Shebele Ethiopian Restaurant

Boo, I was sad to see this restaurant had gone out of business. I moved away a few years ago, but have never found another restaurant with better Ye Doro Tibs. Some of the other stuff wasn’t as good but overall i had some good meals here.

After driving by the other day after years of having been there, I didn’t realize they had shut down for remodel. They were my first foray into Ethiopian food. Injera is an interesting tool for device for picking up your food. I’ve since been to better places but this still is the closest local place for Ethiopian fare for me.

This place was cute, but the food was just okay. I love eating with my hands, and I’m Chinese-​Viet, so I pretty much eat everything. But some of the flavors didn’t mesh well for me. I might give Ethiopian food another try, though, since my friend who took me here loves it.

Worst restaurant that I have been to for as long as I can remember; this place was absolutely horrendous. It is a travesty to Ethiopian cuisine!
No Ethiopians recommend this place, and I now understand why. We were in the Campbell area and decided to give Shebele a try. We came right as the place was opening on Saturday. We got to pick our table, and chose a booth. The table was dirty, with dried caked on things from who-​knows-​when. You can tell the place is never cleaned since there was massive amounts of dust on the wood paneling on the booth side. There was also trash on the paneling! – Yes, crumpled up straw wrappers.
That should have been our signal to leave, but never had we had bad Ethiopian cuisine before… Yes, this goes on. My menu had prices that were whited out to show an increase of about $ 2 per item, while the menu given to my boyfriend showed former, cheaper prices. Umm, okay – so which one were we to be charged?
Anyhow, we decided on waters for both, the regular tibs, and the ze-​bere tibs. First, the water was unarguably tap – disgusting tap at that. The cups were dirty. There were no straws, no bottled water (yes, we asked), and NO ICE!!! No ice in the water, and no ice in the Sprite we were forced to order to maybe get a cleaner beverage (but really, who knows how often the soda dispenser is cleaned).
I was hungry, so was pleasantly surprised when the food came out rather quickly. Everyone knows that Ethiopian food can take some time to cook in order for the meats and vegetables to stew in the flavor and spices. Well, it came out quickly for a reason. ALL the food was –OLD-​. The injera was days old, evident by the roughness/​coarseness of its texture. Injera should be moist, soft, and fluffy. The ze-​bere tibs was also old! The meat was so dried up, it was like eating jerky with some random liquids poured over it and an eighth of a fresh bell pepper. The regular tibs was even worse. The sauce was old and the meat had been simmered in it for so long, it was flavorless and soft.
Service was negative as well. The server did not provide any napkins until we asked. We asked for the check without finishing our food, which was when he decided to let us know that the place was cash only. Apparently, they used to have a card machine since a «regular» came in to pick up some takeout, but it is «broken» and «takes awhile to come in.» What a load of BS – they are just reusing old food to pocket straight cash profits. Even the «regular» was miffed when told about the new cash only policy; she suggested they put up a sign and the server pretty much ignored the suggestion.
In summary, we were both horrendously offended. If this is the only Ethiopian cuisine people have reference to, then it is by all means a travesty and should be shut down! Seriously, look elsewhere like Zeni’s in San Jose where Ethiopian families frequent the place during all meals of the day. Biggest waste of $ 25 ever.
P. S. The bathroom is also dirty and smelly.
If you are a fan of this so-​called establishment, do yourself a favor and check out Zeni’s or even Gojo so that you know what real Ethiopian food tastes like.

I enjoy different types of food and I usually end up dragging my more adventurous friends with me to try out new restaurants. I have found that most people I’ve brought with me to try out Ethiopian food either love it or hate it. And when they hate it, it can be for a very interesting mix of reasons. One friend found it too spicy (not too hot, just too spicy). Another really didn’t like the injera bread and a third hated the fact that you had to eat with your hands and while using the bread. It was funny to watch them convince our server that they NEEDED utensils or wouldn’t be able to eat!
I usually order the meat combination so that I can really sample a number of different types of dishes at one meal. And it’s always good!!! When they have Tej available, I definitely order a glass.

