This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

a scratch-cooked West African restaurant at 4105 Troost Ave. in KCMO’s Troost corridor, owned and operated by Liberian-born refugee Fannie Gibson; Tier 1 as an immigrant owner-operator who built her KC business from her apartment kitchen with no outside capital.123

Description

Fannie’s West African Cuisine is an owner-operated West African restaurant at 4105 Troost Ave. in the Troost corridor of midtown Kansas City, Missouri.14 It has also operated under the name Fannie’s African & Tropical Cuisine.53 The kitchen describes its food as “authentic traditional food from all parts of West Africa,” handcrafted from scratch with fresh, hearty, and natural ingredients.14

The menu centers on West African staples including jollof rice, egusi soup, fufu, peanut butter soup, and various stews.2 Other dishes praised by reviewers and listed across menus include shrimp stew, pepper crab, whole tilapia, cassava leaf, fried plantains, puff puff, and a whole red snapper served with jollof rice, plantains, and a bold pepper sauce.67 Chicken jollof is among the most popular dishes.3

The restaurant participates in Kansas City Restaurant Week and is regularly featured among the city’s women- and minority-owned dining options.78 It is open Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday, closed Mondays.19

Ownership and history

Owner Fannie Gibson was born and raised in Liberia, where her grandmother — who kept the family fed even through hardship — was her first inspiration to cook.3 Her early life was shaped by the Liberian Civil War; the family lost everything and lived hand to mouth.3 After a period in Ghana, Fannie came to the United States as a refugee in 2003, arriving in Kansas City with her aunt while other family members resettled in Canada or remained in Liberia.3

Gibson began the business around 2009, cooking for friends and family out of her apartment and posting her food on social media, which led to shipped-food and catering requests.23 With no startup capital — banks would not extend her a loan — she worked two jobs and cut back to fund a roughly two-and-a-half-year buildout of her storefront.3 Fannie’s opened to the public on April 13, 2018.3 In a VoyageKC interview she attributed her success to faith and community support, summarizing her motivation as “Nothing makes sense to me if I’m not serving others.”2

Last verified: 2026-08-30 · Source: first-party Wix menus page on the restaurant’s own site (SSR HTML; data-hook="item.name" / item.price / item.description) · URL(s): https://www.fanniescuisine.com/menus · Confidence: High on names, prices, and operator-printed descriptions. Two items print a price with no description (Fried Plantain With Eggs; Soft Drink) — left blank rather than guessed. Operator copy kept as published (including “fires” for fries on Wings and Fries, and Shrimp Kebab (3) described as 4 pieces).

The prior pass omitted per-item prices because the official pages did not render menu text. The /menus page now prints a full priced catalog. Own-domain Menufy ordering at https://www.fanniescuisinetogo.com/ is first-party (HungerRush location 10291) but JS-gated (raw HTML only $0.00 placeholders); it was not Firecrawled because the Wix menus page already supplied first-party prices. Uber Eats / RestaurantGuru dollars are not used. Category headings below are the catalog’s own names.10

Lunch

  • Fried Rice — Served with plantain, vegetables, and chicken ($18.99)10
  • Jollof Rice — Served with plantains, vegetables, and Chicken. ($18.99)10
  • Attieke — Is made from dried cassava. Served with plantains, vegetables, and sauce. ($20.99)10
  • Fried Eggplant Sauce — served with fufu or rice. Choice of meat ( beef, chicken, or goat) ($18.99)10
  • Kenkey — it is made from ground corn maize and served with chicken, plantains, and pepper sauce. ($19.99)10
  • Banku — Cassava dough is served with chicken and pepper sauce or okra soup and a choice of meat. goat, beef, or chicken ($22.60)10
  • Goat Meat Pepper Soup — Served with fufu or rice. ($24.99)10
  • Chicken Kebab Combo — Served with rice, vegetables, and plantains. ($15.99)10
  • Shrimp/beef/chicken stew — It is served with rice or fufu, vegetables, and plantain. ($18.99)10
  • Egusi Soup — Melon seeds and spinach. Choice of meat- goat, beef, or chicken. Served with fufu or rice. ($22.60)10
  • Peanut Butter Soup — Choice of meat- goat, beef, or chicken. Served with fufu or rice. ($22.60)10
  • Okra Soup — Choice of meat- goat, beef, or chicken. Served with fufu or rice. ($22.60)10

