Ethio Cafe & Carry Out

An adventurous spot close enough to campus – invite friends and order the vegetarian specials. Very tasty food for those on a college student’s budget.

The food at this place is phenomenal! My husband and I recently moved to West Philly and have sampled many of the local restaurants — this one is, by far, our favorite, and we order here once a week. Don’t come expecting ambiance or quick service (we often do take-​out), but do come expecting the most delicious Ethiopian food in Philly. The Tour of Ethiopia combo is our go-​to dish, but all the food is really excellent (especially the doro wot). The injera is the best I’ve ever had, too. Portions are huge — kind of amazing value for the price.
Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, I’m not sure why this place isn’t consistently more packed! I’ve been to Abyssinia, and I’ve found the food to be dry and not at all fresh. Sure, it has slightly better ambiance, and serves beer, but if you want excellent food Ethio is your spot.
For a fun night on this block, I recommend dinner at Ethio, a drink (either before or after) at Fiume (the hidden bar on top of Abyssinia) and baklava from Manakeesh for dessert.

I came here one day very hunger excited and to eat Ethiopian food. And to try Ethio café’s food but the owner told me when I came in he could not serve me and my group of 3 because there was no more injera. Injera is the flat bread used to eat traditional Ethiopian dishes. After that response from the owner me and my friends ceased going to Ethio-​café.

Based on a couple of friends’ recommendation, Ethio Café on Spruce Hill in University City has long been on my list to try. I’ve been eating Ethiopian/​Eritrean food often over the last decade but this is one spot I missed in Philadelphia. Well, I have missed it no longer. A recent meal there proved it is among Philadelphia’s top Ethiopian Restaurants. Their injera bread was perfectly made and by ordering their Tour of Ethiopia platter, one can check out the three major dishes of Ethiopian cuisine at one time — Doro Wat, Beef Tibs, and Kitfo. All were of fine quality. The Mizir Wot (Lentils) and salad as side dishes were a nice touch. Service was friendly by the waitress from Addis Ababa and the dining room has a warm appeal. I can recommend Ethio Café for those seeking a tasty lunch or dinner — Ethiopian style!

Excellent Ethiopian food, authentic, family friendly environment. You can BYOB, and take a friend to share with. Service is great, very kind: typical habisha hospitality.

I’ve been to Ethiopian restaurants across Philly, and this one is my favorite. Don’t except any frills, and the ambiance is a little strange, but don’t be put off! The food is worth it. Much better than Abyssinia next door in my opinion. Highly recommend the Veggie Combo. Owners are very nice.

Love having dinner here with my fiends and family. we really enjoy the food and atmosphere here.

We went to Ethio Café and Restaurant the other night. We chose this restaurant over its neighboring Ethiopian restaurant because it is a BYOB, which we consider a plus.
We were waited on right away and ordered:
Beef Tibs and Kitfo (rare)
Sides
Gomen Wot
Tikil Gomen Wot
Alisha Kik Wot
Misir Wot
The food did take a little extra time for it all to come out. We were not in a hurry, which when dining out, you shouldn’t be, so we enjoyed the atmosphere and company.
When we got our bill, everything was priced reasonable to the point that I over-​tipped because the food was delicious and the waitress/​owner was awesome.
I would highly recommend going there to enjoy a night out and very delicious Ethiopian Food.

No No No!
This was the first time I ordered a veggie platter at a Ethiopian restaurant and didn’t want to indulge in it. The injera here was delicious but the vegetables in the combo platter were very bland (there was some kind of corn, kale, lentils, cabbage w/​carrots, and something indiscernible with an unpalatable tomato sauce that may have expired days ago). The spice level was close to 0 and I didn’t want to finish the meal.
Next time I’ll choose another Ethiopian restaurant.

