Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant

Here for business trip. I love Ethiopian food and had tried it in many cities. The chicken and injera here were a bit dry. Service was below average.

Best Ethiopian food I’ve had, in Chicago or anywhere else! I’ve been here several times over the past 5 years since It was recommended by a friend, and it is consistently delicious. I try to order something new every time and have never had anything that wasn’t excellent. My favorites are the awaze tibs (lamb), sega wat (beef), ib (cheese), and kik alicha (yellow lentils with garlic and ginger). The flavors are really vibrant and well-​balanced, and their homemade honey wine is a great accompaniment to the spicy food. Service is prompt and friendly, and the restaurant is never too crowded or noisy.
For those unfamiliar with Ethiopian food, it’s served communally, so if you order an entrée and side per person, you should have plenty of food, and everyone can try a little bit of everything. I’ve honestly always been too full after dinner to try their desserts, but I bet they are awesome too!

Excellent quality, healthy, mostly vegetarian food.
The best way to check it out if you haven’t tried Ethiopian yet, is the large TEFF pancake with many different flavors to try.
Parking is good. Public transportation, also.

Best Ethiopian spot in Chicago! I love everything I’ve tried here. I usually get sambusas, the veggie sampler (yellow split peas, red cabbage, spinach are my favorites) and a lamb stew. The chicken stew is also delicious. I enjoy their signature cocktail as well as the spiced chai and Ethiopian coffee. This is close to our home so we come here quite often and always bring friends and out of town guests. Very friendly service even though it’s pretty packed usually.

It had been awhile since I’ve had Ethiopian food, so decided to try Ras Dashen last night. Located on a main street, with pay parking spots directly outside, complete with Zagat stickers (which always makes me smile a little) on the door, we walked in and were given the option of a regular table, or to eat traditionally Ethiopian style, from a communal bowl. Colorfully decorated seats and inviting. (homey) My friend decided on the vegetarian sampler. I ordered the yebeg alicha (lamb stew). I tried the honey wine to start, but in my opinion I think maybe it perhaps it would have been a better dessert wine option.
Dishes are served on a platter laid with a giant round of injera. Injera resembles a large spongy pancake (made of teff flour and a sourdough starter, which results in a slightly tangy taste and production of air pockets). Injera is used in place of utensils, in which you envelope the food with your hands. (There is a wash station in the back to clean your filthy paws before and after).
«Ib» is a soft cheese made from buttermilk. Tasty and mild, and I actually enjoyed it more as an accompaniment with both my lamb dish and the spinach «qosta». Of course, I’m the kind of person that puts cheese on my cheese. «Misser wat» is a purée of red lentils in a berbere sauce (chili peppers, garlic, ginger, basil spice). It was delicious, and gone rather quickly. «Yeqay tikil gomen» is a sweet and sour red cabbage. My main dish was the «Yebeg Alicha». It is a lamb stew compiled inside another piece of the injera and quite flavorful and soft including two of the bones, and many chunks of the lamb. The pieces off the bone were tender from being cooked in the alicha sauce (turmeric flavor).
We left feeling full, but not overly «unbutton your pants» full, and I think we ordered just enough. I would certainly come back. The service was also good, greeted on the way in and thanked on the way out. Attentive staff.

Excellent experience. You eat with your hands and this injera bread. Very unique taste. I love the spicy beef. I’m a «spice guy» and this had more then enough flavor. We bought a Groupon for $ 27 and that handled (2) thick people. Lol.

I live in Berkeley so we have lots of great Ethiopian options close to home. This place could certainly hold itms own there although it’s not quite as good (to my palate at least) as Café Colluci in Berkeley.
A friend we were visiting suggested this place for a NYE dinner. I went with her, my wife, and my infant son. Overall we were all very pleased with the vegetarian options… had not tried ib (it’s like paneer or cottage cheese) so i enjoyed that. The fish tibs were great too, juicy and flaky white fish with just perfect seasoning. He rest of the options (cabbage, lentils, beets, etc) were nicely done and tasted great with the injera bread.
A nice place to experience the flavors of Ethiopia.

