Harar Ethiopian Restaurant

Seriously how is this place not packed? This has to be the most perfect food. You can get it vegetarian, gluten free, vegan, and halal. And that is just the deliciousness on the veggie portion of the menu.
Family owned, we always feel welcomed and enjoy catching up like old friends.
And the food. In a bit of a good coma from all that goodness. Friday and Saturday are buffets, probably the only buffet I have ever liked. Tonight was two kinds of lentils (yellow might be just a hair more delicious), greens, a carrot and green bean dish (husband’s favorite), cabbage, beets and sweet potatoes (spicy!), and eggplant. And then there are meat dishes. All sopped up with rolls of springy injera.
Just drop what you are doing, go here and have an amazing meal.

I don’t know what I was paying for $ 15.95 when I only had 1 piece of chicken drumstick and three different sauces on the side. Food was cold and I waited for almost 30 minutes. I will not definitely come back.

Had lunch here with my uncle. The food was very good and very reasonably priced. This is a great place to eat if you are a vegan or vegetarian. You can eat inside or on the patio. The only downside is that the service is a bit too slow for an Ethiopian Restaurant. Yes, the service in Ethiopian Restaurants is normally on the slow side I have found, but this one was slower than most. I will return with my uncle and possibly my son, who found it in the firstplace.

THIS PLACE IS AMAZING. Such honest, sweet and sincere service we got since we opened the door. Incredible tasting food. So many rich and flavor spices with smooth tastes. She even gave us a brief introduction on the food and showed us how we ate the bread. Our server was amazing. Definitely coming back here, Im happy they were open for new years eve. Thank You Harar for an amazing experience! See you next year

We were so thrilled to find out that there were 3 Ethiopian restaurants in San Diego. Unfortunately this was one of the worst ones I’ve ever been to. I grew up in Ethiopia and love the people and food. The service was terrible, the wait for the food too long and the doro wat was like none I’ve ever tasted. It was baked chicken. No wat! The only good thing was the price but I would have spent much more to have had good food. We will try the other two.

SOOOO GOOOOOOD! love love love. Family owned, Mother (chef) and daughter (waitress) were incredibly helpful and kind. Being from Los Angeles, and our first time having Ethiopian, they helped us personally in choosing exactly what dishes would be just right for us. I definitely daydream about making a day trip to San Diego just to eat at this restaurant and visit the kind people!

Visiting this place the 2^nd time. The food was cold and meat wasn’t tasty. I recall being to this place few years back and it was much better. Would not go to this place again.

Even though we came right before closing, everything was delicious! Our waitress Shewit was kind enough to show us the traditional way to eat with Injera.

As anyone can see from my other reviews, I am a big fan of Ethiopian restaurants and have eaten at all of them in San Diego. I have even eaten at Harar once before and thought it was OK — not great, but OK. Nevertheless, I thought it might be fun to try their Friday night buffet since as best I can tell, none of the other Ethiopian restaurants currently have a buffet.
Well, it was one of the most unpleasant dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. I should have known it was going to be a rough ride right from the start. I walked in and took a look at the buffet steam trays and noticed that while everything looked fairly good, the two meat stew trays were all but empty (only a few tiny chunks of meat left in both). I asked the manager if they were going to be bringing out more of them and she said «yes, soon».
So I went ahead and grabbed a plate and served up the various veggie options. For starters the rice was just a bunch of sticky gooey sludge. Everything else was just plain bland (and cold to boot…) so I asked for some of the Berbere paste (a wonderful Ethiopian specialty — it’s a very hot blend of fiery chilis and a host of other spices). The manger then said «Oh, we don’t have that on Fridays». WTF !!! For those not familiar with Ethiopian cuisine, this would be the equivalent of a Mexican restaurant saying «We don’t have salsa on Fridays» or a Greek restaurant saying «We don’t have tzatziki sauce on Fridays» or an Italian place saying «We don’t have parmesan on Fridays». Like I said — WTF … I asked if they had anything I could put on the food to spice it up a bit and she just said «We don’t have that»…
So I went ahead and ate my bland, cold plate of veggies while I waited for them to bring out the fresh replenishments for the meat stews. When I had finished the plate I asked the lady again when the stews were going to be brought out. She said «We only bring out more when what’s out here is gone». I pointed out to here that I had already taken the very few last tiny scraps of the meat & chicken that were in the pans. She then said, «Well there’s still sauce left — the sauce is the best part». Presumably I was supposed to drink the remaining sauce before I would be allowed to have more of the meat.
Up until that point, I was the only customer in the place. At this point though another fellow wandered in and said he’d like to try the buffet. He filled up his plate with the cold, bland veggies and gave a kind of perplexed look at the «meat stew» trays. I suppose he didn’t want to drink the sauce either. I heard him ask if they were bringing out more anytime soon and I could not hear the reply but by this point I was ready to just get the hell out so I said «Good luck» to him as I got up to pay the bill.
As I was making my way to the door I stepped over a cockroach. Quite possibly someone who was finally ready to drink the sauce…

