Fasika Ethiopian Restaurant

Service is friendly and the food is good. Plan on getting messy as you eat with your fingers using the bread to svoop up the food. (Kind of like scooping with a tortilla) the bread has a little bit of a sourish undertone. I liked it. My daughter did not. All of the dishes and sides were delicious and you get plenty of food. (It made great leftovers) really good selection of vegetarian food.

Bad service. When I turned up the lady said she’d check my order (lie!) she then went and made it; twenty minutes went by and they didn’t even know they had an order.

Things you should know before dining at Fasika: It’s a mom and pop, very slow service, ask for more injera if you run out.
If you’re really hungry, craving Ethiopian food, and want food right then and there I advise you not to dine in Fasika’s. We waited approximately an hour for the food, and it wasn’t worth it.
The servers are really very nice, optimistic, and helpful, but controlling pace is a huge factor in customer service. To be honest, I was really excited to come out and try this place but the experience really drained me. It felt like I was starving forever and that I spent my whole day there. When the food arrived, it tasted mediocre. I’m not sure if this is because I waited so long or just because it did. Plus, I’m sure they put kale on my plate when I didn’t order it either. That made me a bit angry since I waited an hour to get a vegetarian side that I specifically said I didn’t want. They have two kitchen workers (kitchen was visible on the way to the restroom) and two servers, which should be enough to be fast-​paced.
Time is part of the eating experience. No food should take that long. I’ve been to many mom and pop Ethiopian restaurants where the food comes out quick and still tastes so guuuud. I was understanding when they kept apologizing to me about the wait because they cook everything fresh. I respect that, but I still do not think two fistfuls of meat should take an hour to cook.
Everything on my platter was mild because the person I was with didn’t want spicy tonight. I honestly felt like my palette plateaued and caused everything to taste bland after that. I really advice stunning your tongue with something spicy on your platter like Doro Wat. To clarify, the food tasted great. I would just order more variety. I also recommend trying the Kenyan samosa appetizers. Our waitress was kind enough to mix both the vegetarian and meat samosa’s when we couldn’t decide.
Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of Ethiopian cuisine! If you want to step out of your comfort zone of individually served dishes, forks, and spoons then trying out Ethiopian food is a fun way to eat together with your friends and family. I just wouldn’t come back to Fasika’s because the experience was overall frustrating.

This was my first time here. The service was slow. One hour from ordering to getting the food. There were no utensils, you were expected to eat with your fingers. What I was able to eat was fine but there was not enough of it. This will be my only visit here, I will not return.
Marty G

Unfortunately I have to change my review. We went there a couple weeks ago and the doors were locked although it was within their normal business hours. I figured maybe they had an event or something although a note would have been nice. We tried again this past weekend. We stood there a bit before being greeted and finally a woman appeared and sent us to a table and said she’d be back to clean it. She never came back, never cleaned the table… never even gave us menus. I also noticed at least 3 – 4 tables still had dirty dishes on it and not cleaned. We waited a good 20 minutes and finally just left. To be honest, I don’t think our departure was even noticed. It’s too bad since they did have good food when we had gone in the past but given the last two visits, not sure if we’ll try again.

15 mins for a waiter to take our order
½ hour wait for our drink (just water)
1 hour and 15 mins for our food to come out
15 mins to pay our bills
This is our first and last time to eat here.
So Ridiculous!!!
Reason I gave two stars cause the food is good but not wow me.

Actually quite disappointed. Although the food was fairly good, we waited for an hour for our food… And three of our dishes did not come. I personally thought the food itself tastes good, but my Ethiopian friend who went with me said she’d rate it a 4÷10… I’m trusting that.

Came here on the day after thanksgiving. The restaurant was full. They have recently renovated and added Kenyan menu. The service was extremely slow with many people walking out after waiting for I think hours. However, the food was definitely worth the wait. I would recommend coming here to check out the food as well new Kenyan offerings. We tried the chicken Kenyan dish with potatoes and was delicious.

