Little Ethiopia Restaurant

It was my first time actually went to an Ethiopia restaurant. My family went to an Ethiopia restaurant last year. But, I didn’t go with them. However, they brought me some chicken to try.
My Little Ethiopia Restaurant dining experience was good. I enjoyed it. Just be sure you don’t let their $ 6.99 sign to fool you. As far as I know, they have only one special lunch for $ 7.00. Overall, their dishes are not too expensive. My two brothers and I ordered one lamb dish and one veggie dish to share. However, the lamb tasted more like beef to me!
Anyway, I enjoyed my dining experience and I think it is a fun place to go if you want to try something new.

Delicious! I can’t get enough of Little Ethiopia. The food is fresh and extremely tasty. They have great options (I’m vegetarian and had an excellent dish, and my friends had a regular dish with meats) and everyone was happy with there meal. Highly recommend. Great staff!

Favorite Ethiopian spot. LOVE the vegrtarian special for $ 7. Ginger tea and sambussas are phenomenal too. Everyone I’ve ever brought here has loved it. I’m pretty addicted to this place. Feels healthy, not greasy, everything is cooked to perfection!

A friend of mine ate here and about an hour later became violently ill. She looked at her leftovers and found cooked plastic in her food! When she called and asked for a refund, at first they would not give her a refund, and told her «it happens». They did eventually refund her money (perhaps to avoid a lawsuit, because POISON). I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for twelve years and I’ve never heard of this happening. A hair, ok sure. A fly? Once in a blue moon. Those are things that HAPPEN. Plastic cooked into food most likely means that their food is not being stored and prepped according to health department standards. If you’re looking for a great Ethiopian spot check out Messob.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. My friend ate here yesterday and the food on her plate was discreetly wrapped in plastic and she got violently ill immediately (before she realized it.) Their health code standards are clearly not up to par and the fact that their food was cooked in plastic means it’s definitely not fresh and they aren’t very careful. They said «it happens» when she called them to tell them. Ummmmm, no. Not okay. And they barely gave her her money back. Avoid this restaurant if you can, it’s clearly one of the bad ones.

I happened to be driving right through Little Ethopia (the neighborhood, not the restaurant thankfully, haha!) and decided to stop for an early dinner. The «$ 6.99 lunch and dinner special» sign outside the restaurant caught my attention, but my first thought was that it’s probably just a «teaser» for a salad or appetizer.
It was a very hot day and the restaurant was nicely air conditioned. I wasn’t sure if they were open since nobody came over right away, but I proceeded to the restroom and was greeted warmly once the waitress noticed I was there. To be fair, it was early (around 5pm) and she looked very busy back in the kitchen.
I found the «Vegetarian Dinner #3» on the menu for $ 7.00 and confirmed that it was the dinner special mentioned on the sign (I’m not one to quibble over a penny!) The special looked good from the menu so I ordered it, along with a hot Ethiopian ginger tea.
Within 10 minutes or so, the waitress came over with a big oval plate lined with injera and everything on top, typical Ethopian style. The vegetables looked very fresh and all were still hot. Two different kinds of lentils, collard greens, cabbage with carrots, and green beans with potatoes (not totally sure about that last one, but it was good). Before I could take a second bite, she returned with a bowl of four injera bread rolls!
It was so tasty that I called a friend who wasn’t able to join me and asked if he wanted a take-​out order of the dinner special. I wasn’t sure if they would do that since it’s a special menu item, but it was no problem and my friend loved the food as well. So yes, a nice vegetarian dinner for $ 7.00! Sometimes when it seems to be too good to be true, it’s just truly good!
Just pay careful attention to the street parking signs. The meters on Fairfax run until 8pm in this area, but when I went back to feed it a few minutes before 6pm it showed «6pm, Limit Reached.» Then up ahead there was a «Loading Zone Only after 6pm» sign, so I made sure to drive away by 6pm before the little parking enforcement car came along to issue a pricey ticket. Not the restaurant’s fault for sure, I just chalked that one up to living in LA!

