Sepelas – which means happiness in my native language – is a new, family-operated African restaurant in Urbana/Champaign, Illinois. We offer a variety of delicious authentic African dishes prepared with fish, chicken, meat (goat, beef, pork), and vegetables using a wide selection of traditional spices and cooking methods – including steamed, grilled, stir-fried, pan-fried, and slow-cooked. This restaurant has always been a dream for me and my wife. We finally decided to launch our restaurant in 2020 and have invested significantly in building out our new space, especially the kitchen. Our public opening was in November and we are excited to continue to grow! We hope that this restaurant will become a space for people to come together – a place of joy and happiness for our community here in Champaign. Our vision is for Sepelas to expand not only in Illinois, but also in other states across the U.S. And we would love to open a Sepelas in Congo again, hopefully in two years! Thank you for being a part of our story!