Jaliz Cuisine mostly operates as a catering business. Most diners choose from three proteins: goat, chicken, or fish. The protein is served as a soup next to a plate of matooke (mashed green plantains) topped with peanut sauce, jollof rice with fried goat meat, chapati bread (an Indian flatbread), and collard greens. 

Springbok in Van Nuys may seem like a regular sports bar, but look closer to find South African staples like chicken liver peri peri or prawns in pili pili sauce. There’s also a daily Durban curry special made from tomatoes and spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. [FYI: currently only open for takeout]

Mizlala took over Simon’s Café, an old standby for Moroccan cuisine in Sherman Oaks. In addition to modern Mediterranean fare, Mizlala owner Danny Elmaleh has retained some of his father’s iconic Moroccan dishes, including the apricot lamb tagine served with saffron rice. Mizlala recently opened a second location in West Adams. [Open for delivery and takeout]

All of the restaurant’s dishes, meat and vegetable stews called wot and stir-fried dishes called tibs, are centered around injera (a spongy and subtly sour flatbread made of fermented teff flour) and a spice mixture called berbere. Don’t come to Meals by Genet without ordering chef Genet Agonafer’s doro wot (chicken stew), which takes three days to make. [Takeout available from Thursday to Sunday; no delivery available]

Alain Cohen shares a bit of his French-Tunisian heritage at Harissa, which is located next door to his better-known Got Kosher Deli & Bakery. Try the brick à l’oeuf au thon, a crispy crepe stuffed with tuna, capers, and eggs. The chebtiya, Tunisian meatballs served over couscous with a tomato-based broth on the side, is also worth a taste. [Open for takeout and delivery]

Algerian-French owner Farid Zadi combines North African cooking and tacos at Revolutionario. Experience the flavors of the Arabic and Berber cuisine of Algeria with chickpea tagine or shakshuka tacos. On the more traditional side of the menu are Algerian briks, fried pastries stuffed with egg and cheese. Look for harira, a meat and chickpea soup, as well as Merguez sausage on the specials menu occasionally. [Available for takeout only]

Aduke African Cuisine on Pico Boulevard serves hard-to-find Nigerian dishes. On the menu is fufu, a dumpling made of mashed cassava, as well as its cousin amala, which is made of dried yam flour. Served alongside is ewedu, a soup made of jute leaves and meat or seafood. The most approachable dish is suya, grilled meat skewers seasoned with chili pepper, spices, and peanut powder. For the adventurous, Aduke serves igbin alata, sautéed snails in a spicy tomato sauce.  [Open for takeout only]

Banadir in Inglewood, the only Somali restaurant in LA, is a hub for the area’s Somali community. For breakfast, there’s anjera, a fermented sorghum flour pancake similar to Ethiopian injera. The anjera is served with chicken suqar, a type of stir-fry. For lunch and dinner, find large rice platters with choice of meat (goat, chicken, or fish). Both rice and spaghetti meals are served with bananas meant to be eaten with the meal. [Open for takeout and delivery]

Airport Royal Cuisine serves traditional foods from across Ghana. Try waakye, a mixture of rice and beans, which are served with garri (grated cassava) and spaghetti with a choice of goat or fish. Another popular item is red-red, beans cooked with plantains and palm oil—the reddish palm oil gives the dish its name. The red-red here is served with eggs and fish. [Open for takeout only]