I think I’ve found a new favorite restaurant! Too bad it’s far from home.
Visited Fresno for a few days and found this place online while looking for vegan food. Never had Ethiopian food so I thought I’d give it a go. This place was amazing! My daughter and I both chose the 4 item selection and it was served to us on a huge platter with Ethiopian bread. The owner, Charles, explained to us that in Ethiopia, you eat with your hands. No utensils were brought out. I sat there for a moment confused. Within minutes, we were digging in with our hands and the food on the platter seemed to disappear. It was a fun experience. Most importantly, the food was delicious!
Great food. Excellent service. Good atmosphere. Easy parking. Can’t ask for more.
*Charles was super friendly. He took the time to explain how the bread was made and taught us a little about Ethiopia. Thank you, Charles!

My family has been here before and introduced others to it and we all love it! It’s delicious and leaves you full without feeling gross. The owners are so nice and helpful. They greet you with «what can we cook for you» and they don’t cook the food until it’s ordered so it takes some time but it’s a nice change from always being rushed in other restaurants. The food is definitely worth the wait!

I had to come in and change my review. The first time we went, we had an awesome experience with great food. It must have been a fluke the first time we went. We decided to take a family member for out second visit and we got the veggie combo of 4 items and 2 meat selections. When we got our plate we noticed that the portions were WAY SMALLER than the first time and the BBQ beef we got was so dry and tough. It wasn’t worth the $ 40 AT ALL. I don’t get how we had such a great time the first time we came, now with this new visit, I don’t think I’ll come back at all!

I really felt like I was in Ethiopia when I was eating here ^_^
I came with a group of four including myself we had all been wanting to try this restaurant for over a year so we finally took the plunge. We all share the platter which you can pick what you want on the platter there is a variety of choices like rentals, chickpeas, chicken, lamb, and beef. The coolest part was that they do not give you utensils, you have to eat with your hands which I am all for since forks and spoons are over rated. Prizes were not bad at all very affordable. I will definitely be coming back brining me adventurous people with me to check this place out.

Over a 2 hour wait for sub par food. Hands down, worst experience I’ve had at a restaurant. Not sure if ownership changed. Food was cold, over salted and over peppered. There were 3 other tables waiting and all got served before ours even though we had ordered first. We were in a party of 6. Easily manageable. We waited from 630 to 840 to finally receive our plates. Will not be back. Do yourself a favor and drive the few extra miles for Lucy’s Lair. They never disappoint.

I tried Ethiopian cuisine last night, it was outstanding. Fasika @ 4712 N Blackstone Ave. The staff is very helpful explaining the menu. I had Doro (chicken) Wat, and 4 veggies sides, including lentils and green beans. Very flavorful!

Went in and nothing was available on the menu, I waited about 30 minutes for food and then gave up and left. Would not return.

My wife and I were feeling adventurous and decided to try Ethiopian food. The restaurant had great ambiance and the proprietor was awesome. He took time to explain the food, the way it is prepared, etc.
The food was very different but very good. We had #3 Miser Wat, #5Tekil Gomen, #7 Kik Alecha, #8 Azifa, #14 Siga Kay Wat, and Sambusa. The Saga Kay Wat was delicious. The Sambusa tasted much like an eggroll. The owner said they are normally made extremely spicy but these weren’t (made mild for the bland American palate). I love spicy so the next time we go I will ask him to make them spicy.
This was a lot of food. We were both stuffed, and had leftovers. I really enjoyed the whole experience. They make the food as the orders come in so it takes a very long time to get your food; plan accordingly.

