(WXYZ) — Little Liberia, an Afro-fusion pop-up restaurant in metro Detroit, is getting a $100,000 grand prize from Comerica Bank in the 2022 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest.
The money will be used to open a brick-and-mortar business in Detroit. The owners were looking for a permanent space to bring Liberia's rich multicultural cuisines to metro Detroit.
Little Liberia serves up authentic Liberia dishes, which blends African, Caribbean, and Antebellum-South African American influences.
The restaurant will be the first-ever Liberian restaurant in Michigan.
It was founded by Ameneh Marhaba after she started hosting pop-up dinners as a way to pay bills. She said she draws inspiration from Hatch Detroit alum, Mamba Hamasi, who is the owner of Baobab Fare in New Center.
With the money, the hope is to open the restaurant in Midtown, Greektown or Corktown.
"We are eager to support and spotlight Little Liberia as the newest addition to the city's growing small business environment," Vittoria Katanski, the executive director of Hatch Detroit, said in a statement. "After 10 years of the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest, it is so evident how strong and deep the entrepreneurial spirit in Detroit runs, and Little Liberia is a prime example of tenacity and hard work paying off. As an organization, Hatch Detroit continues to support its alumni and winners even after the competition, and we look forward to seeing where this victory takes Little Liberia."
Previous Comerica Hatch Detroit contest winners include La Feria in 2012, Sister Pie in 2014, Baobab Fare in 2017 and 27th Letter Books in 2019.
In all, Hatch Detroit alumni have opened 49 businesses employing more than 500 people.
