tables. Found out from the owner that it has only been open about 3 months. I had the restaurant to myself for lunch. They have a small menu with no prices and then found out that they don't always have all of the menu dishes available so the owner verbally provided me my options. I chose the chicken with peanut sauce. It was stewed chicken with carrot in a rich "gravy" that did not taste like peanuts. I am sure that it contained some amount of peanut oil or butter but it had a richer, smooth taste. It came with a large portion of rice and a serving of African pepper sauce which was very spicy hot. The owner warned me to add small amounts of the pepper sauce to the dish if I wanted to add spice. I enjoyed the flavor of the dish, but, full disclosure, the stewed chicken did still contain the bones and I had to pick through the meat to remove them (not a good dish for children). The chicken did seem to be mostly wings, back and thigh so there were considerable bones to remove. I would eat it again.I do not have much experience with African food so I don't if the food was authentic, but I did Google African chicken with peanut sauce and the dish looked like the pictures I found. The price of the lunch was $16 which was above the price point that I normally target for lunch, but it was "homemade" and it is a new restaurant that increases the diversity of the Indianapolis food offerings.

If you're thinking about trying this place you definitely should! I have ordered from Barry's two times since February. This restaurant popped up when I was googling restaurants on Lafayette road. It is in the same plaza as Dj's beauty supply store. After reading reviews on yelp and google I decided to come. You have the option to order online or call your order in. I decided to call that way I could ask about what they had. The first time I ordered from here I got my mom the beef stew and I got the peanut butter stew with chicken. I'm not sure if the lady who packaged my food was the owner, but she was very nice. She even helped me bring the food out to my car. I told her she didn't have to but she insisted. Both meals come with rice and a little dish of pepper sauce. I was warned that the pepper sauce was spicy and yes it really is spicy. I love hot food but even this was a little too much for me. I added just a few drops of it to my stew. My mom on the other hand gave it right to my dad she can't handle any heat. I also purchased a ginger juice and a tropical juice I believe it said Jamaican reggae on the label. I don't exactly remember but the juice was delicious. Now the ginger juice had a little kick to it I was not prepared lol. You can tell the juice is fresh! My mom said this beef stew was good and this is the way beef stew should be prepared. She tried beef stew at other places in the city and was not happy. My chicken stew was also delicious. I wasn't sure what to expect since I never tried this dish before. I love the fact that they put cabbage in the stew because I love cabbage. My second time coming here I called to order the yassa chicken, but they did not have it. Instead I got the vermicelli with chicken. Vermicelli is a type of pasta and they added peas and carrots with it. The vermicelli comes in a separate container. The chicken is in another it comes with sautéed onions and a cucumber/ tomato salad. The chicken had an amazing flavor and the sauce on it was delicious. I actually poured some of the access sauce on the vermicelli. They also put a side of pepper sauce with this meal. My total was about $20 which was decent for the amount of food. Both times I had leftovers to save for the next day. I hope one day I catch them when they have yassa chicken! Sorry the photo I took of the peanut butter stew with chicken didn't come out clear. I did however get a photo of the vermicelli w/ chicken.

Food was very amazing will be back my next trip. Family owned restaurant and you can taste the difference.

I was looking for something different as I passed through this side of Indy. It was around lunch and I was the only one there. Only two options for meals - chicken or fish. Both were $21 each. Canned drinks or bottled water. Only one person working. The service was OK. The meal was fine, but I don't know if it was worth the price, however. The decor was simple and overall clean.