Fasika really embodies the image of eating ethnic food, I mean this is what I imagine when I eat ethnic food, it really feels like your in a food channel program. The experience was so authentically Ethiopian; the interior decoration was set in the cultural way of Ethiopia, the food served in the most traditional way, which here means eating on one platter and being shared among everyone on the table, because this is how people in Ethiopia eats (family style), and finally the people serving me was Ethiopian. It truly was a unique experience and I think everyone should try it once, its a foodie rite of passage, and although Im not a huge fan of Ethiopian cuisines as a whole, I must say Fasika does a great job of serving quality, delicious and real home made taste of their cuisine. The price is not cheap but for the experience and authenticity, this place is quite a good deal, expect to pay $ 30-​$ 60 for 2 – 4 person depending on what is ordered. The portion is very big, perfect for sharing. I was full by the end of it.
The style of eating here is everyone shares on one platter, yes you heard me right everyone on the table shares one huge platter. It is a really a fun activity, might be bizarre to some, but this is pretty similar to the asian culture I was brought up with, we have a common meal that we share, the only difference of course, is we have our own plates in the asian culture of course. Back to the food, so one huge platter, and how you order is you choose the entrée according to price, but remember you are ordering to be shared among everyone, I went for «Beg Wat» $ 14.95 a lamb entrée and «Doro Alicha Wat“a spicy chicken entrée $ 12.99, and finally their vegetarian dishes where I had to choose 4 for the total price of $ 11.95. My choices of vegetable was Gomen, Fosalia, Azifa and Timatim Fit. All of the meal comes with the injera, a specialty Ethiopian bread. The meal took maybe 20 – 30 minutes to come after ordering.
When the food eventually came, it came on a huge platter and this platter was filled with food according to there kind, it was very colorful and it had a lovely smell of mild spices, and below all these food on that same platter was the injera bread, which was placed there with an intention to sog up all the flavor until the end. Also on the side is rolled up injira which has a tangy sour flavor and almost crêpe like texture, very moist, it was delicious to take the bread grab whatever food I could get and place it in my mouth. The flavor of each of the dishes were different. In a nutshell, the flavor of Ethiopian food is almost like indian food but with less species and less intensity of spiciness. To me the food tasted really natural and was to the bland side, but I do really love this sort of bland food. My favorite being the doro wat, it was not super spicy, very mild in my opinion, but the chicken texture was soft and not overcooked, so I really liked that. I really enjoyed the injira bread because it was very unique tasting. It tasted almost similar to the indian dosa, but yet very different. The meal was generously portion, I would order 2 entrees and maybe 1 vegetable if I was in a party of 2 – 4, and for individuals maybe just one dish.
The service was friendly, not like super friendly but was fair, water was always filled up. The interior had lots of wall art from Ethiopia, it even has a wooden room area that makes it look like someones home within the restaurant, how bizarre. There was music playing, I’m guessing its their traditional music, kind of annoying buzzing sound, but I must respect their culture. Overall the Ethiopian food here is good and the experience was nice. The outside though is very ghetto and looks like someplace I would never eat, but once inside its not too bad, its clean and again felt like I was in Ethiopia, but parking was easy and free.

Upon arrival we were greeted fantastically! Place has a wonderful atmosphere… Music really added to that flair:) very clean and well maintained. Now the best part… our server went over how they serve and even showed us how to eat Ethiopian style. I asked for gluten free bread and they had some. The food was not only delicious but fun to eat! I highly recommend to come and try don’t be afraid they are very friendly to explain. We will visit again! Thank you!

Service: 5 stars
Environment: 4 stars
Food:
#6 Gomen — 5
#5 Tekil Gomen — 5
#8 Azifa — 4
#3 Miser Wat — 3
#11 Doro Wat — 2
Service was excellent! Server was very friendly and helpful in making food recommendations.
Environment transported me to another place other. Pretty great.
Ordered the vegetarian combo with 4 choices and the Doro Wat chicken dish. Most of the vegetarian dishes were excellent. I would totally recommend this as a vegetarian restaurant. Unfortunately the Doro Wat chicken was too tough for my liking and the spicing didn’t make up for that.

For years we have been saying we would love to try Ethiopian food. We have never been able to find one. On our way through Fresno we found this little gem on Unilocal!So exciting. We were not disappointed.
First of all the restaurant is beautifully decorated and very clean. The menu is very informative, so you can order with ease. If you are unclear on how to order the staff is very friendly and explains how to eat it. Awesome.
We had the large vegetable combo platter with the doro wat in the middle. It is served family style. Rolled injera bread is placed around the platter. You unroll the thin spongy bread, tear off a small piece and use it to scoop the offerings on the platter. (If this makes you uncomfortable he will gladly bring a fork) I personally love eating with my hands and thought it only added to the meal to eat it in a traditional manner.
My favorite veggie entrée was definitely the lentils. The salad was refreshing in between the other bites. The doro wat says spicy on the menu, but it is not overwhelming, very balanced with the other flavors of the dish. The chicken was moist and cut to perfect size to scoop with the injera bread. The gentlemen helping us explained the sauce for the doro wat takes 4 hrs to make. You can tell, the flavor is exquisite.
On top of all of this goodness, the meal was extremely affordable and left you feeling full, but not heavy. We are definitely returning.