After checking out this place on Unilocal,me and my friends decide to try out this place. We have never tried Ethiopian food so we didn’t know what to expect. When we got sat down, I think it was the owner who also was the cook, came out to take our order. We told her it was our first time ever getting Ethiopian food and she recommended the harar special. When the food came out she demonstrated how to eat the food with our hands. The food was amazing! It such a good dining experience and we are definitely going back. Expect to get your hands messy. The two women that were helping us was so nice and really took care of us. We will for sure be returning.

Can’t get enough of this place… love love to ambience, the friendly people that run this establishment and the food is always phenomenal

Talk about a hands-​on dining experience!
Literally. I mean, there was not a single piece of silverware anywhere in sight. I’m not even sure if I would have been able to get a fork even if I asked. But then again, a fork would have ruined all the fun. You really have to prepare to get your hands dirty – and by dirty I mean covered with delicious food.
We were a party of five, so we opted for the Harar Special (a combo of vegetarian and meat dishes) for five people and added Gored Gored (spiced cubed steaks). It all arrived systematically arranged on a huge round platter. When we started eating, our server/​cook (who was super nice) couldn’t resist the urge to show us the proper way to eat this magnificent feast. Basically, you load a lot more food onto the injera than you would normally think is appropriate. Then you feed it to someone else. Oh, in case you’re a stranger to Ethiopian food, injera is the slightly sour pancaky vessel you use to eat all the wonderfully flavorful Ethiopian dishes. It’s the same idea as naan in Indian food. Oh, you’ve never had Indian food either? What’s wrong with you?! Get out there, explore! There’s a whole big wide world of fantastic delicious food just waiting for you to try! And may I suggest this place for your first adventure?
But I digress. Seriously, I thought the food was great overall, and I would definitely come back. I especially liked the chicken leg mixed with the different saucy dishes. That chicken leg helped me limit my injera intake to just the one roll (although I technically cheated since the food actually sat atop more injera and I definitely dug in for those). Others thought the spices in the Gored Gored were really good too.
If you’ve never had Ethiopian food, you should check this place out. And if you’re already an adventurous eater, then put this on your list.

What an amazing place! After visiting Little Ethiopia in LA, I was not sure if Ethiopian food in San Diego would be as delicious, but Harar Ethiopian Restaurant was by far the best I have had!
The covered patio in the back area is a cute place to sit. I was very happy with the service. Our server was so cheerful and very helpful with explaining the menu, showing us the proper way to eat food, and was very sincere and genuine in her desire to make sure we received the best service. I ordered a coffee, and she was very mindful of the strong, high caffeine content and was very sweet with explaining the difference between Ethiopian coffee VS ordering a cup somewhere else. The serving size is in this cute little glass, and it was so flavorful! It had hints of cinnamon and spice – almost like apples and cinnamon, and it did not disappoint. I had never had anything like it, and am excited about visiting again to have another cup!
We ordered the Harar Special for 2. The portion size was massive, and so flavorful! Again, our server was so friendly throughout to make sure we were satisfied. You really had a feeling that you were having an authentic, home-​cooked meal.
I’m very excited to share this place with friends and family, and will definitely be coming back for more flavorful, delicious food, and great service!

