Shashamane Bar and Grill

Had time before class and needed to grab dinner someplace that was more restaurant than bar and has comfort food with plenty of veggies for not too much money. I figured I would just go to Z’s because it was conveniently across from my class, but… The words Ethiopian food caught my eye as I passed by this place. Talk about comfort food! Yay! So I ordered a plate of vegetarian combination and a beer. Everything was good. Not the best Ethiopian food I ever had, but really good and super quick. Quick Ethiopian food is definitely unusual and a valuable find. Beer was good too — Sam Adams Summer Ale on tap. Music is very upbeat. Very friendly feel, and clean. I used the bathroom and wasn’t grossed out. So this is a good place and I will be back.

So happy they changed back to the Ethiopian menu! My favorite is the lamb tibs… juicy and spicy! Drinks are excellent, as usual. My friends and I still meet here on a regular basis. The owners and staff are amazing. Great hangout spot for sports fans too.

Sashamane is so fun on Thursday nights! There is a salsa night every Thursday and we got worked out. And they even named a drink after me. If you go ask for the Laylay — it’s a cucumber, mint, grapefruit goodness!

My boyfriend and I wandered in on an Art Murmur night. They were busy, but not overly crowded. We sat at the bar. The menu was a bit limited but our food was okay, perhaps on the bland side for Ethiopian. The staff mostly left us alone. (That was fine by us since we weren’t on a schedule that night.) The live band was decent but SO LOUD; the acoustics of the space are pretty unforgiving.
We’re not dying to go back, especially with several other Ethiopian venues close by, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.

Great Customer Service first off!!! The food and drinks are wonderfu! The beautiful couple and their staff treat everyone like family!!! I’m truly a loyal customer!!!

Rating this spot purely for the after hours… This spot is DTS from the crib and went there for a quick drink… Bartenders pour quite nicely… Friday/Saturday’s can be a bit crowded as they normally have a DJ… Its decent depending on the crowd that you get – sometimes it could get real packed!!! Enjoy the spot – 3 stars it is…

Nice little spot across from Mua. I only came here because one of my friends is a bartender here and shes a great pourer. Definitely liked the live music and the people seemed pretty cool. Christina makes some pretty good drinks if shes working behind the bar and Belu will get you DRUNK lol. Will be back!

My first Ethiopian Sports Bar!!! Caught game 2 of the Giants vs. Cards.
We had the Doro Tibs and the Vegetarian Combo. Both were great!!! Thank you!!!

I was looking for a veggie place to eat, so I took my car and found this place. From outside, lots of plants on both sides of the entrance.
The food was very good, I had a glass of Riesling which was good. I had samosa and lentils. My niece had a veggie Ethiopian pasta. Not too spicy but very tasty.
The service was excellent and the lady who served us who extremely friendly.
I recommend this place for sure

The very worst Ethiopian food I have ever had. Bland and not so flavorful. I’ll stick to Asmara, Red Sea, Café Colucci and Abesha. I eat alot of E food and it is consistently great. Was disappointed by this place. AND it was more expensive than all the others!

I gave this place a chance, walking in when it was fairly empty. Unfortunately, I found this place pretty weak.
The FOOD was bland and less spiced than any other Ethiopian restaurant I’ve ever visited. The Doro Tibs, for example, was just cut up chicken meat with mild spices, not stewed in a rich sauce.
The VENUE itself was loud, even with just a few people. Given, the people were seemingly drunk and noisy, but the poor acoustics made conversation difficult. SERVICE was fairly slow too.
Not recommended for food.

I had the pleasure of eating at this restaurant for the first time a week or so ago. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. The staff were hospitable. The bartender was very friendly and helpful. I ordered the lamb plate and it was good. The only complaint I have is with the injera that was served with my dish. It was hard and far from the sponge-​like texture I’m accustomed to. Despite this, I will visit this restaurant again.

My favorite Ethiopian in Oakland (speaking as a meat lover).
Some perks:
The lentil sambusas are terribly delicious.
The arada tibs are filling and wonderful.
The bartender is always friendly.
I get to watch my favorite teams on the TVs.

Very nice place. Delicious food and friendly, prompt service. There is a «sports bar» crowd sometimes who seem to be enjoying themselves.
The 1^st and 3^rd Sundays poetry readings take place. When there is a large crowd, they are held in a beautiful suite upstairs where art work lines the walls.
I don’t drink, but have never observed any rowdy behavior from patrons who do.

Delicious Enat honey wine. Enat Martini is strong, but good — only $ 5 during happy hour. Reasonable prices and friendly bar staff.