This place is amazing every time I visit. The tips are delicious and the injera is to die for. Parking is easy the food comes out really slow because I think the server is also the cook. Everything tastes so fresh you have to try

Small little restaurant on Fairfax. Came here with a group of friends and didn’t know what to expect so I just went with the flow with a friend who knew what to order. There was one waitress who was waiting and cooking. I was a little surprised at that. Besides a bit long wait for the food it was really delicious and she did a good job at explaining what is everything including the funny looking ‘bread’ (I forget the name of it) it’s funny because if I were to see that not in a context of food I wouldn’t think it would be an edible thing! The flavors were great and filling. I loved it.

I have tried several places for Ethiopian food and this place is my favorite place. The chicken is best compared to other places in that area.

Really good Ethiopian food. They have just the right amount of food. I was there for lunch and I got a great veggie plate with red lentil, yellow lentil, collard greens, green beans with tomato, cooked cabbage. This place is good to go for lunch with friends or you can even go alone.

I went here because I basically have been to every other Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia, and wanted to see if the $ 6.99 lunch special was anything to write home about. Although the service was standard (slow but cordial), if not a bit more friendly than some places, the food was a bit lacking in flavor. Plus, I’ve gotten used to the generosity of Merkato, so in comparison, the lunch special (veggie combo) here seemed a bit scarce and dry. I usually leave full even while sharing a veggie combo at Merkato (for about $ 10), but here I left feeling as if I had just had a big snack. Granted, $ 10 is more than $ 7, but for the flavor and size, I think I’d rather stick with Merkato.
Bottom line: It’s okay, but splurge a little more and indulge in the yumminess of Merkato just a few doors down.

Quite good. We popped in for a quick bite while doing some thrift store runs. This block is loaded with various Ethiopian restaurants. I ordered the vegetarian #3. It came on a big plate with a sampling of various items. It was just perfect for lunch. As others have mentioned, there is a bit of a language challenge, but no biggie — just point. Not sure what something is? Just check the Unilocal reviews — way easier than asking. Everyone is very nice and the food came up quickly.
The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated. It appeared there was a back door and may be a great way to park off the main drag and shorten your walk.
We had the pups with us and tethered them up out front; they were quite happy.

Had an Amazon Local deal. We pretty much had this cute little place to ourselves. Service was friendly but there was a language barrier and we weren’t exactly sure of what we were ordering — and that was unfortunate because we had a lot of questions.
We got the Alicha Wot (beef stew in curry sauce and «in house» seasoning) and the Bozena Shiro (ground peas cooked in berbere sauce with assorted spices, cubes of beef, tomato sauce and garlic cloves). It was a lot of food for two people. And it was OK. Not as bad as some places in the «little Ethiopia» neighborhood. Probably not the best — although frankly I’ve yet to find the best.
Probably won’t go back but if you are a real fan of Ethiopian food and see a good deal for this place, it’s worth checking out.

Delicious food! Great service. Went on a Friday night for a late dinner. Was hard to find parking on Fairfax. Restaurant was empty and we got a great table in front. We ordered the Vegetable Combination Plate for 2 which was more than enough food for two people. They don’t serve alcohol but you are allowed to bring your own. Great little restaurant!

The food was excellent and cooked to order, we came here using a groupon not knowing what to expect. The service was sincere and cultural, it gave off a real Ethiopian ambiance.

