Awaze

Friendly service in a pleasant environment, and delicious food elegantly presented — Awaze offers everything you need for an experience with Ethiopian/​Eritrean food, whether it’s your first time or your 100^th! All the traditional classics from wats to tibs are available with plenty of choices for meat-​eaters and those who avoid animal products alike, served with some of the most eye-​catching presentation I’ve seen in a restaurant featuring this cuisine. While the modernist plates do result in a smaller portion of sauce-​soaked injera to savor later (truly the best part of Ethiopian leftovers), there’s plenty of injera on the side to accompany your meal. My only complaint is that the spices could have featured more prominently and a higher level of heat could be used, but I don’t doubt that a milder level appeals to a wider variety of palates. Either way, the flavours were delicious and our meal was quite satisfying. If you’re considering exploring the cuisine give Awaze a try to start your journey!

Nice and friendly environment. My son loves their bread and meat sampler dish. Food is really good and looks homemade to me. I will recommend you try.

Good Ethiopian food, should try at least once. It would be good to have some Ethiopian beer collection.

Amazing ethiopian food. Well seasoned and perfect ingera. I won’t give 5 stars because I still need to try other dishes.

Awesome food, very friendly service. Went for my wife’s Birthday and it was terrific. I mentioned it was her birthday in passing not expecting any special treatment and the whole kitchen staff in addition to the wait staff came out and wished her a happy birthday. She was very touched. The food was excellent — and I am no stranger to Ethiopian cuisine having eaten it in many cities. This food (we’re vegetarians) was a little drier than some we’ve tried but flavorsome and wonderful, simply a different experience. We got the platter for 2 and it was more than enough for 3.
To cap it off we ordered the Ethiopian coffee. What a treat. They roast it right there and serve it in a clay pot which uses coconut husks as a filter. Great coffee — like eating dark chocolate.
We’ll be coming back for sure.

Excellent Ethiopian food. Had the vegetarian platter which has a little bit of all the entrees. If you’re not too sure of what you might like, just order the platter. Don’t miss the tinjera bread along with it. They do offer spoons, forks and knives, but the best way to eat this food is with your hands!
Will surely go back in case I do visit Cary again!

The food was delicious and the hospitality of the staff was above and beyond. We got the meat sample platter and the veggie sample platter. My favorite was the collards and lentils. We ended our meal with fresh roasted coffee served in a traditional clay pot with coconut husk filter on the end of the spout. Best coffee in a long long time.

Great food! The service was prompt and courteous. My wife and I went there a dinner time on a date and we both really like the atmosphere. The Awaze tibs with lamb was delicious… also, we tried the veggie sambussa. This was good too. I definitely recommend it!

Excellent Ethiopian food and ambience. If someone’s looking for a genuine restaurant, Awazé is the right pick. Very nice and professional staff. Highly recommended!!!

This Ethiopian restaurant took over the space previously well run, and I believe named Ashee. We’ve been on a few occasions, and have finally made time to review it. Here’s a run down of pros and cons:
Pros:
A) Incredibly friendly service. Upon a return visit, we were greeted as if we were visiting relatives. A server named Eden is fantastic! She also has a great memory!
B) Outstanding Ethiopian food, and a very good variety.
C) High Quality Injera (plus you’ll never leave hungry, because they’ll bring more to your table if you’d like at no additional charge).
D) Very flexible kitchen. Due to a dietary restriction, we requested a modification with a particular ingredient, and the Chef visited us to confirm a full understanding. She was super nice and professional, and delivered on her promise. For this alone, we’ve returned on 4 occasions.
E) The best Kitfo we’ve ever had (even better than Ashee). We didn’t think it was possible.
F) More prompt and attentive service than the previous owners.
G) Outstanding vegetables, and Cheese. Seriously, don’t hesitate to try the veg. platter.
H) One of the best lentil dishes we’ve ever tried. I forgot the name, however it was a fairly rich-​dark red color, and busting at the seams with robust flavor. It genuinely felt like eating a meat dish as it was so rich.
I) If you have any grocery shopping to do, you can walk off a few calories right next door at a recently remodeled Food Lion. I’ve personally found this convenient.
Cons:
A) If someone is in the bathroom, you’ll have to wait and pray it won’t be too long, as it’s been built to accommodate only one.
B) They are closed on Sundays. (Great for the team to have a day off, however if this happens to be your only day off, you may miss out on a great restaurant.)

–Tried Awaze for my first Ethiopian experience ever, so this is the opinion of an African food beginner as a preface/​FYI.
–We dined here for dinner around 7 pm on a Tuesday, service was slow as the staff spent time fraternizing with their friends who were hanging out. Not a big deal for me, but I would have liked them to interact more/​be more friendly when they did serve us because it was such a new experience.
–We ordered the Awaze Tibs, salad containing injera and Veggies Sampler. As someone who is particularly sensitive to sour, I would not recommend this type of cuisine to others who are acid intolerant. I liked the texture of the injera, but it was personally hard to eat the sour spongy bread, and salad. The beef was excellently seasoned though and worth trying at least once!
–I can only compare this pricewise to other local ethnic places such as nepali/​thai/​latino. I realize that it’s in Cary and has less competition, but I did feel like $ 16 for a veggie platter was too expensive.
–Everything is freshly prepared and platter presentation is very pretty. They also have a cool woven seated section and I would return to try the tea and coffee.

