Red Sea

This is easily the worst experience I’ve had at any restaurant in my entire life! I called and asked for carry out and got hung up on. I then called back and was hung up on again. I was hungry and it was close, so I thought I’d just head over. The same lady I spoke on the phone with rudely sat my girlfriend and I down and said we could order carry out. We waited for probably 30 min in the loud terrible environment provided until she proceeded to bring food out on a plate. I stopped her and told her I asked for it to go, and she returned to the bar. It took another ten minutes to stick food in a box from a plate, which is BEYOND me. The worst part is when I got home to eat my lamb it was three sad bones with little meat on them drenched in a less than mediocre sauce. Terrible service, terrible food. I’m infuriated that this place has this good of reviews and am upset I had to give them 1-​star, because they deserve ZERO!

There are better Ethiopian choices in Denver.
Ambience: Fairly basic in layout and appearance. I ordered from the take-​out section but ate it in the main dining room. The take-​out buffet was far from appealing in appearance and didn’t dude any air of appetizing food. The main dining are was better but gloomy and run-​down.
Service: The server at the take-​out bar was impatient, bored and not willing to offer any advice or explanations on the choices. More of a «take it or leave it» feel. The same server also worked the main restaurant so it was slow and again, not very welcoming.
Food: Good. Not the best Ethiopian I’ve had, but not the worst. The injera was fresh and the tips was passable, but not something that would make me come back to try other items on the menu.
Price: Very good. The take-​out mains were only $ 1.75 per choice which is amazing. But I would have paid more for better service and better quality.
An okay place if you want a quick take-​out but not if you want to get a good example of the cuisine.

Went here because we had a Groupon for it. No one answered the phone on multiple occasions so we decided to just pop in. There were only two strange men at the (very small) bar and the whole atmosphere was dark and creepy. He went and got the server who was in the back, she came out and looked at us like we shouldn’t even be there. We tried to explain the Groupon and she said they didn’t have any food. NO FOOD?!?
DO NOT GO HERE! Seems like their doing something illegal and disguising as a restaurant.

Most people disagree with me when I tell them cheese is disgusting. They also argue that I’m a picky eater and sometimes too skeptical. While eating at the Red Sea Restaurant, I not only was able to eat cheese with my meal cheerfully, but also ate it with an open mind.
Let me explain: an Ethiopian man, supposedly one of the employees, came to sit with me while I was pathetically eating my Kuanta Firfir alone. After watching my negative reaction to the spicy plate he quickly told my server to bring out cheese they had made themselves.
I might not go to restaurants often, but I know good service and hospitality when I see it. Even after immediately entering the restaurant a woman offered me authentic Ethiopian coffee along with kettle corn as a product of their «coffee ceremony.»
Never having eaten Ethiopian food before, I had come into that restaurant with an open mind to the food I would try. This perception instantly vanished along with my prideful selection of foods. It didn’t matter if I liked this newfound food. It didn’t matter that I didn’t like cheese or that I’m not fond of spicy food. What mattered is that the servers genuinely cared for me as an individual despite the slight language barrier.
To me, it doesn’t matter what type of music is playing, if there are no decorations, or even if I am the only customer in the restaurant. I wasn’t treated as much as a source of money as I was a member of their culture. After taking the time to get to know them and their culture, one of the employees paid out of pocket for my meal and at the same time gave me a memory I will never forget.

We try every Ethiopian Restaurant in Denver and everywhere else we travel. Red Sea has always been great, it is under New Management, we found this out last night. Chef Birhann Tsegaye is awesome not only as a chef but as a host. The four of us had the vegetarian platter with seven different sumptuous items. Every one of them was simply delicious, fresh, great spices. AND you can ask for more of anything, which we did on the cabbage/​potato item. Plus Birhann brought us Shiro and put a nice spoonful on each of our plates. I would highly recommend the Red Sea, very nice people… so generous and kind.

My wife and I very much enjoy Ethiopian food, and been to at least ½ of them around town, and especially on east Colfax — ‘little Eritrea’. Yep, the place is pretty stark for décor. But keep in mind the culture where the Ethiopians came from — simple is fine. Yep, nobody there when we showed up at around 7:00. But by 7:30, the place started to fill up. We think that the Ethiopian folks in Denver tend to be later night folk. We sat out on the deck in back. We met the owner, Ingka Hailu. Very nice man, very welcoming, very warm. He suggested specific items from the menu. He had offered complimentary Ethiopian coffee, but we were not up for coffee that night. We asked about gluten free injera. We had arranged with him 2 days prior that we were coming, and he went to a local bakery to get teff-​only injera. If you give 2 days notice, he will get it for you. We also had agreed to buy and take home the remaining GF injera. The food was wonderful. Large portions on a shared platter. The tastes were all wonderful. A bit different than what we have had at Axum, and the other places. We talked about our respective families. He walked us out to our car in front, which certainly was not necessary, but was warming. We will certainly be back.

