It wasn’t part of Maame Badu’s plan to open a food business, but life has a funny way of turning around. “By God’s grace, it happened,” Maame says, reflecting on how her business—Good Grace African Market at 909 Arch Street in the Newberry section of Williamsport—has grown in the past four years.

Maame originally came to Williamsport to visit a friend in 2020. “And then covid happened,” she says. “Then I got stuck.”

Maame, who is originally from Ghana, was not able to return to her home. All borders were closed early on in the pandemic, and she had to give up running her boutique and meal service businesses in Ghana.

“When I came here, the food—I wasn’t used to. I didn’t like the bread, bread, and meat,” Maame says. “I was missing the home-cooked meals back home.” She started making friends here, and quickly realized there were others in the area who were missing the cuisine of their homelands. She had learned to cook from her grandmother, and began making home-cooked African meals for friends. African professionals, many of them who work for the health systems, became interested in her fledgling food business. She started a Facebook page to market her meal choices, and the business grew within the next few years. She began cooking in a commercial kitchen and doing some catering.

In 2024, Maame took some of her Ghana-inspired meals to local events, including Williamsport’s Juneteenth celebration. There, she met Derek Slaughter, Williamsport’s mayor, who encouraged her to expand her business. She began looking for a brick-and-mortar place where she could serve her meals and sell African products. By early September, she had moved into her current space on Arch Street, at the former Newberry News Diner. The space includes a kitchen, so she can cook meals for take-out while also selling African products like breads, dry rubs, black soap, and a raw spicy peanut snack called kulikuli from the market section. She buys the products from wholesalers in the US and overseas.

Though Maame may be far from home, reminders of home are never far from her. The inside of the shop is decorated with a border of maps of each of the fifty-four African countries and a large African map. The memories of home remain with her. She recalls how she reluctantly learned to cook as a child. “Growing up with my grandmother, I thought it was a chore,” she says. “I was the oldest granddaughter. I was called to help in the kitchen. And I hated it. Later on, I grew a passion for it.”

As an adult, Maame got a job at a bank. She started cooking meals for her coworkers and bringing them to work. To her surprise, they loved it. “And they would tell me to go open a restaurant. I thought they were crazy,” she says. She was laid off from the bank job when the economy turned, and decided to try her hand at entrepreneurship by opening a boutique. She soon added cooking to her business when she started making meals and delivering them over lunch.

Things have come full circle now, with Maame’s current business venture being mainly food-based. Many who come into the shop are trying African food for the first time.

She explains that the staples of African cuisine incorporate foods such as fish, oxtail, rice, and plantains. Some of the essentials on her menu include jollof rice, a savory and slightly spicy dish with long-grain rice and spices. She also serves whole fish. “We fry the whole fish right in front of you,” says Maame. Other proteins include goat meat and fried chicken. Veggies such as sautéed cabbage are offered as sides.

The African cuisine also employs the use of flavorful sauces. Soups on the menu include peanut butter soup and palm butter soup. Fufu is another popular dish that consists of starches that have been boiled, pounded, and rounded into balls. Desserts on the rotational menu include vitumbuwa, which is a fried pastry with mango cream topping. Beverages include a hibiscus drink.

Maame notes the Williamsport cuisine scene is growing and evolving. “It brings diversity here to the food industry in Williamsport,” she says of her shop. “Some people come in here and don’t know what to get, so we guide them.”

Since opening last fall, Maame’s business ventures have been expanding. She plans to eventually offer in-house dining once she hires more help, and will soon open the Good Grace Lifestyle market, adjacent to the restaurant. The shop will feature clothing, accessories, jewelry, artwork, and handbags from Africa. Maame hand-selected pieces when she took a trip back home to Africa in December and began surveying potential products at local markets. She met the artisans and put in orders for production of pieces that are unique and colorful. Selections will range from earrings made of nutshells to a handbag made from a coconut shell.

“I wanted to make it a one-stop shop,” says Maame. “The things that people see on the Internet and on TV—I wanted to bring that here for them to experience. It’s been so far, so good by God’s grace.”

Good Grace is open from noon to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For menu and additional information, follow Good Grace African Market Williamsport on Facebook, call (570) 447-8022, or email [email protected].