Addis Abeba Ethiopian Cuisine

Excellent espresso and equally exceptional customer service. The owner makes each guest feel as if she’s genuinely glad to see them. I generally order an Americano and it’s far and away the best in Oak Park, River Forest or Forest Park.

Super good!!! I had never been to an Ethiopian cuisine restaurant before. This was amazing! I loved the food. The service was awesome. Our waitress was so helpful in selecting our entrée. We had the perfect portion and the food was absolutely phenomenal. I cannot wait to return here. Highly recommend this restaurant.

My very favorite Ethiopian restaurant. I have been coming here for many years, I started going to the Clark St location. Always an amazing meal, great service and a wonderful dining experience!

Food is fine but as other reviewers have pointed out, the price to portion ratio is way too high! An order of chickpeas is $ 14 for maybe half a cup worth. The chicken thigh entrée comes with two buffalo wing sized drumsticks and is $ 16. I guess you are supposed to fill up on the sourdough wrap thing instead?
Anyway, a fun (eat with your hands!) and tasty meal but way overpriced.

This place is so yummy! As a recent transplant to Evanston, I have been searching for yummy food and this place hits the spot. The food is well made and tasty, especially in comparison to the Ethiopian food that I was used to in Tampa. The prices are reasonable and the staff is very nice.

Visited Addis Abeba with a group of 4. This was my second time having Ethiopian food, the first was years ago and I wasn’t that big of a fan. I was curious to see what I would think about it now.
Food was pretty awesome. Few favorite things I liked:
#1, you have to eat with your hands, which I love doing (food always taste better with hands.
#3 Lamb, and beef kebob were my two favorite. They are both covered in an awesome sauce that the bread soaks up well. The beef were good sized chunks, a bit smokey, and served with caramelized onions.
#4, the sour wrap thing really grew up on. I never tasted/​felt anything like this before. It soaks up the sauce really well and gives it an interest kick.
#5 The Ethiopian beer was great. Never had «Amber Beer» before and it tasted great.
If it was just the food, I would have given this place a 4 and come back often. The PRICE however was a big turn off.
With 4 people, it came out to be $ 120 (with tip). We first ordered 3 entrees and weren’t that full. We then ordered two more (tenderloin and chicken) without checking the price — our fault. In general, the portions aren’t that big. I myself could probably eat 2 entrees. The chicken was absolutely the worse. She told us it would come with two pieces of chicken thighs. It was actually just one chicken thigh and probably a midget chicken. For 15 bucks, that was pretty nuts.
There weren’t that many people in this place (it was a Tuesday though) but from my experience, I wouldn’t come back just because of the price. If they actually want to be in business, they need to drop prices.
They also only let us pay with 2 credit cards instead of 4. I get that if you are super busy but there was no one there when we paid. I don’t think the fees are higher (maybe I’m wrong). it just seems like this don’t care that much.

²⁄₅
The restaurant only had 2 other tables besides my table and a friend told me it was like this the last time they came. They were true to the Ethiopian cuisine and had to eat with the hands. Naturally, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and the faucet had a slow tickle of water. One would think they would invest in a better sink as the cuisine calls for clean hands… I hope. Also not a big fan of weak hand dryers. (HA, unintentional pun!!) This was quite disappointing.
The food itself was ok. We had a mix of beef and chicken tibs ranging from mild to spicy. The mild chicken was bland, dry, and lacked flavor. The «spicy» chicken had a bit more flavor, but was still dry. The best was the «spicy» beef tibs, I was finally able to taste what an Ethiopian dish shouuuld taste like. Still though, I felt like it wasn’t traditional and that the flavors catered to American taste buds as the flavors seemed too familiar and basic. I used quotes around spicy because there was no spice at all. Maybe Ethiopian food isn’t naturally spicy? It had vibrant color, but couldn’t find any spice to it.
The spongy bread you use to pick up the food is on the sour side due to the type of flour they use, but works alright if you slop on the beans. The best part is the bread that’s under all the meat and beans as it soaked up all the flavors. After tasting this, I let some of the bread soak up the flavors to slowly rid that sourness. I really like sourdough bread, it’s just the food was too bland to mask the sourness on this one.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in my first Ethiopian experience. I wished I ventured into their stews or lamb instead of playing it safe with the beef and chicken. Plus I felt like it was a bit pricey for what it was. I’ll be looking for another place to visit (hopefully with a better functional bathroom) and be more of my courage self and order an adventurous item.
Side note: I was with a party of 5 and gratuity was included on the bill. They take a max of 2 credit cards per table.

The place is spacy and the service is good. However.
For the price of the food you do NOT get enough and the food is mediocre at best. The injera bread is not as spongy as it should be and it is very brittle.
The taste of the food is meh at best. Demera in the city is much better than this place.
I’m sad to say I’m disappointed.

This has, over the past 5years, been a go to place to bring friends or family who haven’t experienced Ethiopian cuisine.
No more.
Why you ask?
My wife went to Addis along with our 10month baby & a visiting couple.
All was ok till a presumptuous 20% tip was added to the final bill sans warning.
I’m confident most restaurants do that for groups 6, or even 8+. The waitress explained their (unspoken) «policy» was to auto add tip at a table count of 4.
Right.