Vegetarian Lunch

  • Fried Rice — Served with plantain, vegetables ($15.99)10
  • Vegetable Soup — Vegetable Soup with fufu, rice or eba ($18.99)10
  • Fried Spinach — served with rice or fufu and veggies ($18.99)10
  • Yam / Cassava Gravy — Served with plantains, sauce, and vegetables. ($18.99)10
  • Fried Eggplant — Served with rice or fufu and vegetables. ($18.99)10
  • Peanut Butter Soup — Served with fufu or rice. ($18.99)10
  • Egusi Soup — Melon seeds and spinach with rice or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Jollof Rice — Served with plantain and vegetables. ($15.99)10
  • Black Eyed Peas Beans — served with plantain, rice, or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Okra Soup — served with fufu or rice ($18.99)10

Appetizers

  • House Wings (8) — Served with pepper sauce. ($12.99)10
  • Beef Kabob — 4 pieces of beef on a stick served with pepper sauce. ($7.99)10
  • Shrimp Kebab (3) — 4 pieces of shrimp on a stick served with pepper sauce. ($7.99)10
  • Pepper Crab / Spicy Crab — 2 whole blue crab mixed in spicy sauce. ($14.99)10
  • Cucumber Mango — Salad served with bell peppers and diced onions. ($7.99)10
  • Meat Pie / Samosa — 2 pieces of pie mixed with ground beef, onions and bell peppers. ($10.99)10

Favorites

  • Jollof Rice — Served with plantain, vegetables and chicken. ($18.99)10
  • Peanut Butter Soup — Served with fufu or rice. Choice of beef, goat or chicken. ($22.99)10
  • Fried Spinach — Served with rice or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Whole Tilapia — served with Jollof or Fried rice with plantains and sauce. ($27.99)10
  • Cassava Leaf — Yuca leaf served with rice or fufu. Choice of goat, beef, or chicken. ($22.99)10
  • Egusi Soup — Choice of meat- goat, beef, or chicken. Served with fufu or rice. ($22.60)10

Dinner

  • Cassava Leaf — Yuca leaf served with rice or fufu. Choice of goat, beef or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Palava Sauce / Ewedu Soup — Jute leaf served with rice or fufu. Choice of goat, beef, or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Goat Meat Stew — Goat meat stew, is served with fufu or rice and plantains ($25.50)10
  • Egusi Soup — Melon seeds and spinach with fufu, eba, or rice. Choice of goat, beef, or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Palm Butter/Banga Soup — Palm nut soup served with rice, eba, or fufu. Choice of goat, beef, or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Peanut Butter Soup — Served with fufu or rice and choice of beef, goat or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Okra Soup — Served with fufu or rice and choice of beef, goat or chicken. ($22.60)10
  • Whole Tilapia — A whole Tilapia meal is served with Jollof / Fried rice, plantain, veggies, and pepper sauce. ($27.99)10
  • Whole Red Snapper — A whole Red Snapper meal is served with Jollof / Fried rice, or attieke, plantain, veggies, and pepper sauce. ($36.99)10
  • Whole Mackerel — A whole Mackerel meal is served with Jollof / Fried rice, plantain, veggies, and pepper sauce. ($25.99)10

Vegetarian Dinner

  • Jollof Rice — Served with plantain and vegetables ($15.99)10
  • Palava Sauce / Ewedu Soup — Jute leaf served with rice or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Fried Spinach — Served with rice or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Egusi Soup — Melon seeds and spinach served with rice, eba or fufu. ($18.99)10
  • Peanut Butter Soup — Served with fufu or rice ($18.99)10
  • Vegetable Soup — Vegetable Soup served with rice, fufu, or eba. ($18.99)10
  • Black Eyed Peas Beans — served with plantains, fufu, or rice. ($18.99)10
  • Okra soup — served with fufu, rice or eba ($18.99)10
  • Cassava leaf — served with fufu or rice. ($18.99)10
  • Palm butter / banga soup — served with fufu, eba, or rice. ($18.99)10

Kid’s Menu

  • Chicken Fingers With Fries — 3 piece chicken finger, served with fries. ($10.99)10
  • Fried Plantain With Eggs ($10.50)10
  • Puff Puff — 4 pieces of sweet doughnut balls. ($5.99)10
  • Wings and Fries — 8 pieces of wings served with fires and sauce ($12.99)10

Dessert

  • Cheesecake — Sweet & Delicious ($4.50)10
  • Puff Puff With Sprinkle Powder — 3 pieces of sweet doughnut balls ($3.50)10
  • Moi Moi — Boiled beans cook with mackerel fish, red bell peppers, onions, and habanero peppers with eggs or without eggs. ($8.50)10

