Esans Bistro

Esans Bistro is a Nigerian restaurant located in the Park Point mixed-use development at 200 Park Point Drive, Suite B-104, in Rochester, NY. The restaurant was founded by Ejiro Agbude, who immigrated to Rochester from Delta State, Nigeria, in 2016. After years of cooking for her local church community — where she built a following among Nigerian and international students — she obtained her business licenses in 2022 and opened the restaurant in 2023. The business also operates under The Esans Kitchen brand for catering services, offering small- and large-scale catering of West African dishes.

The menu at Esans Bistro centers on authentic Nigerian dishes prepared with a contemporary casual-dining approach. Highlighted items include:

• Jollof rice, prepared on a stovetop to develop smoky depth
• Banga soup, a palm nut-based soup featuring smoked fish, rooted in Delta State cooking traditions
• Egusi soup (melon seed soup)
• Eforiro (vegetable soup)
• White rice with ofada sauce
• Puff-puffs (fried dough fritters)
• Chicken pies and other pastries
• A selection of proteins, finger foods, salads, and vegetarian options

Dine-in service is available at the Park Point location, and online ordering is offered through the restaurant's website. Delivery is also available through third-party platforms. The related Esans Kitchen catering arm handles larger events.

Esans Bistro has a direct connection to the Rochester Institute of Technology community. Nigerian students who attended Ejiro Agbude's church originally encouraged her to turn her cooking into a business, recognizing its appeal to the international student population at nearby RIT. The restaurant has participated in RIT's Visiting Chef Program, bringing its Delta State-influenced dishes onto campus. The cooking style draws specifically from the Urhobo and broader Delta State culinary tradition, distinguishing it from other West African restaurants in the Rochester area.

The restaurant sits inside Park Point, a 60-acre mixed-use development on the northeast edge of the RIT campus along Park Point Drive. The complex includes student housing, retail shops, and dining options, making Esans Bistro easily accessible to RIT students and faculty on foot or via the campus shuttle. For visitors arriving by car, the development offers on-site parking. The surrounding Henrietta–RIT corridor along Jefferson Road and John Street provides additional shopping and dining, but Esans Bistro is one of the few Nigerian-focused restaurants in this part of Monroe County.