We went here last night for dinner. The food tasted very similar to Indian food, but VERY Spicy. Maybe i don’t eat that much spicy food, but I wish I was told that it will be spicy. We sat down a little bit before 7:45, the server came around 8:20, we didn’t get our food until a little after 9. For the service, I don’t think I would return. The waitress wasn’t very attentive, I had asked for napkins, more water, and a fork. The fork never came, the napkins and water came at the end of the meal. I got the veggie platter, must say the lentil dish was great! Needless to say, I don’t think I will be returning.

Before this place, I had tried Ethiopian food once somewhere else and was not a fan. When I was dragged here with my friends, I was not too excited. After, eating here, It really grew on me. I have been here total of 5 times in the last year or so. It is a great place for vegetarians! Everything has so much flavor. The groupon deal is amazing. You get 3 sides and 2 main entrée for the vege groupon for 2. This is more than enough for 2 people. Our favorites here are the following.
Main entrée– Misserana Bowmia — Okra (we get 2 orders of these)
Sides– misser wat (lentil), Tikil Gomen Alicha– (spicy cabbage), and Diblik Atkilt-(green beans/​potato/​mixed vegetables)
Drinks: Ethio Chai
The food is five stars. I took one star away for service. They are not too attentive to refill drinks or ask for more bread (injera)

I can’t praise this place enough. Best Ethiopian I’ve ever had in Chicago (or ever had, period). I’ve tried many of the best-​loved places in the city, like Ethiopian Diamond and Demera, but this place truly takes the cake.
The food is fantastic, with a massive vegetarian menu (great for us vegetarians/​vegans!), friendly staff, good service, and prices extremely reasonable.
My personal faves: the pumpkin stew and spicy chickpea-«fish» stew on the specialties menu, red lentils (of course), collard greens, beet salad, and especially the red cabbage stew.
It looks like an unassuming, entirely ordinary restaurant. But don’t be fooled.

I been coming here for years. It is one of my favorite places in the city. A hidden gem. This was the first Ethiopian place I went to and I feel so lucky to have found it. I have been to others Ethiopian places and nothing compares.
The flavors have so much depth. Their stews are heavenly spiced and they prepare some of my favorite vegetarian dishes. Some of my go to are the misser wat, sega wat, qosta, and the ib. Their hot tea so delicious too. Also it is hard to pass up the coconut creame brûlée.
Plus you get to eat with your hands

Best Ethiopian food I’ve had in Chicago!
A group of friends and I were looking for a place to eat on Valentine’s day. We were in the mood for Ethopian food and got a few suggestions to check this place out. Glad we did! It was a miserable –25 with windchill so we really appreciated how close this place was from the Thorndale stop on the Red Line. Literally less than 2 minutes.
When we walked in, the place was packed. We were worried we wouldn’t be able to get a table because of how busy it was and how crazy we were trying to find anywhere to eat on Valentine’s night without reservations. The staff was very accommodating and we sat at a traditional table which I thought was really cool.
Our group had a few vegetarians so we mostly ordered vegetarian-​friendly (which luckily with Ethiopian food is a lot of the menu) dishes and one beef dish. Our waitress was also incredibly helpful in suggesting items. When the food came, it was all AMAZING and the portions were huge. I thought this place was a great value for the amount of food we got. With amazing staff and amazing food, I would definitely eat here again!

I love this place. They have the best vegetarian food .this injera bread and so good and u use it to pick up your food. No forks or knives traditional food

The most delicious Ethiopian food I’ve had in the Chicago area thus far.
They have traditional straw tables upon request.
Tons of meat and veggie options. I recommend the pumpkin wat. They pour the meat and veggie entrees on the injera bread to order.
Big flavor, big portions.

