Fast casual restaurants that specialize in bowls deliver efficiency, convenience and I associate them with quick lunches in conference rooms, but not usually with joy until I went to ChòpnBlok in Houston. Ope Amosu’s restaurant specializes in fast casual bowls, but they are full of West African flavors. There’s suya, made with halal beef, grilled so that the outside is brown, but the inside is still blushing and pink. Another great bowl is the Black Star, which comes with yassa, a Senegalese curry, and a bunch of super peppery shrimp. A bowl doesn’t have to just be about efficiency and convenience, it can also be about joy.

Source: New York Times December 22, 2025 23:49 UTC