Roger Milla restaurant remains a Silver Spring landmark as owner leaves academia to carry family legacy

Roger Milla restaurant, a downtown Silver Spring staple for more than three decades, is continuing under the stewardship of Dr. Brad Hungpati, who stepped away from a research and teaching career to preserve the family business.

"He asked me to come and take over," Hungpati said, explaining why he resigned from the university to focus on the restaurant. The business, renamed and rededicated over the years, bears the name of Cameroonian soccer star Roger Milla as a tribute to African pride and cultural heritage.

The restaurant’s menu and atmosphere are designed to comfort customers far from home. "Egusi is the most favorite food of pretty much all the customers," Hungpati said of a popular West African melon‑seed stew served at the restaurant. He also pointed to fried fish with rice among the house favorites and noted that some dishes require extended preparation: "Will take about 3 hours to get all the ingredients."

Running the operation has been a family effort, Hungpati said. "Running a restaurant is very difficult. So what we end up doing, we make our family like a government. I go around, fix all the major problems. My wife and kid take care of the inside." During a visit, his wife Sophie prepared a special meal for the reporter.

Beyond food, the restaurant emphasizes pan‑African representation inside the dining room. Hungpati said he added smaller flags for all 54 African countries and labeled them so customers from across the continent could see themselves reflected in the space.

Reporter Marcela Sahalu observed that the restaurant aims to offer warmth, culture and connection to its customers and to continue honoring a legacy that began roughly 30 years ago. In Silver Spring, she concluded, the longtime landmark is still evolving and feeding the community under new stewardship.