Oh, how I have looked forward to this night for the past few years… Yes, it has been THAT long since I have been wanting to try ethiopian food! I was thoroughly giddy!
We were all new to Little Ethiopia. Three of us arrived on a week night –2 of us were vegetarian. Armed with Unilocal knowledge that they didn’t serve alcohol, we stopped at the market next door for a bottle of tej (honey wine). There are 2 varieties, homemade and Enat. We chose Enat — sulfite free ($ 11). No corkage fee.
We sat at a booth and a friendly woman greeted us, brought menus, and glasses for the tej. We had some questions about the sides but it became obvious that she didn’t speak english. We ordered the #1 vegetarian combo ($ 21) to share and said we’d wait to order dessert but not sure she understood. Pointing to the menu always works!
The chilled tej was soo good! Like honey apple juice with a linger of beer. I know, sounds weird but TRUST ME. We happily sipped away and before we knew it, our feast arrived along with a plate of injera. Eating with my hands was such a fun experience! I didn’t know what was what but everything was DELICIOUS and we devoured it all (except for a piece of injera). My friends noted that the injera wasn’t too sour and just perfect. I had no complaints and loved that it’s gluten-​free, unlike naan etc.
For dessert, we ordered the chocolate mousse cake. You HAVE to get this! It was AMAZING and tasted home-​made. Smooth and light, not too chocolatey, not too sweet. I wish I had a 2^nd piece all to myself ;)
The friendly woman was the only one working the dining area. She didn’t bother us at all. I think she probably wouldn’t have minded if we stayed overnight. We had to wait a while before we got her attention for the bill but we appreciated that she let us stay as long as we wanted. So sad I didn’t get to try ethiopian sooner but so happy my 1^st ethiopian and tej experience were at Little Ethiopia. We all LOVED it! Definitely coming back but maybe sneaking in a plastic fork next time… must eat less injera… too stuffed!

Great vegetarian items but thumbs down on the lamb stew — way too greasy.

Went here with a friend to use a Amazon Local that I had purchased.
Upon arrival at 8:30pm on a Thursday, we were one of three groups in the restaurant. We were seated immediately and decided to split the Combo #2 platter to get a good taste of what they had to offer.
The service was friendly, but there was a bit of a language barrier when it came to ordering. We wanted to have both the meats (chicken and lamb) to come out as spicy, but they didn’t have any spice at all. Nevertheless, the service was very friendly.
The food took about 30 minutes to come out, which seemed like a long time, but it was a big enough dish to fill two hungry customers. It was an interesting dining experience to eat using only our hands and we enjoyed the challenge. All of the side dishes that came with the meat were good but my favorites were the cabbage and mushed peas.
Overall, this place is a great way to experience Ethiopian cuisine in LA and has friendly service. The meal was a bit bland for me, but I was happy to try a new type of food and would recommend this restaurant to anyone that is looking to do the same.

This was my first time here and my first time having Ethiopian food ever! I came with a group of friends on a Tuesday afternoon and it wasn’t crowded so we had no problem getting a table. The waitress was SO SO SO nice — she could tell we were first timers so she made some great recommendations on what we should try. We had a Combo #2, which gave us a little taste of everything! The food was great — lots of spices and flavors! The restaurant itself is a little shabby but most authentic are!
Would definitely recommend trying this place at least once!

My friend and I came here after looking at ALL the other restaurants on Fairfax wanting some yummy Ethiopian food. We wanted a place that served honey wine, but this restaurant does NOT. So the first time we came into the restaurant, we left because of this. In the end, we ended up going to that little market next door to buy our own bottle of honey wine (only $ 12) and brought it to the restaurant to drink. It’s BYOB and no corkage fee. The lady was really nice and welcomed us back into the restaurant the 2^nd time and was overall very friendly with us and the other patrons.
As for food, we ordered the first combination. I can’t remember all that is included, but I know we got the one with the raw beef (you can get it cooked however you want, but we wanted it raw). There was another beef portion that was cooked with injera (the thin spongy bread) and the pieces of meat were like beef jerky! Not complaining. haha The whole thing was served on top of a huge piece of injera (of course) and a basket of more injera was given to us as well (of course). There was a lot of injera! We didn’t finish it all. The food was so good! The flavors were there and I can’t wait to eat it again. Overall, I think this place is awesome and is worth a visit!