Sheba Cafe

While traveling for business, it’s hard to avoid the crap chain food that is on every corner. Do I go to Applebee’s, Chili’s, or Pappadeaux? Whenever possible, I try to go to local restaurants — especially if they have good reviews on Unilocal.
I like to get Ethiopian food every few months, and I always get the same thing — a vegetarian combo. It’s usually a huge plate of food, with 5 – 10 different items. If you haven’t had Ethiopian food, you eat with your hands, and the food comes in little piles on top of a spongy bread/​tortilla thing called injera. Look it up and you’ll find it’s very healthy.
Sheba was not bad, but not great. Just like many Ethiopian restaurants I’ve been to, it was dead, right during dinner time. I don’t think it’s a reflection of the food; more likely just doesn’t have a big customer base in Houston suburbia.
The reason I gave 4 stars and not 5 is a few minor complaints. First, they have a very perfumey soap at the sink area. Because you are eating with your hands, you want them to be clean — and not smelling super strong. It was also a couple dollars more for the same dish than a similar place in Austin.
Overall, the flavor of the food was fine, but the tastes were muted, maybe keeping it mild and somewhat bland for the locals. I would have preferred hotter (temperature), and spicier.

This a great little local gem with a friendly and helpful staff. I had never heard of this place before but I knew the owner of the restaurant since I teach her son. I love Ethiopian food, so as far as the quality and quantity of food, my friends and I were really pleased. The owner is really sweet and is more than willing to answer questions about the menu, food, and Ethiopian culture in general. Overall, it was a great experience. I love getting the chance to support locally owned restaurants that have a great menu. Sheba is a prime example of this.

I don’t leave bad reviews too often, and I feel bad about this but oh well.
After skimming the other positive reviews, it could just be that maybe I came in at a bad time (8pm, with no other diners in the restaurant). I’ve been to the other Ethiopian restaurants in Houston and several more in other cities so I have a good idea of what to expect. We ordered the vegetable combination and a meat dish.
— The injera was gritty, as if there was sand in it, and also hard and dry due to sitting out for a very long time.
— Both items were microwaved (we could easily hear the microwave as we were the only people in the restaurant). I know that many other Ethiopian restaurants also microwave their food — not necessarily a terrible thing — but I saw one review mention his food was freshly made. This was not true in our case.
— The meat — having been microwaved quickly — was very tough.
— The vegetables were okay.
— The staff were nice.
— They would not accept the
coupon from my phone, required that it be on paper. Prices are reasonable though ($ 25 for two) so this wasn’t a huge deal but still pretty annoying.

Very small restaurant that is a well-​kept secret. Portion sizes are smaller than expected, but I ate everything on my plate and left pretty full, so definitely worth it. The one person working there was very nice and friendly. Big smiles and a lot of help. And the food smelled heavenly. Pretty tasty. I plan on going back.

You need to try this resturaunt if you want quality, authentic and quite satisfying food. I have 2 favorite Ethiopian resturaunts and this is ONE of them!
The veggie platter (12 $) is an assortment of delicious servings made fresh while you wait. The bread (injera, hope it is spelled this way) is tasty and makes you feel full after eating to two or three of them.
The food is on another level compared to other Ethiopian resturaunts here in Houston. The amount is generous which I cannot say that other resturaunts understand. Taste the difference at this place and one will see what I am talking about.
The service is very friendly. One day you may get the owner who is friendly and speaks English quite well. On other days you will get another person who will have limited English speaking skills but is so friendly and inviting you won’t notice this as it happen many times to me.
Go as soon as possible to Try this fine establishment’s quality and service.

An Ethiopian restaurant almost hidden in a generically nondescript little shopping center with some tasty food– and I’d driven past it over and over without realizing it was there! It’s foreboding little place with mysterious and spicy scents wafting from the kitchen.
The menu was a bit spartan and the place was eerily (read: unfortunately) completely empty. I ordered some lamb bits marinated in lemon juice and oil and enjoyed it immensely. My eating buddy had the spicy beef, also delicious with a bolder tangy spice and paprika (?). The food was tasty and simple a prime of example of cultural home cooking with fresh ingredients.
The wait staff consisted of one woman who was very kind to refrain from laughing at us mispronouncing everything.
My friend later told me that I was eating it wrong. Apparently, the spongy bread (?) I was using to eat everything wasn’t really meant to be eaten the way I was eating it. Oops! Again I’m foiled by cultural ignorance in the face of hunger and tasty food.
The complaints I have are these: the atmosphere was a little bland. The table clothes and the few pictures on the wall made the place feel a little less than inviting. This restaurant suffers from a problem a lot of little family owned places have. The restaurant is a bit too spare. From the exterior I couldn’t be sure what I was walking into– I didn’t even know it was an Ethiopian restaurant until I picked up the menu. If the word café wasn’t written on the façade I wouldn’t have known I could eat there! While the food was tasty it seemed a little light in portion and presentation. Little skillets of meat in oil and spice. Both dishes came with a small pile of veggies like a school lunch salad. The lettuce and tomatoes looked wilted and as though they’d been sitting around for a while before we two lone customers got there. I hope to return and bring some folks!

those of you who have met me know that i carry myself with an air of righteous dignity and genuine class, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that i was recently sitting in a car-​wash waiting room, ogling the seedy escort-​service ads in the back pages of a HoustonPress. really, that is the ONLY respectable activity to sufficiently while away the time it takes for someone else to wash your car for you…
anyway, it was this activity that led me to the fortuitously (mis)placed advertisement, plugging authentic ethiopian food, sandwiched between fun-​on-​the-​phone and sure-​cough massage ads. i reached into my pocket for one of the various now-​vibrating objects kept therein and, ignoring the electric razor, found the iphone.
a quick Unilocal search confirmed my suspicion; sheba café was located on a street i had never driven on in area which i had never been. no problem: ‘directions to business’ button + clean car, information age!
i found myself in that old, familiar situation: sole patron of an african restaurant, staring out of a large storefront window at a stark, nondescript shopping center, discussing the difference in spiciness between lamb and ground beef dishes with an affable Ethiopian lady… ok, actually that situation is in no way familiar. it was fun though.
i chose lamb, which is apparently the less spicy of the two dishes, but my taste-​buds were on fire, and too busy screaming to notice.
it’s really a very quaint little restaurant, and the food is outstanding. i’m looking forward to burning my tongue here more often.

Best Ethiopian food ever. I came with a group of my friends and we all loved it.