Club Waziema

Finally tried the food! I had the Lamb Stew that comes with collard greens, salad, injera. SO much food and so full of flavor! Absolutely delicious and more than I could eat. Always friendly, easy-​going service from the lovely woman who I believe may be the owner (?). Cheap drinks, couple of TVs, no frills, and I almost always get lucky and the back room & pool table are empty. One of my essential dives.

This place is more of a bar that serves food than a restaurant (ie it’s very loud and difficult to have conversations if you’re having dinner here). The food is decent. Service is super nice but terribly slow (because it’s a bar and not like a real restaurant).
I came with a big group of 9 people and we wanted to try all the dishes but got confused about how to do that because each meat dish comes with two veg sides and we weren’t sure how to order so we could try everything and also have enough to go around. We explained to the owner and she said she’d sort it — perfect! I liked the lamb and beef best followed closely by the collard greens (chopped up).
After we finished though it took ages to get their attention to get the bill and then I thought they forgot about us because it took so long to come out. They never cleared the plates though we were sitting around and talking for an hour (chatting + waiting for service).
Seemed like a cool bar to hang out in but I’m not sure I’d recommend it for a big dinner party.

Dingy and dark, but great food, great drink prices, and pool table that’s fairly easy to play on (if you’re not there like Fri/​Sat night). I pop into this place to have a few brews and split a plate of Ethiopian with friends pretty frequently. Cash only, but has ATM.

DivisaBros stay out! This is our last hold out. Praying to sweet baby gay Jesus that Nebiat (Mama the owner) keeps the bar dark and the whiskey flowin’.
Facts:
— Waziema was a show space. Bitchin acts like Billie Holiday and James Brown played here. I shit you not. In fact, they used to own the the block, straight down to Hayes.
— Food is served here (I think until 10). Ethiopian style. Get the vegetarian platter, it’s all-​you-​can-​gorge. Big fan of the lentils.
— There is a pool table. Extra tables in the back.
— Cash only.
— The wallpaper is original.
About you:
— The cool type, can talk to all the bartenders (mostly family of owners) and the longtimers.
— Keep off the jukebox unless you’re playing some fucking cool jams.
— Enjoy cold beer and whiskey.
If you wear any horses or crocodiles on your polo shirt, please do not come in before 9. Bro’o’clock starts then.

This place is a bar/​resturant during the week, Been coming here for a while. If you’re near the panhandle/​on Divis and wanna chill spot to grab a beer and play some pool with some friends then this is your spot. They got a sweet little setup in the back, Yup.

I love this bar. I have been eating here for over ten years and its my favorite vegetarian Ethiopian food in the city. Dark, awesome dive bar with tons of history and amazing food.

I love this bar! The owner is the sweetest, the most chill bar owner and bartender in the city! She makes you feel at home! Wait! That is kind of odd to say «at home in a bar»? Well anyhoo! Love any bar with red velvet wall paper, and my cds in the juke box! I am a star there, I think?!

It’s been 5 years since I left my last review, and it’s not often we come over to this hood since we moved away, but I’ve got to say their food has really improved. The bar is still a dive, and I’m still not sure about the prices, but the food is good hence the new review.
Why they just don’t do a full blown restaurant I don’t know.

Love eating here! I get the veggie combo and I nearly lick my plate at the end. Typical dive bar feel inside but with a change in menu! Unfortunately it’s pitch dark inside so you can hardly see your food or the menu. I also haven’t quite figured out how to order here yet. If I come in and sit at a table there’s a good chance I’ll be waiting a long time before they notice me or I get up and let them know we’re ordering. Confusing!

Refreshing down to earth place. Owner is always polite and nearby. Not an expert but to me the food is very good. Always take out of town guests to experience the place. Very affordable. One of a kind. Just stop for a beer and check it out.

Can’t get over how much I love this place. There are normally 2 women bar tending and they are really nice. The food is awesome if you like Ethiopian. There’s a lot of SPACE which is hard to come by in a lot of bars, so that’s really nice. It luckily hasn’t really been discovered yet by the new wave of high-​end bros that have moved into Madrone and the Page. It’s basically a dive bar dream.