I was introduced here on high recommendation from my dance partner and had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner here with her and my uncle.
There are a variety of dishes available but the key ingredient is that all food is eaten with the hands. Each dish is served family style in the center with bread also known as Injera (made of teff) served in the center in a large bowl for everyone to take food with. Small chunks of bread are ripped off of this main pancake shaped piece of bread to use as dipping devices to scoop up the food which is served in large globs family-​style in the center of the table.
The bread is moist and spongy and is gluten-​free so very healthy. The bread is called Injera and is a traditional flatbread that accompanies every meal and is traditionally always served cold.
While there were many dishes to be had the highlights of the menu are as follows:
Samosa: A fried or baked pastry with savory filling such as spiced potatoes onions peas in this case lentils and also minced meat sometimes pinenuts. Samosas originated in Central Asia.
Kitfo: Beef tartare seasoned with herbal butter red pepper and cardamom it can be ordered rare, medium or well-​done. We ordered it rare because the rareness of the beef as a silky texture which is very nice. It was a bit too spicy for me however.
Gomen wot: collard green stew. Served with two veggie sides.
Veggie combo: choice from five veggie dishes including spicy split lentil stew, yellow peas, collard greens steamed cabbage, Ethiopian salad chick peas in spicy sauce and green beans with carrots. Steamed cabbage and lentil dishes were extremely tasty.
I had to subtract one star however due to the overall spiciness of the food and subsequent gastrointestinal upset. We ordered toned down versions of the food as far as spiciness goes and it was still a bit too much for me. However, I am a wuss. Well I don’t think anything was inherently wrong with the cooking it is unusual and if not eating regularly can cause some upset.

My favorite Ethiopian in Philly!
Its only downfall is the ambiance. It’s sort of decorated like a super casual brunch spot that you would find down the shore. It’s really too bad that it’s not decorated more like Abyssinia down the street. However, everything else completely makes up for it.
I’ts BYOB. Enough said.
The service is great, for an Ethiopian restaurant. I always find the service to be slow, and it still is here, but it’s done in such a hospitable, friendly way that it just adds to the experience. Where at other restaurants I felt forgotten about, here they’ll take the time to chat with you about the menu, being honest about their items and figuring out what’s best for your group. The food takes a while, but I imagine that’s because it’s all freshly prepared.
Ethiopian style dinners are some of my favorites for eating with a group. The food comes out on one or two giant serving platters covered in injera (it’s so perfectly spongey and tangy here) and the meats/​veggies/​etc. on top. Everyone just goes at it with their hands, picking up the main courses and vegetables with bits of injera. So fun. They will bring you extra injera here if you need it, but you probably won’t. Everything is so deliciously filling.
Go in prepared for slightly slow but hospitable service, plain décor and some seriously good and fun food. Don’t forget the bottle of wine!

Super vegetarian combination plate — and as a former resident of the Adams Morgan section of Washington DC, I’ve tried many. Friendly and gentle service, quiet in mid-​afternoon. I’ll be back soon.

I’ve only ordered take out from here, and I’m hoping that most of their customers do the same. I say that because I never see this place busy but I want them to do well.
To date, I’ve ordered the Lamb Tibs, Beef tibs (they were out of lamb that day), Chicken tibs and Chicken Doro Wat. I find the flavors to be superior to that of neighboring Ethiopian restaurants. Actually I dare say it’s the best one of the many I’ve tried. My only complaint is that the while the Doro Wat is tasty, the one drumstick and an egg was a bit unsatisfactory. I think adding a thigh would bring the meal to perfect for me. The doro wat sauce does have a nice buttery flavor that I could just eat with injera, thus saving the dish. The other tibs are very good, flavor and portion.
Like everyone says, the ambiance is boring but if you have some wine and good company, that will liven things up for you I’m sure. If you order for pickup, they tend to say 20 – 25 minutes, but I give them at least 40 minutes so I don’t end up sitting around waiting. I do, of course, have the advantage of living within walking distance though.

The service is so friendly, but also SO slow. Since it’s Ethiopian food, it’s kind of to be expected that it will take a while though.
The food is really good and extremely cheap for how much you get! I would come back to this place.

Food is mediocre and not the greatest in being «clean». The waitress was nice, but it just didn’t seem like a place i could be comfortable eating at.
Not going to lie… Ive never had Ethiopian food until i ate here. I really hope my «eh» experience here doesn’t account for all Ethiopian places.

