Manna Weenta

The food is absolutely delicious. If you don’t know what to order let the sweet lady behind the counter pick for you. The greens were the best I’ve ever had. We will be back!

Sad they don’t serve alcohol and even sadder no BYOB. Wine would go well with their food.

I’ve wanted to try Ethiopian/​Eritean food for a while now and I was very excited to see that Manna Weenta opened up in Athens. The place is a small family owned restaurant. The first time I went, the owner explained the different dished for my group and showed us the side room as well. She split up two main meat dishes on a huge platter with the sides served over the traditional injera bread. The quality of the food was fantastic and the portions were plenty large. Between three people, we had more than enough food from just two large dishes. I think it came out to like 25 bucks.

Been to alot of different Ethiopian restaurants. It was great to hear that Athens has one now.
Went for dinner yesterday. The place does not look fancy hence the price list. Loved the place. Wished all places looked like this and food would taste great.
We had the Doro Wat, Yebeg Alitcha, salad and sides. All the food was excellent. The chicken was cooked so good, it fell right off the bone. The lamb was cooked well and not chewy.
Will be going back on regular base. Will introduce people to it too.
Only bad thing was the Injera was cold and it needed to be hot.

Finally able to try this place after coming back to Athens for Thanksgiving and it does not disappoint! Haregu was so helpful and nice for my family and friends and every single dish we tried was on point. The shiro, kitfo, tibs, gomen were all perfectly seasoned and spiced. Great to have Eritrean/​Ethiopian cuisine in Athens and a definite must to try!

Great food and atmosphere! They give you a lot of food so be sure you come in hungry! Staff is friendly and personable. I’ll be back again soon!

The food was excellent as well as the service. I’ve had Ethiopian 5 times before and this was definitely the best as well as cheapest. I can’t wait to return

Went here for the first time yesterday and will be back again very soon. Do not expect to get your food quickly just because they have some prepared food at the counter mostly the vegetarian dishes. Some of the meat dishes need to be cooked but they are well worth the wait.
Prices are great a small plate of food is only $ 7!
The young lady behind the counter is very friendly and will guide you through the menu if it is your first time experiencing Ethiopian food.
Exciting to have a place like this in Athens!

Delicious, inexpensive, authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Family owned and operated by lovely people. Everything is delicious. This is truly a gem of a local business.

It’s neat to have an Ethiopian restaurant in Athens. And, surprisingly, they’re not really americanizing everything. I had a combination of a beef dish, a mixed veggie dish, and a split pea dish. All three were tasty.
The prices aren’t cheap for lunch but they aren’t outrageous either. And a small should be enough for most people – I ordered a large, which proved to be too much food for one sitting.
I’ll certainly look forward to coming again.

Athens’ only Ethiopian spot, and the food is great. The spicy chicken with a hardboiled egg is delicious and actually spicy. The lentils are amazing. The service can be slow, and they should just put the menu on a big chalkboard because some dishes are not available.

Injera, shiro, gomen, doro wat! You haven’t tried anything until you try a few of these savory offerings from one of Athens’ newest and most welcome additions to the restaurant scene. Haregu (actually from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s neighbor) had a dream that she was supposed to run a restaurant. After serving food at the farmer’s market on Broad Street for about a year the opportunity came to open her own restaurant near Kroger and Publix on Barnett Shoals Road (just north of College Station Road – left at the end and about ½ mile on the right, near Omni fitness). Her husband, Ron, originally from Chicago and her daughter, Winta, a delightful fourteen year old both help out in what can only be described as a family business in the classic sense of the word.
The food uses a sensational blend of spices and herbs, many of which are unique to Ethiopia, and while some dishes are spicy (though nothing radical to spice lovers), others are simply savory. A wide variety of beans, peas and vegetables are cooked into stew like dishes while beef, chicken, fish and goat are cooked into dishes somewhat like curries or stews but distinct from either. This cuisine has become so popular in Atlanta that there are now more than thirty such restaurants.
Mount yourself lucky that Athens has now been fortunate enough to attract such an offering. Do yourself a favor and pay them a visit but be sure to be patient as they explain the dishes to you and to others. Your patience will no doubt be rewarded.

Great food! Local mom & pop that you will want to frequent! Huge portions and great value! Tell them Mama Bird sent you!

Had the most delicious vegan meal today. The food is outstanding and I love how passionate the owners are about their restaurant. I loved the collards and the spicy red lentils were so tasty. Wednesdays, they specialize in vegetarian cuisine so don’t miss it! Can’t wait to introduce friends to this gem of a restaurant

Delicious dinner, made even better by the warmth and generosity of the family that owns this place. The hostess, Weenta, was very helpful as we navigated through the menu for the first time. Can’t wait to come back and try the other dishes.

Ethiopian food in Athens is overdue, and I’m excited to see it — even more so to see it almost within spitting distance of my house on the east side. The proprietors are friendly people who will tell you anything you want to know about their dishes. It seems clear that they are first-​time restauranteurs, as not everything here runs all that smoothly; sometimes they come to your table for traditional service, and other times it seems expected of you to order and pay at the counter. Not a big deal, but they will hopefully figure out the best way to run things down the road. There are also few menus on hand and no carry-​out menus you can take home with you.
Fortunately, the one thing that I really care about in a restaurant — the food — is worth the price of admission and then some. This is quality Ethiopian fare, with very good injera (I had some recently in Atlanta that was a sore disappointment) and a subtle twist on several of the standard dishes. I particularly liked the mixed vegetables — besides the normal potatoes, carrots and cabbage, there was a whisper of an unusual seasoning that one of the owners happily informed me was cinnamon. Everything I’ve had at Manna Weenta has been at least as good as your typical Ethiopian place, and a couple of things were better.
If you’ve never had Ethiopian food, this is a good place to experiment with it, as the food is great, the owners are friendly, and the prices are exceptionally reasonable (e.g. a small dinner is $ 10 for meat, two sides, and bread — and you’ll definitely be full when you reach the end of all that). And if you have had Ethiopian before, I recommend it for all the same reasons. Let’s keep this place in business, Athens; east side needs more good and unusual restaurants, and the city in general needs more food that isn’t pizza or BBQ (much as I love those things). Manna Weenta should be able to join other distinctive local establishments like Kelly’s Jamaican and Cali ‘n Tito’s as must-​visit joints in Athens.

Excellent food and service. Make sure to give this a try. We will be back for sure. The bread is amazing and the fact that you eat with your fingers is just cool. Make sure to try everything even if you think you might not like it, it will be delicious. This business is run by very nice people go and support them and have fun doing so.

Not to mimic the only other reviewer so far, but I am so excited that there is finally Ethiopian fare in Athens. The owner, Hergu, and her staff are SO great and the food is right on the money. SO GOOD. I had the lamb tibs and I can’t wait to go back and have them again and again.