This is a review of the bar and not the food. I went on a weekday night and when it was suggested that we check out the place it looked abandoned from the outside but as most people in SF know that is usually a sign of an amazing night. We went in and were greeted with Velvet walls and an extremely dark lighting set up. It was perfect for bar hopping from the many bar options in the area. T
here were about 5 people in the entire bar and everyone was doing serious drinking but that’s such a great option to have in this area. Some places can get over crowded but this was the perfect dive bar set up we were looking for. There was ample space in the bar as it is set up to be a restaurant normally. They have a lot of really great Ethiopian drink options as well including Ethiopian wine.
The bar is set up with eclectic bottles for decorations and makes you want to have the staff make you a drink you have never heard of. The bartender was incredibly nice and seemed cool with everyone that came in. When you make your way past the entrance there is a pool table and seating in the back for those nights out with friends. They were out of a few drinks when we went there but otherwise there isn’t much wrong with this place. It may look like no one has been here in years from the outside but once it’s a nice little gem away from the buzzing streets outside. Definitely worth it to give it a shot at least once.

Club Waziema was a fun experience. From the outside, it has the appearance of a dark bar — not somewhere you’d think you could get much more than French fries and chicken fingers. However, when you walk to the back of the building, there’s a full area of dimly lit tables and an upper level storing a pool table and more couches/​tables. The menu is quite simple — all Ethiopian specialties, one page dedicated to four vegetarian dishes or the combo of all of them and the other to various meat options. Big bonus — if you get any of the vegetarian options, free refills of the food are unlimited! Service, while a bit slow at times, was quite friendly. And for the price, you’re getting an excellent deal!
Drinks — Seeing at this restaurant is in the back of a bar, drinks are plentiful. You can order a cocktail or beer/​wine. They do have Ethiopian Honeywine as well, at about $ 6/​glass for a generous pour — quite sweet as usual!
Food — While this wasn’t the best Ethiopian I’ve ever had, it was very good. I’d call it solid food and at the price and refill availability, we’d definitely come back. We both got the veg combo, including: a mushroom dish, lentil dish, collard greens and a potato/​carrot combo. All of it was served atop a sour/​spongey injera. You’re also served extra injera on the side to soak up all of the delicious flavors! The dishes all had quite a heat to them, yet you could still prominently taste the flavor of the vegetable as well. The collards were the only thing I found to be a bit watery and with a feeling almost as if they were cooked from frozen. Regardless, we still ate it, so it wasn’t terrible!
Generally a very good deal in an increasingly pricey area of town.

I made it through life for a long time without a dive bar Ethiopian food hybrid.
Now in this post-​finding-​Club-​Waziema era, where living a few blocks from a really awkward/​divey space that serves above average Ethiopian food is all I know, I find that kind of incredible.
That’s a total lie. I would have been fine without a dive bar Ethiopian food hybrid. BUT I do like this place for a few reasons:
1) It’s a dive bar with the same unpretentious bartender every time, and I love those
2) The Ethiopian food is pretty damn good
3) I like telling people I live near a dive bar that serves Ethiopian food (that’s how I describe it)*
_​_​_​_​
*This is also a good litmus test for dates. The range goes from ‘Sounds like my kind of place!’ to ‘Really??’ to «How about…(insert any cocktail/​small plate place that’s within a few blocks)?» A or B are cool… C is not.

Club waziema is a great local family owned business. The owner is super nice and her 2 kids work there too. Great internet jukebox and has an ATM due to them being cash only. That doesn’t mind me.
If you’ve never had Ethiopian food, it’s finger food. Ask for extra napkins. It’s basically like a bread like crêpe as the bottom layer and they give you extra bread to tear off and pick up your food with.
You pick a meat and a vegetable. I got the meat combo and the lentil veggie side. So good.
Plenty of beer on tap and this Irishman appreciates Guinness being on tap. It’s a great pre party spot if you’re going to a show at the independent. There is table seating near the bar up front with a nice tv for viewing.
In the back there is a pool table with couches on the border. If you’ve never had Ethiopian food you should give this place a shot. I’m a fan.