Beverages

  • Vimto — Fruit flavored drink served cold. ($3.50)10
  • Grape Juice — Served cold in a glass. ($2.50)10
  • Soft Drink ($1.95)10
  • Ginger Drink — Served cold. ($4.50)10
  • Maltina — Bottle, served cold. ($4.50)10
  • Malta — Served cold. ($3.50)10
  • Bottle Water — A Bottle of water ($1)10

Sides

  • Jollof rice or Fried rice — A side of Jollof or Fried rice ($6.99)10
  • Fufu — 1 side of fufu ($4.99)10
  • White Rice — A side of plain white rice ($4)10
  • Plantains — A side of plantains with pepper sauce ($4.99)10
  • Chicken — 1 chicken leg quarter ($3.99)10
  • Beef — A side of beef ($4.99)10
  • Goat — A side of goat ($5.99)10
  • Shrimp — A side of shrimp ($4.99)10
  • Veggies — A side of Veggies ($2.99)10
  • Soup ( Any Kind) — A side of soup of any kind. ($10.50)10
  • Fish ( Any Kind) — A side of fish of your choice. ($18.99)10

Sources

Disputes

(None active.)

Footnotes

  1. Fannie’s African Cuisine (official site) — asserts: address 4105 Troost Ave., KCMO 64110; hours (Tue–Sat 11–8, Sun 1–7, Mon closed); authentic traditional West African food handcrafted from scratch. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. VoyageKC — Inspiring Conversations with Fannie Gibson — asserts: owner Fannie Gibson; started 2009 from her apartment; restaurant opened 2018; menu jollof rice, egusi soup, fufu, peanut butter soup, stews. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Black Restaurant Weeks — Fannie’s African/West African Cuisine — asserts: Fannie Gibson born/raised in Liberia; came to US as refugee in 2003 (via Ghana), settled in Kansas City; banks declined loan, ~2.5-yr buildout; opened April 13, 2018; chicken jollof popular. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  4. Visit KC — Fannie’s West African Cuisine — asserts: 4105 Troost Ave. (Midtown); authentic traditional West African food; operating. ↩ ↩2

  5. The Independent (KC) — Palatable Pursuits: Fannie’s African & Tropical Cuisine — asserts: alternate name Fannie’s African & Tropical Cuisine; West African cuisine in KC. ↩

  6. Yelp — Fannie’s West African Cuisine — asserts: 4105 Troost Ave.; updated March 2026 with 125 reviews/272 photos (active listing); menu including whole tilapia, jollof rice. ↩

  7. The Pitch — Dish & Drink KC: Fannie’s West African Cuisine — asserts: dated Jan 21, 2026; 4105 Troost Ave.; whole red snapper with jollof rice, plantains, pepper sauce; discovered via Restaurant Week (recent operation). ↩ ↩2

  8. Flatland KC — KC Restaurant Week 2021 women- and minority-owned options — asserts: Fannie’s featured among women-/minority-owned Restaurant Week participants. ↩

  9. Restaurantji — Fannie’s West African Cuisine — asserts: 4105 Troost Ave.; active listing with reviews; menu items. ↩

  10. Fannie’s African Cuisine — official menus page (first-party Wix restaurants widget) — accessed 2026-08-30. Asserts: 79 priced items across Lunch, Vegetarian Lunch, Appetizers, Favorites, Dinner, Vegetarian Dinner, Kid’s Menu, Dessert, Beverages, and Sides as transcribed above. Companion page fanniescuisine.com is a duplicate catalog. Online ordering fanniescuisinetogo.com is the restaurant’s own Menufy/HungerRush storefront (location 10291) and was confirmed first-party, but raw HTML does not print item prices. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31 ↩32 ↩33 ↩34 ↩35 ↩36 ↩37 ↩38 ↩39 ↩40 ↩41 ↩42 ↩43 ↩44 ↩45 ↩46 ↩47 ↩48 ↩49 ↩50 ↩51 ↩52 ↩53 ↩54 ↩55 ↩56 ↩57 ↩58 ↩59 ↩60 ↩61 ↩62 ↩63 ↩64 ↩65 ↩66 ↩67 ↩68 ↩69 ↩70 ↩71 ↩72 ↩73 ↩74 ↩75 ↩76 ↩77 ↩78 ↩79 ↩80

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See also

  • Registry
  • Owner-And-History-Research-Toolchain
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On the record — ks.city/registry/fannies-west-african-cuisine · record updated 2026-08-30