Having never before experienced Ethiopian food, I was excited to try Addis Abeba. Overall, it was so fun. It is definitely a place I’d want to bring friends or visiting family to try something unique.
I found that I agree with many of the reviews already here: dinner was a bit pricey, but portion size made up for it; the flat bread had a sour taste that wasn’t bad, but my taste buds weren’t used to; and I was surprised at the emptiness of the restaurant (which affected the overall «feel» of the evening).
Still, I loved that my husband and I were able to try a large portion of the menu by each of us ordering different options for our «sampler» plate. The server was very friendly and spent the time to give recommendations and help us pick out meats/​veggie options for our combo platter.
They didn’t knock it out of the park, but we’ll probably come here again.

Very good Ethiopian food, but a bit overpriced.

The dinner menu basically binds any guest to paying at least $ 14 for his/​her meal. If you use your money wisely, you can order a combination of meats and vegetables (total — 3 or 4 portions).
With this unofficial $ 14 minimum also comes the restriction of each guest having to order at least one entrée each, lest you’re willing to pay a $ 3 sharing charge.
The quantity of food that comes with this price tag might be justifiable, but the quality is certainly not. At the end of our meal, Christina and I paid $ 18.40 each.
College students are rarely willing to drop more than $ 10-​$ 15 on food in one sitting. For those looking to splurge on an elegant meal, I advise you to keep looking.
Our waitress kindly explained a bit about Ethiopian cuisine and recommended her favorites after I asked what was worth ordering. After waiting 10 – 15 minutes, our meals arrived.
An Ethiopian meal commonly consists of injera and tibs. Injera is a soft, pancake-​like flatbread that represents intimacy and loyalty in Ethiopian culture. Made with fermented teff (an Ethiopian grass) flour, it’s supposed to taste sour. The bread was light, easily able to tear, and was full of bubbles and holes embedded in the surface. The tradition is that you rip off a piece of the bread with your hands, using it to grab protein and vegetables. As intriguing as this bread concept initially was, I could only keep eating it for so long before I grew tired of the taste.
Tibs, which is meats and vegetables sautéed together, comes on a huge platter, and is sectioned off into portions of meat and vegetables, which each guest gets to customize.
They offer protein options such as lamb, fish, chicken and beef. Vegetable possibilities include yellow split peas, chickpeas and lentils. The food typically comes prepared in wot form — that is, an Ethiopian stew. And the Ethiopian salad that often comes with your meal is basically chopped Romaine lettuce with a tangy dressing.
Christina and I ordered fish, chicken, lamb, chickpeas, lentils and potatoes. We were able to share our whole meal with each other because all of our food came on one platter.
The fish was dry and not generous in portion. The vegetables were truly nothing remarkable. The chicken also tasted dry, despite being drenched in sauces. And the sauces themselves, which tasted like tomato and curry, were lacking in flavor, and overall not memorable. This disappointed me because Ethiopian cuisine tends to rely heavily on spices in the sauces, often full of chili pepper powder, ginger, cloves, cumin and cardamom. These flavors did not emerge in our food…
If I had to describe the meal in one word, I’d pick «unsatisfying». Despite how full I felt at the end, the food was simply not appealing.
Despite being Evanston’s token Ethiopian restaurant and being rated as a Chicago Healthy restaurant on Unilocal,Addis Abeba is too far south off-​campus to draw a meaningful crowd.
While the restaurant does a decent job of portraying the culture of Ethiopian cuisine with its lack of silverware (an integral part of the culture) and authentic décor, the food is simply not appetizing enough to warrant another visit.
If you do decide to visit, you’ll get a better deal if you visit during lunch hours. Apparently Addis Abeba does lunch specials, unlimited Ethiopian coffee and an overall cheaper lunch menu.
Pictures and full review are up on my blog!

One of our favorite restaurants in Evanston.
If you’ve never had Ethiopian food, you are in for a real treat. There is no silverware. Instead you get spongy crepes — you tear off pieces and use the bread as a spoon. Yes it will be a tad messy, but it’s a nice break.
We normally order 2 – 3 samplers so we get to try half the menu every time we go. We’ve had everything on the menu and like it all. I especially like the ground beef; my wife loves the mushroom and yellow pea dish.
Our only dislike of the place is the bread. The «crepes» are very bland. So these days we skip them and do take out. Then we buy fresh pitas from Naf Naf.
Still, all-​in-​all try it you won’t be disappointed.

Interesting experience, but I don’t think I’d go back for the food.
As reviews have mentioned, you eat the whole meal with your hands. Although the dishes were not bad, with the Lamb (Yebeg Alitcha) probably being my favorite of the 3 entrees I ordered (Lamb, Beef Tenderloin, and Lentils), I was not a fan of the Injera bread that came on the side. Typically I love carbs of all kinds, but this spongy bread had a bit of a sour taste that I was really not used to.
Overall, Addis Abeba offers a unique dining experience, but I would consider the food very average amongst Evanston restaurants.