I find that in any larger size urban area it is very hit or miss on finding great ethnic options. I decided to try Awaze but did so with trepidation. How good could a restaurant in a strip mall be? I was blown over by the dish I had, Nech Tibs — cubes lean beef, sautéed in onions, bell peppers, and seasoned but not spicy. If you have any familiarity with Ethiopian food, their version of mild spicy is about a 6 out of 10! Great lunch spot if you are in the Cary/​Raleigh area by Hwy 40.

Moving from DC there are something you missed is little Ethiopian cuisines, My husband and I love to try ethnic foods, our favorite from most is Ethiopian food, 3 month a go we decided to go @ triangle Mediterranean food (La Shish) for dinner and we saw AWAZE Ethiopian cuisine wright there we gave it to try, since then weekly we go there! the place is warming and cosy with friendly service there prices fair enough the Awaze tibs and Veggi platter yam, in their menus they have good selection of Veggi and beef no lamb yet
however any Ethiopian restaurant don’t have pork dishes:)
the Sambusa and S. Rolls worth to pay $ 2 dollars
for each. We definitely recommend this place, there open Monday to Saturday, they are Closed on Sunday! Keep up the good work Awaze!!!

What an amazing surprise.
Went to lunch with a few friends/​co-​workers for a treat to try Ethiopian food. We were all excited about trying it, although one had already been here before. In fact, I had been to this place before under different management and it was quite good…
What ended up happening, however, was an «experience» more than «just a lunch».
The host (owner?) was seemed pleased to piqué our interest in the food. We decided to try the meat and veggie sampler, which she brought in one beautiful dish. She explained each item to us. For those who are not familiar, there is a bread — made out of a grain (can’t recall what it was) and some flour (if you call ahead, they can omit the flour to make it gluten-​free) — and you simply use the bread (pinch a piece off) and fold it around a piece of the item on the platter.
Mmmmm-​MMMMMM it’s soooo good! We had something with yellow lentils, green lentils, split peas in a something that sounded like «Burberry». A chicken dish with a whole egg in it. And more tasty something-else’s that I couldn’t get enough of. Well, all four of us. We almost finished the platter.
The biggest surprise, with regard to having this «experience», was the traditional coffee. My experienced friend recommended we try the coffee. We were in.
While we waited for the food, one of the employees came out (as we commented about smelling something divine) with a pot and asked us if we wanted to smell the coffee beans while they roasted. OF COURSE WE DO! And I was bowled over with the fact that 1. they were roasting our beans for our coffee right then and b. that she thought so highly of the art of it that she came out to have us smell it. Seriously, my eyes watered at the thought of this because I was so awestruck.
Our coffees came towards the end of our meal and our host explained how it was in this clay pot (a small, decorative clay pot), with a thingy on the spout made out of coconut that would filter the coffee as she poured it into the teeny cups. She said it would still need to steep a bit but she would return to pour the coffee for us.
Seriously? This small coffee ritual is not over yet? More watering of the eyes…
She then poured our coffee and asked we try before we adding cream or sugar. We did and it was divine. Not bitter *at all*. I, of course, ‘ruined’ it with sugar, as I do like a little bit of sweetness, but it was oh-​so-​good.
I will most certainly be back. I don’t think I will experience something like this again. I’m sure this was a once in a while experience, to introduce us to the menu, to the tradition, as it has recently been under this new management. But regardless, the food was delicious and beautiful, and just from the pride of the coffee bean roaster, it’s something I wasn’t expecting to have on a random Thursday lunch with friends, especially in Cary, and not while I’m on some exotic vacation somewhere in a contemporary city.

The place was nice, the food was great, I took the meat sampler, all the 3 portions were amazing.
Loved the place.
I would surely suggest it to anyone who is trying Ethiopian for the first time and wanna have a good experience.

Dinner update — still delicious!
Ok so I’ve been here two more times, only now with friends so I could shamelessly sample more dishes. The Awaze Tibs are still my personal showstopper but vegetarians rejoice — you have the Yemisir Wot (spicy lentils)! Omnivores with friends (or simply an ampler girth or budget) can enjoy the particular bliss that is mixing the awaze tibs with the yemisir wot. Mac n’ cheese, eggs and bacon. some things are just better together. This dinner combo is worth swiping right on an awkward Tinder date just to have access to two plates of food…
Ninja bonus: Eden remembered my name. How’s that for awesome service?
Try this place. I don’t love all the vegetarian dishes (spoken by a gal who didn’t eat tomatoes until age 23 though) but I can heartily vouch for the Awaze tibs and Yemisir wot.
Happy eating!

