About Jambo Cafe
Winner of numerous awards, Jambo Café is proud to be named by the Santa Fe Reporter for the Best International Cuisine from 2010-2025 and Chef Ahmed Obo for “Best Chef” from 2015–2025. Jambo Café and Chef Ahmed was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in 2013 and again in 2023. In 2022, Chef Ahmed Obo received a nomination from the James Beard Awards for Best Chef in the Southwest. In 2024, Chef Obo was nominated and awarded “Best Chef” in the state by the New Mexico Restaurant Association.
In 2025, Chef Ahmed released his newest cookbook, “Chef Ahmed’s Soups and Stews for All Seasons” complementing his 2016 release, “The Jambo Cafe Cookbook: Recipes and Remembrances of My Journey from Africa to America“.
In April of 2023, Chef opened Jambo Bobcat Bite, featuring a fusion of New Mexican and Afro-Caribbean cuisine. A great place for lunch and your special events.
The exotic locale of Lamu Island, off the coast of Kenya, with its fusion of Swahili, Indian, Arabic, and European influences, is at the heart of Owner-Chef Ahmed Obo’s spirited cuisine. It was there, in his mother’s aromatic kitchen, that Ahmed mastered his homeland’s unique and fragrant cooking style, beginning a culinary adventure eventually leading him to Santa Fe, New Mexico where, in 2009, he opened Jambo Café. We’re proud to have celebrated 14 years of service in Santa Fe.
Jambo Café has a legion of loyal fans who wax eloquent over Chef Obo’s mouth-watering fare. Whether it’s table-side, take-out or walk-in catering you crave, Jambo Café will tempt your palate with spices just right.