Three strikes...I'm out!!! This was my third time giving Project Suya a chance. I tried the Bowie food truck twice before and walked away disappointed both times. So why did I come back? Because they finally opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Silver Spring, and I convinced myself, "Maybe the food will be different." Let's start with the positives because they deserve some credit. The restaurant is beautiful. They absolutely nailed the décor. It's modern, clean, inviting, and easily my favorite part of the entire experience. Even the bathrooms were spotless and beautifully presented. Service was good as well. The young man at the counter (I overheard that he's from Ghana) was friendly and greeted me with the classic African, "You're welcome," which made me smile. The location is a little unexpected; it's tucked into a business/industrial area, but there's plenty of free street parking, so I loved that for me. One thing that rubbed me the wrong way before I even got my food: the menu prices didn't match what I was charged at the register. The cashier did explain that the menu hasn't been updated yet, but that still wasn't sitting right with me. Customers should know the actual price before ordering, not at checkout. Hopefully they get that corrected soon. Now...the food: I know Project Suya has a loyal following, but after three visits, I'm still scratching my head. At this point, I'm convinced a lot of the people who stan for Project Suya either aren't African or haven't had consistently good, authentic West African food. That's the only way I can make sense of all the hype because, after giving them three separate chances, I'm still not seeing what everyone else is seeing. This time I ordered the suya burger with fries, wings, plantains, and jollof rice. The burger was huge, but the fries looked like they forgot the rest of the order. The portion was surprisingly small compared to the size of the burger. The fries themselves were good. The burger? Just okay. The suya? Way too chewy. I chewed...and chewed...and chewed. It got to the point where I couldn't even swallow it, so I ended up spitting most of it out. The wings were okay. The plantains were good.And the jollof rice? Sigh. Still very, very mid. To be fair, this meal was noticeably better than my previous two visits to the Bowie food truck, so I'll give them that. There has been some improvement. But not enough. I really wanted to like Project Suya. Three visits is more grace than I give most restaurants, and I think that's more than a fair chance.Unfortunately, they've proven to me three times that their food just isn't for my palate. I came hoping the third time would change my mind. It didn't. read more