Lalibela Cart

This is my favorite cart if I’m looking for a healthy lunch. Last time I had yellow lentils, green beans and carrots, and spicy chicken which were all very flavorful. They use a combination of spices to make it tasty without being too oily or salty, like the noodles/​stir fry from some other carts. I love the injera– a whole wheat sourdough bread– and recommend it if you like sourdough. If you don’t like sourdough I’d advise sticking with the rice.

The good: cheap, hot, and way more than $ 6 worth of food. Not a bad lunch, and probably better than average for the budget (but there are a lot of other, similarly priced carts in the same lot).
The less good: the food is not amazing. It’s passable, very average food that doesn’t feel particularly tasty and Ethiopian compared to my favorite restaurant in Chicago. Definitely not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Delicious. $ 7 and you get 2 vegetarian options, 1 meat, and a drink with either rice or injera. The collard greens are so good, as is the potatoes. The woman working will normally help newbies learn how to use the injera too :)

If they had more of the selections from the restaurant available at the cart, this would be a no-​brainer five star rating. That’s barely a criticism, as the options they do have are equal in quality to what you would get if you went to their sit-​down location. The green beans and carrot, spicy lentils, doro wat, and yellow split peas are all delicious. And please, get the injera. I’m not even sure why rice is an option. There’s no good reason NOT to get the injera. It’s fresh and chewy and has that delicious sourdough flavor that pairs perfectly with the food.
Sadly, this cart is criminally underpatronized compared to many of the others. But take heart! That means there’s rarely a line at Lalibela and you can be enjoying your delicious Ethiopian food while everyone else is still waiting to stuff their face with greasy, all-​you-​can-​eat Thai noodles.

Had a chance to try Ethiopian food for the first time at the lalibela cart. Everything was fresh and for $ 7 I could get 2 entrees with rice or injera, or ethiopian ‘tortillas’ if you will, made with sourdough bread. I tried a couple of different veggies, all good, but I really enjoyed the sweet potato. Also the owner was very kind and quick.

I just tried the cart for the first time and loved the food. I had a red lentil dish, the green beans and carrots which were perfectly sweet and my favorite, and the spinach and potatoes. I had it with rice since I’m not a big fan of the Ethiopian bread. The rice was short grained sticky rice and very tasty. I just wish there was a bit less rice and a bit more of the vegetables. The potatoes and spinach were good, but I’ll probably try something different the next time. The other two dishes were amazing. Can’t wait to go back!

The awaze beef was very dry and tough. It seems that they didn’t season or marinate any of their meat before putting it in the sauce — so bland and watery.
At least the awaze chicken was tender.
Lentils were just ok – a bit cold.
The injeera was thick and starting to dry up. I hope they weren’t left over from last night.
:(Meh. I’ve had a lot better. But hey, this is a food cart so 2 stars you go.

Average Ethiopian food, but pretty small portions compared to the other cart options in the same parking lot. The others give you so much it’s almost enough for lunch the next day– here I’m just barely full. They do have many vegetarian options and it is the only spot around for Ethiopian food.
But this is still better than the restaurant which has incredibly slow service.

Of the food carts on Science Hill, probably one of the best choices. Many other carts seem to stuff the containers with rice or water, but here you pay for what you get meats and/​or veggies. Ethiopian food is well adapted to vegans too if you are one, since they fast 50 days a year — so the food is similar to Indian food in some regard.

I LOVE going to the carts. Lalibela is GREAT food and has many vegetarian options. Like most of the carts, Lalibela gives you WAY more food than I can usually eat in one sitting and there is usually enough for left overs.

My fave of the carts. Best for combination of quality, quantity, and price.
The best dishes they do are the veggie ones — lentils etc.
I think its sometimes a little less popular than a few of the other carts because people aren’t familiar with Ethiopian cuisine (me included). But its all pretty mainstream ingredients, just very tasty.

The spicy lentils, the spinach and potato and the zucchini side dishes that I ordered [all vegetarian], where accompanied by 5 rolls of the most amazing Injera. Everything was fresh, tasty, not oily at the least and served just in the right portion size. I strongly recommend lunch at Lalibela Cart!

Good cheap food. I tried the spicy chicken, spicy lentils, and green beans/​carrots. I loved the bread!

Five star for the amount of the food and the flavor. Only $ 5 and you can get to choose three items with rice or injera. I highly recommend getting the injera. It is slightly tart and goes well with all the dished they have to offer.
Their green been and carrot is really magical! That is the must get item. Of course other items are yummy as well.
A great cart really worth checking out!

While apartment hunting in New Haven I needed a bite to eat. I had heard of the food carts around Yale medical school and needed to give them a visit as I love food carts.
I was very happy to see Ethiopian as one of the options as its one of my favorite types of food! The amount of food you get is great for $ 5. They only had 2 rolls of injera left so they let me have them with some rice for no extra charge. The spicy beef is fantastic. Though I wish the collard greens had more flavor, they seemed pretty bland like they were cooked alone with no spices.
After I move to the area I know where I will be grabbing lunch almost every day!

I don’t know what they do to the carrots and green beans, but it’s totally addictive. You will be sad when you finish it. The spicy chicken is great, as is the spinach, collard greens, and just about everything else. I always get it with the bread, so I’d say go that route, but they do offer rice as well.

This is a wonderful cart, with so many healthy options and the nicest lady who runs the operation. She and her assistants make it one of the best carts in the area. Vegans can do very well here, too, but I wouldn’t want to miss out on the beef and chicken dishes that are always so consistently delicious.
Five dollars for a full, healthy meal is a great deal. The only thing I would request is the possibility of ordering a whole piece of injera separately, rather than the smaller rolled pieces that come with the meal, so that you don’t have to worry about running through your injera too soon. I see that some reviewers have noted their use of styrofoam, this must have been an aberration, since I’ve always been served in a tinfoil to-​go container with a paper lid, all recyclable. And you can bring your own container that they will gladly fill. I’m very happy to be able to enjoy this cuisine so regularly.

I think I need a 12-​step program, I get lunch here every single day when I’m in town. Completely addicted. At first I used to rotate through the veggie options, but eventually I quit dabbling: injera with spicy lentils, collard greens & zucchini is where it’s at. Shillamat, you’re a culinary goddess!

Lalibela’s cart is great. The other reviewer is right to warn us about how quickly the injera can go. The styrofoam isn’t my favorite either, but I actually really like their stuff on rice. I often ask for a couple injera rolls on the side too (best of both worlds!) and they’ve always obliged gratis even when I offer extra $.
Their always sunny customer service, tasty+spicy, and plentiful vegetarian options has made Lalibela my go-​to cart over the past year. I just hope they’ll still be around over the summer!

It’s as delicious as the restaurant, except it’s $ 5 for a giant styrofoam (oh, why?) of food rather than $ 10−13ish for a generous plate. There are always some vegetarian and some meat options.
Get there between 11am-​12pm. It’s popular. The entrée options sell out, and they run out of injera. I learned the hard way that Ethiopian food is rather generically stewy on rice, and requires the tart sponginess of injera to pop.