Detroit Favorite Yum Village Brings Afro-Caribbean Eats to Little Caesars Arena

Detroit native Godwin Ihentuge, founder of Motor City Match-winning restaurant Yum Village, has brought his Afro-Caribbean menu items to Little Caesars Arena.

As part of a continuing effort to welcome Detroit-based and Black-owned restaurants to The District Detroit, Ihentuge’s Yum Village will be on the main floor of Little Caesars Arena in the Detroit House food hall – adjacent to the Meijer entrance – for the remainder of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons seasons. Featured menu items include curry chicken, jollof rice, jerk chicken, truffle oil greens, Jezebel peach honey mustard chicken and more.

Yum Village was also a vendor in Comerica Park last season during Tigers home games, along with other Detroit-based options.

Ihentuge opened Yum Village to pay homage to both his Nigerian and African American roots, with a goal to share authentic Afro-Caribbean food with other Detroiters at an affordable cost. “I really want to see a proper spread of the culture, and I want to eat food that’s indigenous to my culture,” said Ihentuge. Combining his Detroit and African backgrounds, Ihentuge sources 85 percent of ingredients from Detroit and the other 15 percent from Haiti, West Africa and the Caribbean.

Beyond in-restaurant meal offerings, Yum Village offers Caribbean-themed apparel, all-natural personal care items from body butter to oils, spices, meal prep options, cooking classes and pre-prepared meal kits.

With a goal to stay connected to Detroit, Yum Village opens its doors to local creatives as an incubation, collaboration and pop-up space. The restaurant partners with World Central Kitchen, which provides meals amid natural disasters nationwide, as well as Brilliant Detroit, a local childhood development center. “At the end of the day I’m a kid from Detroit, a native Detroiter, for the most part, we came here when I was five. I came up through the Detroit system, and will continue to give back to it,” said Ihentuge.

Visit Yum Village at 6500 Woodward Ave, Detroit; 8029 Agnes St., Detroit; yumvillage.com, and at upcoming Little Caesars Arena-based sports and entertainment events.

‍