I hardly ever give 5 stars. This place is a rare gem that is class in every sense of the word.
My buddy lives in Walnut Creek and wanted to go out and explore Uptown/​Oakland. We ran into this place by accident, (I had been here before when they first opened, but hadn’t been back in a while – shame on me)
We were hungry and inadvertantly walked in on a late Saturday night. It was crowded, as it was one of their club nights, but managed to get two comfortable seats at the bar to eat and have a few beers.
Service: Great! Bravo! How incredibly nice and humble their servers/​bartenders were! In this era of «you’re doing us a favor by being here-​tude, the staff here treats you like you’re their guests! How cool. What a concept!
Food: delicious and ample portions. I have never been much of an Ethiopian foodie, but I do like Middle-​Eastern; their veggie/​combo platter was quite tasty and the bartender was gracious enough to describe the food. Classy.
Atmosphere: Utterly delightful and the live music was great. And the eye candy wasn’t bad either. Gorgeous Ethiopian woman, sorry, but I did notice, gotta problem, sue me. And best yet, they all had smiles and we ended up dancing with a few of them.
**I hope my near-​perfect review doesn’t jinx this wonderful Oakland restaurant; indeed, my buddy was so impressed and had such a great time that he told me he wants to come back and bring his friends.
Shashamane is 100% GENUINE and COOL. This is what a restaurant and bar is SUPPOSED to be like. I commend them and their entire staff and ownership for making our night en fuego!

The staff at Shashamane are great people. Every month, a gathering is held at Sashamane by Mix-​It-​Up (a meeting of progressive activists) and they are very friendly, accomodating and happy to see everyone. Happy hour is pretty good so we can get beers for cheap.
They are located in the underutilized «Auto-​Row» corridor of Broadway. The place is quite nice and clean. I’m not sure exactly when they opened or if they just remodled a few years ago, but the place is nicely decorated with modern amenities and has a nice art collection on the wall. Overall, its a very pleasant restaurant and bar that has a bit of a lounge feel to it as well.
Now, Sashamane is also a Ethiopian restaurant. And in all honesty, i’m not a big fan. But thats less Sashamanes fault and more so my dislike of Ethiopian food. I just dont like it. However, they do have one amazing apetizer that i always order with my beer. The meat sambusa is really really good and is spicy enough to give it a little kick to go along with the sauce.
I’m always a big supporter of places that support political causes. They are doing their part and you should too. Show Shashamane some love.

Extremely good service combined with the best food I’ve had yet in uptown. I live a few blocks away, so it is very convenient for me to eat here. Thank GOD it is so good.
My partner and I have settled on ordering the vegi combo platter, which gives you a sampling of all types of delicousness, plus one of their many meat dishes, all family style of course. They are extremely generous with their injera (ethiopian sponge bread) and we go home absolutely stuffed, with enough left over for lunch the next day. We usually go at happy hour, which is from 5 – 7 weekdays, so we can take advantage of $ 2.50 pints of Trumer Pils.
A few points of interest:
–This place turns into an Ethiopian club/​hangout after about 9pm on the weekends. Haven’t been for that, but one of these days…
–They have several raw meat dishes, which kind freak me out, but I’m sure are really good if you are into that kind of thing
–They have an impressively well stocked bar, which is full on weekends from about 8pm onwards. If you are in the neighborhood and are thirsty, and don’t want to deal with the pretentiousness of Mua, then Shashamane could be a good option
The neighborhood may be a little sketchy but the food is excellent and a great value. Throw caution to the wind, and maybe even order some steak tartar!

The staff here is wonderful. They are friendly and knowledgeable. I had a terrific salad here and did not have an opportunity to check out any of their menu items.
This is a place that has a lot of potential.
Check it out if you’re looking for a nice ethnic food change.

It hurts me to give this place just one star, because the staff there is so friendly, but the food here is not good at all! The Zilzil Tibs were not «tender» as described on the menu but actually very dry. The Gored Gored sounded delicious but was not edible; I chewed and chewed but the cut of the meat was so tendon-​rich and it couldn’t be broken down. The Yebeg Tibs were just ok. The salad that came with the dishes were the best part of dinner. We got lots of bread, they were very generous, but I just didn’t find it to be tasty. I don’t think there was anything wrong with it – just that I don’t prefer the sour taste.
I really wouldn’t go back for food here. There is a full bar, so perhaps one day, I’ll stop in and have a drink here. I think there’s music on the weekends here.