Wow! !! The food is amazing. I recommend a veggie platter and add a meat dish. Will be going back very soon. The hospitality was great and You should try an Ethiopian beer you’ll be very surprised. We had the st. George and the Amber.

The owner is so friendly we shared a free shot of tequila and coffee and I cant say enough about the service and flavor of what we (a party of four) ate. the food is awesome and the staff made us feel like home. Never had Ethiopian food before but from what we experienced, I am looking forward to a return trip.

We arrived at Red Sea because Queen of Sheba was too busy to seat us, and we really wanted Ethiopian food. It turns out that Red Sea is just as good on the food — and has a way better ambiance! There’s a full bar, and they play music videos from Ethiopia on the bigscreen TV. The staff is very friendly and helpful and extremely welcoming. I really suggest that you skip the wait at Queen of Sheba and head over to Red Sea.

the vegetarian combo… amazing. the service… amazing. the coffee and the man who poured in the sugar… hands down the best «dive» restaurant yet!

The best overall Ethiopian food experience I have EVER had. And I am passionate about Ethiopian food. I loved everything in the vegetarian sampler, but the misir wat was just perfect. Everyone we came in contact with was friendly, kind and generous, the atmosphere was quaint and charming, and after dinner coffee was delicious. I cannot recommend this place enough. Really.

Red Sea has exceptional food for more of a reasonable price than some of its neighboring Ethiopian restaurants.
Service was meh. But if you get the owners attention, it’s all golden. He’s very attentive and generous. Our meal came out hot and über delicious. Our lamb was super spicy and juicy. The beef was dried and fried with spices. That with some mashed and spiced lentils and injera was a great meal. The beer was a treat too. We were fortunate enough to go on a day they had Ethiopian beer, Beer no. 9.
We went there on a separate occasion to just buy injera for our homemade meal. The owner told us that it was a better deal for him to get a bag of injera from his usual bakery than us order from his restaurant. So he offered to grab it and left his restaurant to get us fresh injera. Fifteen minutes later we got a bag of hot and fresh injera for the cheaps with a smile. We love this place and the staff are great people.

This place is bizarre. Just like every reviewer here mentions, its an extremely barren, empty, and awkward restaurant. When I walked in, it was completely empty and when we walked in all the employees where watching TV at the bar and turned around and stared us like they had forgotten what a customer looked like. But then the owner went ape shit and seated us, and was extremely attentive to our needs.
The food was friggin amazing. This place would get 5 stars if it wasn’t such a bizarre restaurant. This place has serious potential, food wise, but they have no idea how to run a restaurant. How to decorate, or market, or anything. But who cares, the veggie combo platter is what I had and it was delicious! I didn’t try any meat dishes cus im a veggie, but I’m guessing its awesome as well.

As a veteran to this cuisine I can affirm that Red Sea is pretty good. Not the absolute best I’ve had, but well worth it all in all. The prices are more reasonable than some of the nearby competitors. The flavors are what you would expect if you know Ethiopian food. Not ‘blow you out of the water’ with deep saturation of that amazing spice, but still flavorful. If you don’t know what to expect from an Ethiopian restaurant and usual appearance, occurrences, cultural differences etc., don’t be shocked and appalled when something like the beer on the menu doesn’t match what’s available or what’s cold at the moment. Things like this are common anywhere, roll with it. Some of the reviews on here make me wonder if they were expecting an American diner. Go with an open mind and heart, and you will be rewarded.
The owner happens to be extremely friendly and if you get him going will regale you with fascinating stories of his homeland.

This is the first time I’ve been led astray by a Unilocal review. I’ve eaten Ethiopian in 6 different cities in the country, and visit my favorite one often in my hometown of Orlando, and Red Sea was just awful, and extremely disappointing from the reviews and my expectation based on them. As others said, it was completely empty upon entering, which most certainly WAS awkward. The lady server was very quiet and while she did turn up the volume on the tv with the nba playoffs on, assuming i wanted to watch it (which i did), but then turned the volume up on the tv she was watching too.
The décor is completely absent, and it reminded me of eating at a soup kitchen. I ordered a Bedele beer, and was informed they had no beer tonight of any kind as they ran out. I just stuck with my water and ordered the meat combination platter. It came out, and there were only 2 meat selections on the platter and pretty much everything was cold! She then came over and asked me why I wasn’t eating the vegetables, and I said «because I asked for meat».
I got back to my hotel room about 20 minutes after leaving, and my stomach gave me its review, and it was 0 stars.

How this place has such a great rating is beyond me.
I have been to almost every other Ethiopian restaurant in the Denver area, and every other place was leagues better than here.
I’m okay with hole-​in-​the-​wall atmosphere, but this place was pretty barren. The first 3 things each of us ordered were out. Paul couldn’t even get a beer because they weren’t cold yet.
The chicken wat he ordered was a joke. For $ 12, he got a teeny, tiny chicken leg and a hardboiled egg in a pot of grease. He said the flavor was the worst of the three places he has tried so far.
I got the meat combo. The lamb was meager and mostly gristle. The flavor wasn’t great. The veggie blobs were okay, but nothing special.
The place was hot as hades. I wish we had left before ordering, but we didn’t.
I’m so disappointed.