I liked the food here, and the atmosphere is nice, but I wouldn’t say that it’s amazing. The entrees are in my opinion a bit pricey (~$ 15 each) for the amount of food you get. I will say though that the cuisine and style are something you should try at least once.
All the food that you and the people dining with you order is going to be served on the same large plate unless you specify otherwise, so keep that in mind when considering allergies, vegetarians, etc. Something that rubbed me the wrong way is that while they bring you moist towelettes at the end of the meal to clean your hands, they don’t do so beforehand. Given that you and everyone in your party is going to be using their hands to eat the meal from one communal plate, this struck me as a bit of a sanitary issue. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands before the meal was served, and I have to agree with other reviewers who commented on how the bathroom is not very clean.
You eat the food itself off of the communal plate using a kind of sour crêpe, which they supply plenty of. Keep in mind that this isn’t like a Chinese restaurant where they have chopsticks on the tables but will bring you a fork if you ask. This place stays true to the no utensil philosophy.
I’d recommend coming with a large enough group so you can order a good variety of food for everyone to try, but not so large that everyone can’t easily reach the food. I’d say 4 – 5 people would be best.

Came here for their $ 9 lunch special and left happy and full! We both got 2 meats and 1 veggie, which comes out on a huge plate with a side of 4 breads. You can share for a sharing fee of $ 2 but I don’t think that would be enough food for two. We finished everything! Our favorite was the beef stew– mild. The ethiopian coffee was also delicious, and is 2.50 with unlimited refills.
Service was great and quick. We were the only ones here (it was 3pm) and she was very friendly and fast. We ordered, got our food, ate, and paid all in 30 minutes.
Definitely give it a try if you are around for lunch. The lunch special runs from 12 – 4:30, which is much later than the neighboring reataurants!

Came here for my second time yesterday with 4 other friends and got the Chef’s Combo for 4 (4 meat dishes, 12 vegetable dishes). It was definitely more than enough food, and we were stuffed by the end. I wish the server had gone through and pointed out which part of the dish was which; we ended up figuring out what the different meats were, but it was harder to tell with the veggies and now I don’t know what to order when I come back.
We went in on a Tuesday evening and got our food in 10 minutes; granted, the restaurant was pretty empty.
Next time, definitely trying the Ethiopian coffee and desserts!

This is my first time here and I will have to come back and order different dishes. I came with my husband who is mild and conservative in food tastes so we had the beef shish kabob which was tasty and I ordered the split yellow pea with mushrooms.
I definitely think the food is good and not hard getting used to eating with the hands only (no silverware)
I don’t recommend the house Ethiopian Honey Wine. I am not a connoisseur but definitely not a good wine at all.
I wanted to try the desserts but we didn’t have time for that this evening.
The service was nice, the single waitress was getting a little busy when I left but she did her best!
Their portions are not very big so I think it is a bit pricey for what they give you since I’ve tried the Ghanaian restaurant in Uptown and they give you far more food for your money.

I’ve walked by this place multiple times but never actually went in until last week for lunch. I decided to try the lunch special (served Mon, Wed, Fri from noon to 4:30PM). For $ 9, you get to select from a list of 6 different options (either 4 vegetable options, 2 vegetable + 1 meat, or 2 meats and 1 veggie). Since I went with one other friend and there were a total of 4 vegetable and 2 meat options, we decided to just get one of everything and share.
The options offered are:
— sauteed mushrooms and yellow split peas with vegetable oil, garlic, ginger
— whole red lentils cooked with spicy red pepper sauce, garlic, cardamom, cloves
— cold lentils, tomatoes, and jalapeño seasoned with ginger, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice
— cabbage, carrots, potatoes
— chicken legs simmered in red pepper sauce, spiced butter, honey wine, garlic, cloves, cadamom
— beef stew with onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, spiced butter
Presentation is beautiful, and they give you thin, crêpe-​like bread to eat the food with. The bread itself was rather bland, spongy, and not particularly appetizing in any way. However, the actual vegetables/​meats were really good for the most part! Both the chicken leg and beef stew were solid, and my favorite of the vegetables were the red lentils. I walked away from the meal very full and only spent a little over $ 10.
Service could be a little slow at times but was polite. Don’t forget about the WildCard discount! (Because I did…)

I really like Ethiopian food. It’s healthful and tasty. Of the various places I’ve tried, this is my favorite. I mostly go for lunch, which is never busy, but always good. For $ 9 you can get four of their best vegetarian items, or you can trade out some for meat items.
Ethiopian food is traditionally served without utensils, but with a stack of crêpe-​like bread that you tear off and use to pick up the food. I find the bread a bit filling, so it’s nice that you can ask for a fork.
Service is very friendly, and the Ethiopian tea and coffee are both delicious.
The place is easy to find, because of the bright yellow awning out front, and the sunny, happy motif continues inside, with colorful window hangings and bright walls. If you haven’t tried Ethiopian food, you should check it out.