We went to Awaze last night hoping to find the amazing Ethiopian food we experienced in NJ at the late Makeda in New Brunswick. Let me start by saying that Makeda was a fine dining, white table cloth restaurant with an extensive wine list and live music. So, as you can imagine, our expectations were extremely high. With that disclaimer, I would say that we were only slightly disappointed with Awaze, but we will probably return.
First, the good– the service was warm and prompt, flavors were good and portions were generous. Prices were very reasonable. When our daughter did not eat her spaghetti and red sauce children’s meal, which was delicious by the way, the waitress was kind enough to bring her carrots at no charge and they were delicious!
The less than good– unfortunately, my veggie combo and our injera bread arrived warm at best. I normally would send back a dish not served hot, but my husband’s beef dish came out steaming hot and the restaurant was filling up quickly so I decided to eat it cold. All of the veggie dishes were savory and each had its on distinct flavor. I was disappointed when the waitress told me that the carrots she brought my daughter were the same as in my veggie plate– they were just ok cold, but outstanding when served hot!
Tip: when we asked for spicy sauce, the waitress brought us the Berbere sauce. Although not very spicy, the flavor was amazing and added a nice little kick to my veggie platter. For comparison, it reminded me a bit of Mexican guajillo sauce. Order this with your dish and you will not be disappointed!

Decided to meet some friends (10 of us) for Friday night dinner and all agreed on getting Ethiopian food. Awaze is a recently opened Ethiopian joint in Cary that we thought to give a shot based on the three Unilocal reviews it had at that time. I’ve had Ethiopian food twice before, once in Washington D. C and once in Grand Rapids, MI. I would rank Awaze next to the place in D.C. We were greeted by a pleasant wait staff who prepared a special complimentary fruit platter for us as a gesture of appreciation for making a reservation in advance. We started with ordering Sambusas for appetizers. There was no drinks menu but the wait staff informed us of the limited drinks option they had.
We ordered two veggie platters as six of us were vegetarians. I decided to order the key wot– spicy well done chopped beef in paprika and herb sauce. The best item they have is the Z’Kitfo special. It was well seasoned minced beef with onions and Jalapeños. I will certainly go back to Awaze for Z’Kitfo. I didn’t try the veggie platter but it was also well liked by others in the group.
I would give it a ⁴⁄₅ as the food was pretty delicious and wait staff was very cordial. They could do some more work on the drinks and on the ambience.

Alas, I tried Ethiopian food for the very first time & I was not disappointed!
Awaz’e is actually a spice used in Ethiopian food and quite spicy. I love spicy food so it wasn’t overwhelming to me. But don’t worry; they bring out a small piece of injera with the Awaz’e spice so you can taste the spice level for yourself before you order your meal. Personally, it had a late kick that hung out in the back of my throat and after a moment, the spice disappeared.
Eden, our server, was super sweet and helped answer our curious questions and suggested a couple of options for our first time eating Ethiopian food.
We ordered the Awaz’e tibs (lean beef w/​tomatoes, and small strips of jalapeño) as well as the vegetarian platter. Eden asked if we would like them on separate plates or all on one plate which I think is the traditional way. We went with the latter. The food comes with plenty of injera! It was kind of fun breaking off pieces of injera and wrapping it around the differently spiced veggies and meat. And for two, we were stuffed!
We ended our meal with a fragrant spice tea made of cinnamon and ginger. The flavor is a lot more mild compared to how it smells, but feel free to add sugar if you’d like!
For about $ 13 each and satisfyingly full, I’ll definitely be back. I’m excited to see how Awaz’e will improve once they’ve settled everything since they are still brand new, and their menu is still in the works.
I definitely recommend you try the Awaz’e tibs and veggie platter for your first time!

I never visited this place when it was the place it used to be; but I’m glad I visited the place it’s become.
My experience with Ethiopian cuisine is limited, maybe one or two times in the last few years. I can’t believe I waited so long to try it again. Awaze is pretty impressive. Amazing even.
There were only a couple of customers when I walked in – understandable since it was well after the lunch hour. Of course, I never know what I’m going to get in that situation. It’s either warmed up food from chefs and staff exhausted from a lunch-​hour rush, or what I experienced here: Friendly service and fresh food. As I sat down, two slices of a rolled up injera spread with the awaz’e spices appeared on the table to get things started. I didn’t think I’d find anything on the menu to top it, but I was wrong.
On the recommendation of the server, I picked the vegetarian combination platter. With about seven different items spread over injera, and with flavors varying from tangy to savory to spicy, the food was delicious. The injera was a good balance. The cabbage (tikil gomen), the kik alicha (split peas), and gomen went first, or at least first after the misir, as I sampled. Honestly, I couldn’t decide which I liked best. Fortunately, the serving sizes were plentiful enough for leftovers and now I can enjoy everything again.
The spicy hot tea is also good, but with the spiciness of the food, the flavor was lost on my overwhelmed taste buds. The menu right now is still a starter, but I was assured nothing would be taken off when the full menu is put in place shortly.
That was good news since there’s a lot more on the menu I’d like to try.