Delicious!!! We split the Harar combination for 2 and it was perfectly sized. Wonderful spices and we loved everything. The beef and Lamb were definitely our favorites. The injera was tasty. The honey wine was delicious and had a nice kick! The Ethiopian coffee was awesome, but I wanted more!
Our server was excellent and attentive while still giving us plenty of space. We’ll definitely be back when we’re in the area.

My boyfriend is Ethiopian so I have had my fair share of Ethiopian food. We were here visiting and this place came highly recommended and we were not disappointed.
The service was great, the food was amazing, particularly the vegetarian options, and we appreciated that it was a family owned business. The owner came by to check on us.
Kudos. We will definitely be back.

She showed us how to eat the food… How can you get MORE AUTHENTIC??? We had one of the sampler platters because I couldn’t decide on one thing. The lady showed us how to tear the bread and mix four or five of the pastes (for lack of a better word) together and devour it. So yummy.

Soooo… My boyfriend and I had reservations at 7 pm. We arrived at 6:50 pm. I am currently writing this at 7:55 pm because we ordered a Harar Special for two 40 minutes ago. This one family who came in 20 minutes ago and suddently they got a Harar Special for two??? What the heck!!! And we have been sitting there for 30 minutes (after finishing our appetizers).
Their excuse when we brought it up? «Oh, it’s because the man came in early and made an order beforehand.» Really? Didn’t know you could do that. So just to let you know, you can come in EARLY and order ahead of time. If they tell you that is not possible, than just proves that they just lied to my boyfriend and I.
Which I assume they did because another waitress came by later (around 10 minutes later) with our order and apologized because the wrong order was placed at the wrong table.
Being that I was hungry because I was waiting it out for my first time eating Ethiopian food, I already had stomach pains going on (gas develops when I wait too long and am stressed) and I couldn’t truly enjoy our dish.
The only thing I liked about the experience was that it was different (hence, the reason why I wanted to try it for the first time). We had to eat with our hands! It was a unique experience. There was a variety of food on the platter itself — different meats, vegetables, potatoes, chicken pieces, etc. I loved the flavors of the dish — very subtle but had a nice savory flavor to it at the same time.
My boyfriend, on the other hand, was not a fan of it. He’s really picky about texture and he thought the bread used to eat the dish was too soggy, especially when it soaked up all the sauces and whatnot. He would not like to come back.
Should you try Ethiopian food? Yes, you should, it is a wonderful experience not having any utensils to eat with and relying on your own hands. Should you try eating Ethiopian food here at Harar’s? I recommend finding another place if you can. A place with faster service and better excuses.

5 stars based on San Diego, East African food. I will return, because the service and food were exceptional.
I ordered the combo for 1 and could not have been happier. From lamb to beef to chicken, I would not be able to tell you which one was better, because they were all great in their own right. I will say though, that the beef has a special place in my heart as does my server, who treated me like family :)!
Honestly, I want everything on the menu with enough injera to make it thru the winter. Will Return, Hungry!

This place was great. Back patio is the place to be. We came the day after it rained, so we couldnt hang there– but it looked awesome.
Buffet for 12 dollars, you cant beat it. Bottles of wine for 15– you betcha. The buffet was delicious, but unfortunately the meat was running low– so I didn’t have a chance to try it all. Lucily the vegetarian dishes were amazing and so, so filling. Go for those split peas!
Nice people that own it too. Really helpful and you can tell it’s a great family buisness with home cooked foods.

Came here to try something different and we were not disappointed, even my picky annoying kid liked it and wants to come back.
We had the Harar special for two and we could not finish it, ok maybe we almost did but can verily breath now lol
The place is super casual and low key but the flavors are amaizing, the service was incredible, Shewit the lady who serve us even showed us how to eat it, very sweet lady!

La comida es excelente, el precio esta bien aunque el local no es muy glamuroso. Tienen un salón y un patio cerrado techado con cañas de bambu y asi te puedes hacer una idea que estas en Etiopia. El vino de miel que tienen es fabuloso y el personal es bastante agradable.