West Philly.
I love play food. I love those foods where u get so much different types of things in small portions. It makes it fun for my tongue to constantly switch taste. That’s why I love Korean food and those little side dishes they give. Back to Ethiopian food, I found that my five veggie Poo poo’s on the take out veggie platter had only two I loved loved loved: LENTILS and COLLARD GREENS. Four stars for these two tasty items! They made those two really good here! So I can see myself ordering like a pint of them each time. Without the injera and all the other stuff. The search for other tasty items at Ethiopian restaurants continues…

I agree with the other reviews that although there is nothing spectacular about the ambience/​décor here, the food and service are great!
My husband and I ordered sambusas for appetizers and shared a veggie combo platter. It came with three different lentils, cabbage-​carrot curry, collard greens and a salad on an injera. Injera on the side was a little cold. wish they had warmed it up. But all the sides were warm enough and tasted really good. The quantity was sufficient for sharing between two people. Nice spicy Ethiopian food on a rainy day. what more can you ask for? ;) :)

Disclaimer: I am Ethiopian, so I have very high expectations; hence the four star rating.
Ethio Café definitely makes the most authentic and the best tasting Ethiopian food than any other Ethiopian restaurant in Philadelphia — trust me I have tried them all. The veggie combo with fried fish ($ 12) is my favorite. The manager/​owner is a sweetheart and definitely makes an effort to ensure that you are satisfied with your experience in the restaurant.

PROS: Tons of food, cheap, comfy atmosphere
CONS: Surprisingly bland flavors
On one hand, Ethio Café serves you tons of filling food with diverse meat and vegetarian selections, especially if you choose their sampler platters. On the other hand, most of their dishes taste unremarkably similar — lightly spiced, sometimes with a bit of vinegar — a bit too healthy, mayhaps? Their injera is pretty good, but then again — I’ve never had bad injera!

Venture out for some new exciting flavors.
I came here with a large group a couple weeks ago and was a little hesitant about going to Ethio because all the good things I heard about Abyssinia, right next door. Upon entering, the restaurant had a few other parties, but other than the quiet chatter, it was basically silent, which made it very awkward. It wasn’t until halfway through our meal when they started to play music. Also, seating was arranged in a weird way and we had to move around tables before sitting, even though we had made a reservation.
Ordering was a little difficult because there was a clear language barrier and it was hard to learn about what the different dishes were. We eventually settled on the Tour of Ethiopia, Gored Gored, and the Veggie Combo. It took about 20 minutes for the food to come out, but given the preparation that goes into it, we were more than patient for our food.
The Tour of Ethiopia was beautifully presented on top of a huge bed of injera, but the portions were a little underwhelming. The beef tips were by far the tastiest on the plate and were the first to go. They were cooked to the perfect tenderness, and had that slight burnt flavor which I love in meats. The kitfo was also quite tasty, but when paired with the injera, some of it was lost. The doro wot wasn’t too memorable; the chicken itself wasn’t too strong in flavor, but the sauce made for great dipping.
I’m a huge fan of raw meat delicacies and I was fairly satisfied with the spicy gored gored. The meat wasn’t too tough and the spices really cut through the meat flavor and made for a great compliment with the injera. I feel bad for vegetarians because honestly the meat is where the flavor and the substance is at. The veggie platter was a great compliment to the meats, but I can’t imagine just eating the veggies. The tastiest on the platter were definitely the collard greens, chickpeas, and green beans.
Overall, it was a great dining experience, using our hands and injera to scoop up the food. However, the portions and pricing weren’t exactly what I was expecting from a hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant located next door to a prominent restaurant of the same cuisine. I still have yet to try Abyssinia, but I will keep you updated!
Pros: unique cuisine, homemade food feeling, friendly staff
Cons: portions, hard-​to-​understand servers, lack of atmosphere
Dishes to try: gored gored, beef tips
Dished to skip: doro wot, veggies in general