helina melaku

Helina Melaku is the Founder and Chef-owner of her restaurant in Midtown, Detroit, Michigan. She started her business in 2020 during the pandemic, initially offering pop-ups and catering before opening her physical location in March. Her restaurant highlights authentic Ethiopian cuisine and includes a coffee line and spices, reflecting her Ethiopian-American heritage as someone born and raised in Ethiopia who came to the United States as a teenager. She is self-made and built the minority-owned business without assistance from others. Melaku graduated from Saginaw Valley University where she studied healthcare before pivoting her career to entrepreneurship. She has completed multiple entrepreneur training programs, including the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program along with cohorts from TechTown, RBC, and Hatch. In addition to her business, she is involved in nonprofit work helping provide water access to rural villages in Ethiopia.