My fiancée and I had wanted to try Ethiopian food for awhile so I decided that Shebele would be the perfect place to try it (great location since we live in Campbell!)
We ordered the sweet wine and the grand combo platter (that had some meat and veggie options). I consider myself to be a pretty adventurous eater and normally like everything, but Ethiopian food didn’t really do it for me.
I don’t know if I can really blame it on Shebele because the place was very cute and had good service. The restaurant could most definitely go for a remodel.
Overall it was a nice enjoyable meal — but the food wasn’t anything great. Oh well.

To be honest, I don’t remember the food nearly as much as the company. I’d been to Blue Nile in Michigan (not sure if it’s related to the one (s) in the Bay Area), and an Eritrean restaurant in San Francisco, and this seemed like a good first date restaurant. Casual dress, eating with your hands so minimal pretense, and a range of vegetarian and non-​vegetarian food just in case my date sprung that surprise on me.
The portions were very generous and tasty… the prices were reasonable. the service was prompt and patient (we took a few minutes to get past the initial chatter and then decided we should eat something)… the crowd was non-​existent on a Saturday afternoon.
I’d go back. My date wasn’t too keen on the cuisine, but she was keen on me. So this makes Ethiopian food 2 for 2 on first dates.
The one weird thing I should note is the music. I think there were two Prince songs on, and some other pop/r&b type stuff. It was pretty entertaining.

I haven’t been in a while, but I really like the food. Service can be a bit slow, and as others have mentioned, the décor could use some sprucing up.
I love Ethiopian food, and I love the experience of eating with my hands, using the sour bread as a utensil.

Not the best Ethiopian food i’ve had. In fact, possibly the worst. It wasn’t BAD, it was just bland, which is not what i expect from this genre.
The service was friendly but slow, which was ok since i wasn’t in a hurry that night.
Admittedly, i’ve only gone once, and i didn’t try any of the meat dishes, so there’s a chance my experience doesn’t generalize. But why risk mediocre food when there’s so many better Ethiopian restaurants nearby?

By sheer coincidence, I happened to eat here one day after eating at this place’s sister restaurant on N. 1^st St. My impression was much the same at both places: average. My major complaint is that although the food had a decent amount of spiciness, there wasn’t much in the way of flavor. Granted, I’m in the middle of spring allergies, but I can still taste my wife’s cooking. Also, I’m not a fan of eating either with my fingers or needing to use a lot of bread to scoop up my food. I probably should have asked for a plate and utensils, but I wanted to get the genuine ethnic experience.
I’ll give credit to the kitchen, though, for making a complete sampler platter at 3:00 PM on a Saturday afternoon with good speed.

(Update: 1÷02÷08 — Shebele has gone out of business. Very sad day, but Zeni has been filling in nicely in its absence.)
My wife and I love Ethiopian food and Shebele is our favorite in the bay area. It is a family run place, the aunts cook and their niece is the waitress. The food is excellent, and the staff is great. It is very authentic, and very tasty.
The only ding I would give them is it is a bit run down of an interior. Maybe that is authentic, but I think they could spruce up the place a bit. Also, very affordable prices. Grand sampler is my favorite and you get some of everything and then one of the beef dishes, #3 and #7 (cant remember the names) are great.
If you love Ethiopian food or are looking to try it, you can’t go wrong at Shebele.

I’m not sure that Ethiopian food is for everyone; but, it’s deffinately was for me. The other night, Pualena took me to Shebele for dinner, after years (well, maybe not years, but you know what I mean) of suggesting trying it. The funny thing is, I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater… But, that’s for another story. I just hadn’t gotten excited about Ethiopian food.
To my suprise, it was good. Very tasty and comforting. The food was served family style, with pieces of bread to scoop with. We ordered two sampler plates, one meat sampler and one vegetarian sampler, which turned out to be more than enough food for the two of us. All of it was tasty. Some of it sour, some of it spicy; all of it was flavourful, and, easily washed down with a glass of Ethiopian honey wine, a nice sweet wine to offset the sour dishes.
My only regret was that I didn’t try it sooner. Be warned though, if you don’t like sour or spicy food, this might not be for you.