The food was great but everything else was extremely sub-​par.
First off, the restaurant was empty. On mother’s day. If there are two days out of the year that any restaurant should be bustling, it is valentine’s day and mother’s day.
Vodka came tepid and beer was lukewarm. They even forgot one of our drinks for about 30 minutes.
While reviewing the menu, I asked her «what she recommended» and got a shrug and non committal grumble. Food was prompt and like I said, excellent, but the rest of the experience was just queer; it was almost as if our presence was something of an inconvenience.

I’ve only been to a handful of Ethiopian restaurants so by no means am I an expert on Ethiopian food, but Red Sea is definitely my favorite Ethiopian place hands down.
Like other reviewers have said, don’t let the appearance fool you. Usually the places with the best food are holes in the wall. Whenever I’ve gone it’s been completely empty, and it feels a little awkward, but the food is well worth it.
I always get the vegetarian combo, because it has a little of everything. The spinach dish is my absolute favorite, it’s so creamy and melts in your mouth. Everything is perfectly spiced and the combo plate gives you a lot of variety, along with a very generous serving. Their injera is perfectly spongy and slightly sour, a great compliment to their dishes.
Every time I clean off my plate, despite being absolutely stuffed, because it’s just so good.
The wait staff is very friendly, and really helpful if you’re not accustomed to Ethiopian food.
I would knock off a star for the atmosphere, but once you start stuffing your face and slipping into food heaven, you don’t even notice.

I, too, walked into an absolutely empty place. wasn’t sure if this was a good sign especially on a Friday night. However, don’t let this discourage you from coming here. It is a definite gem and hopefully more and more people come here. We ordered the vegetarian combo and everything was spectacular. The lamb, both dry and juicy, were also tasty as well. It was a good experience, especially for my 1^st Ethiopian meal.

Like many other reviews convey, you really do walk into an empty and somewhat awkward restaurant at Red Sea. But please don’t let that stop you from dining here, it was quite a pleasant experience.
The owner greeted us immediately with a friendly aura about him and this made me feel very relaxed. He was very helpful explaining the menu and how they could customize a dish to our liking.
We both chose the Vegetable combo, he explained it came with a nice portion of 7 – 10 different 100% vegetarian dishes. The food came out pretty quickly, good because we were two hungry humans! Everything on my plate was great, and they hook it up with the Injera. When I finished, and I consumed every last bite believe you me, the owner came around to ask what I had enjoyed most. I let him know that honestly everything was enjoyed but pointed out a few dishes I liked most, he then asked if i wanted more of them-​free of charge!
While squaring away the bill, he asked how we had heard of the place, when I mentioned Unilocal his eyes lit up and he ran over and grabbed something from the wall. It was a framed letter from Unilocal congratulating him on an average 4.5 stars out of 5. I, too congratulated him and let him know it was very well deserved. You should go and see why ASAP.

Denver has some surprisingly great Ethiopian places, and this is certainly in the top five. While the service isn’t very fast (and I’ve found it rarely is in Ethiopian places), and the wait staff isn’t friendly per se, and you can’t even get a glass of water (you have to pay $ 1.50 for a bottle of water), it’s still worth it. The food is tasty, affordable and served in perfect portion sizes.
I think the friendliness of the folks at Abbysina make me prefer it a smidge over Red Sea, but to be honest, they are both delicious and worth trying if you’re into delicious, freshly made Ethiopian food.

I really enjoy this place. A lot. The food is the best I’ve had in Denver (though I’ve only ever tried Abbysinia and Red Sea — must branch out!). Abbysinia has a better atmosphere, this place has none (well they usually have the TV on too loud), but the food here is SO GOOD. The veggie combo is wonderful. They have more variety in their veggie dishes than Abbysinia, they are very friendly. Neither place seems to be too comfortable speaking English, which can make for some rather entertaining mishaps. The staff here has always been very nice to us. I particularly LOVE the veggie combo and the Chicken Tibs. SO FLAVORFUL. And the tea is delicious, too!
If they had any atmosphere at all, I’d give them 5 stars. Go for the food. Not the ambiance.
Highly recommended!

I still love Red Sea.
I’ve been coming here for about 8 years and have seen the restaurant go through many incarnations and owners, and in all that time, it’s kept its greatness. The owner has stayed the same during the last upgrade. He’s a wonderful, friendly person who will remember you from one time to the next. The menu has changed, but all the classics are still there.
I went back last night and the beef tibs wet were fantastic. It’s unctuous for sure, not heath food in any way. But it’s so flavorful and delicious. I asked for spicy, and it wasn’t as spicy as I’ve had from Red Sea in the past, but so good! The sauce is wonderful. I also had a vegetarian combination, which, as usual, was delicious. Not very spicy-​hot, but so spicy-​good.
Red Sea was my first Ethiopian love, and it’s lasted a very long time!