I have been a long time fan of Demera down the street, but a friend dragged me here last night and am I glad he did! I think I have a new favorite Ethiopian place
You have your choice of traditional Ethiopian (4 chairs around a small, round table) or standard dining seating. We chose traditional– it created a casual, relaxed vibe and I found it to be way more comfortable. Only con is you have to be careful not to drop any food, as it’s going to land on your lap instead of the table.
Everything we ordered was flavorful and delicious. Asa wat (tilapia) was incredible– their berbere sauce is nice and spicy without overwhelming the dish. The yebeg alicha (lamb in a mild sauce) was really good– my only complaint was it was served on the bone and it was really fatty, so we didn’t get a lot of meat.
The service was good. Food came in a good amount of time. Our server checked back frequently on how we were doing and ensured our waters were full and we had plenty of napkins (which I appreciated, considering my mildly-​OCD hand cleaning does not bode well with this style of dining).

Never had Ethiopian food so I figure wth after a few beers. We got the chicken doro wat as per my Unilocal crew and we were pleasantly suprised. The bread appetizer was a bit spongy but definitely a taste easily aquired with side dishes.
Prices very reasonable and the service was great. The staff is very attentive indeed and previously stated by Unilocalers.
The orher cool thing was family style servings which made it a community fun dinner. I will go back and try some more.

Came here with a Groupon of two on a quiet Tuesday afternoon. The place was nearly empty except for my mom and I.
There is both regular sitting as well as 5 – 6 traditional Ethiopian dining which was comfortable and cute!
The groupon ($ 26) lets you chose from any 3 sides and 2 entrees which is totally worth your money because usually you’d be paying about $ 40 (not including tax or tip) for all of those options but I left paying 26+ $ 3 tax+ tip. So a savings of about $ 10!
Food came in under 15 mins, hot and delicious!
I’ll come here again.

We had a great experience today at Ras Dashen. Came with a group of 10 because we wanted to get out of our usual food comfort zone and try something different. I would consider myself to have an open and accepting palate for a variety of cuisines, but I have never tried Ethiopian. It was great.
Between the 10 of us, we got 3 huge plates (I’m sure there’s a real name for these large silver plates… but I don’t know it). Each «plate» had multiple sides and entrees all laid out on the «injera» which is a sponge like bread. The way it works is you pick up injera (there’s also a basket next to you) and you scoop up the meat and veggie goodies on your injera and eat it that way. No silverware. I’m kind of a germophobe but after tasting the amazing flavors of the entrees I got over it and just shoved my food onto my injera and directly into my mouth.
I don’t even know what we tried but it was all great. We just told the waitress to bring us whatever she thought was good because we had no idea. We tried multiple chicken, lamb, and beef entrees. It’s very similar to curry style but the sides are very unique and really add great flavors. It’s a family run and operated restaurant and they just really seem to be passionate about sharing Ethiopian food with Chicagoans.
Minus a star for atmosphere. There’s not much atmosphere and didn’t seem like air conditioning because I was sweating like a champ and had to guzzle down my white wine to cool off. Other than that, it’s a great place and we’ll be back.

Woohoo! As good as [Ethiopian food] gets [in Chicago]!
It is, seriously.
It’s also cheap and with good service.

I decided to go here because there was a groupon and I have always been curious about Ethiopian food. It didn’t take long for us to be seated but it took awhile for us to get our glass of water filled and for them to take our order.
We got one spicy chicken dish, a spicy beef dish, cabbage, salad, and cheese. The food is served on a large spongy flatbread. You get a basket of the flatbread and you eat the food by pinching it into the flatbread.
It was interesting because I have never done that in a restaurant before. It was fun. The food was a little too salt for my taste and I started getting tired of the flatbread so I jut asked for a spoon to shove the food in my mouth.
We ten decided to get Ethio bread pudding. We figured that we will probably not have another chance to go to an Ethiopian restaurant so we might as well. The bread pudding was really good, served a la mode. It is definitely worth trying.