I went on a cold, rainy weeknight, kind of early for dinner, so I was the 2^nd person there, then it started getting busy & people started coming in while I was eating.
I’ve walked past this place tons of times (whenever I go to the Farmer’s Market), & it usually smells pretty good, so I finally got around to trying it.
I got the super combo (I think that’s what it’s called); has both veggie & meat dishes. If I remember correctly, 2 types of lentils, cabbage/​carrot/​potato, 3 types of meat, & salad. I was stuffed & couldn’t finish it all. Next time, if I get that, I’ll have to share it, or take half home. But it’s a good way to try out various dishes. The injera (spongy, slightly sour bread you use to pick up all your food) is good. Anyway, this is good stuff for a cold, rainy night.
Located in downtown Campbell on the east end near the railroad tracks. I’ve never had a problem with parking downtown – on the street, various little lots, there’s a parking structure on the west end, probably 3 blocks away.

Oh my GOODNESS! This place was YUMMERS. Let me start by saying our server was very helpful and nice. We ordered the vegetarian combo and a side dish with meat. Yum. The bread’s consistency was perfect… and I think other people thought so, too. While we were there eating I saw at least 3 people come in and just buy scads of bread. So, yeah, this place is good.
The combo was wonderful. The spices were perfect, the food that was supposed to be hot was hot, and the food that was supposed to be cool was cool.
I have to say… I was very impressed! I’ll go back for sure!

A group of my friends have made this our traditions restaurant. It’s a great choice as it’s a nice variety for vegans, and we easily feed 8 people on 3 veggie combo platters, which I think comes to something like $ 6 or $ 7 per person!
Parking in the area is limited as it’s downtown Campbell, but it’s a nice central location near school, so a great meeting place for us all.
Every time I’ve been here it’s always been quiet, and service has always been quick. Another plus!

This place has slipped! The location is perfect — right in charming downtown Campbell. The restaurant could do with a serious remodel (the vinyl covered booths are falling apart).
This used to be our favorite Ethiopian place so it bums me out to give a bad review, but after getting horrible service (over 1 hour wait — granted it was a Friday night) and pretty sick (hard to do on vegetarian food) on my last visit I can’t recommend you go there. Hopefully they’ll turn around, but for now (¹⁰⁄₂₀₀₆) I’d avoid.

Very Homely Place with serious Ethiopian good food. Try their Lunch Buffet. The Spicy minced Beef is my favorite. Also very good choice for Vegetarians.
You gotta to try their «Honey Beer» for an experience.

With magnificent portions and top-​rate cooking, this Ethiopian place in downtown Campbell makes me hungry every time I think about it. The vegetarian selection is extensive and the friendly staff makes this a worthwhile visit.

I missed my Blue Nile and thus was willing to try a new Ethiopian restaurant. My friend took me to Shebele and the atmosphere was incredibly intriguing. It was like someone took a run-​down diner from the 50’s (complete with Formica tabletops and a counter with 2 lone swivel stools) and then hastily remade it overnight with a massive hodge-​podge of ethnic Ethiopian decorative pieces. It seemed as if half a dozen people were commissioned to decorate a particular section of this tiny restaurant because the decorations were that contradictory, but it worked.
I ordered the mead or Tej (honey wine) and immediately noticed that it was a lot darker than the mead I had had at the Blue Nile. It had a distinct aroma of immature wine (i.e., «whiney») and had a thick honey aftertaste that made up for its aroma. However, it wasn’t as smooth or alcoholic as the mead at the Blue Nile. Now I know why the manager there never sold her wine to take home — she had a fantastic recipe and had to protect it!
The food was delicious. I ordered a spicy chicken dish that was not particularly eclectic in its flavor but was rather wonderfully simple. I loved the injera bread, which had a delicately pleasing sour dough and rye flavor to it. The service was decent. Our waitress recommended dishes based on what we described we were in the mood for and she was somewhat timely.
Overall, it doesn’t replace the Blue Nile but it certainly comes in at a close second.

We visit most of the Ethiopian restaurants in the San Jose area from time to time and Shebele is our favorite. We usually go there to get the vegetarian combination to go and bring it home, but when we have visitors we take them there and dine in the restaurant.
The service can sometimes be a little slow, but the food is always wonderful. I especially like the spicy red lentil dish and the carrot, potato and cabbage dish. The yellow split pea dish and the chickpea dish are also wonderful.
Unfortunately their wine selections leave a bit to be desired. I highly recommend getting a big, fruity, peppery Zinfandel and bringing it to the restaurant. I forget what the corkage fee is, but it’s definitely not more than $ 10. Another good wine we’ve had with their food is a big Petite Sirah.