Real Rating: 3.5 stars
Club Waziema won’t strike you as a nice place. In fact, upon walking in, the words «ghetto» or «dump» might come to mind. However, don’t let looks deceive you. This place is pretty cool! You might also be surprised to find out that they have a kitchen cooking up some delicious Ethiopian delights.
ATMOSPHERE: I’ve only been here once and it was on a Wednesday night. The place is pretty dim, especially around the bar. Although it’s not quite pitch black, it’s pretty, well, dark. The décor won’t blow you away. Their walls are lined with a red Victorian style wallpaper with a lot of earthy-​toned furniture. Before I go on… I’m not sure why it’s called «Club» Waziema. It’s not a club at all. They didn’t have a dance floor and they weren’t bumping dance music. However, they did have music playing in the background, but it wasn’t anywhere close to what you expect at a club.
SERVICE: Excellent. The bartenders and the servers were all very nice. It was very easy to talk to them and they were very sincere. Every time I left a tip at the bar, they were so appreciative and made sure I knew how much. They were cordial, sweet and very polite. Awesome service. No complaints.
VEGETARIAN COMBO ~ 4 stars ~ $ 11.50: Our group had about 20 people so we ordered five of these vegetarian combo platters. They’re great because it includes everything from the vegetarian portion of the menu — split lentile sauce, split pea sauce, mushroom sauce, vegetable stew and collard greens. You also get a bowl of this soft flat bread which is great for sopping up the sauces and food. It’s called injera and it’s a spongy yet soft flatbread that almost reminds you of a crêpe. Everything on the platter was awesome. My favorite was the mushroom sauce mixed with the vegetable stew. Talk about an awesome combo!
Now that I think of it. This was my first Ethiopian dining experience. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, I can’t wait to have more!

This is a great place for drinks and affordable Ethiopian food. The food isn’t too authentic (unfortunately), and they’re served on Chinese platters! haha, but the service is pretty great. It’s a bit dive-​y, but I think that adds to the character of the place.
Their potatoes were pretty good, and if you’re familiar with Ethiopian beers — they have St. George! But I would recommend to the establishment on bringing Amber or Hakim Stout :).

3.5 stars out of 5, and probably it’s a 4 star place but I had a 3 star experience.
I came here with a group of about 20 friends and they were very accommodating about our sprawling and continuously growing group. However, I would NOT recommend this place for large groups, because they only have small areas available for tables and the tables are all tiny round ones that are hard to keep adding together for groups. The food we ordered was really good, but my Ethiopian friend said the menu was pretty limited and that they didn’t have a lot of his favorite Ethiopian dishes. I would try the Ethiopian honeywine and beer (St. George), as they are quite novel and good. I would probably not choose this place for a special occasion but if you’re in the hood and need Ethiopian food or a beer or pool, it’s a solid choice.

This was a really great chill atmosphere for some drinks and great Ethiopian food. Walking in, you automatically notice the red paisley wall paper and while it looked like any other normal bar set up, you know that it’s different once you get your food. I ordered the Beef Special which was marinated tender beef that was simmered in a thick sauce served with with collard greens, salad and Injera. All of this was delicious and eating with my hands was so much fun.
We sat at the bar and the bartender was great– attentive and prompt. If I’m in the area and I’m in the mood for Ethiopian, I will come here again.

Came here for a bite to eat before seeing 1975 at The Independent last night. Wasn’t going to order anything to drink but my bf forgot the tickets and I feel like I was sitting alone for an awkward amount of time so I ordered a class of the Ethiopian Honeywine. African Honeywine is the wine that got me into drinking wine and it had been a while since I’ve had it so it was a nice blast from the past! They don’t have their drink prices listed but it came out to be $ 6 which my bf commented was half the price of our entire veggie platter.
We split the combo veggie and it was definitely enough for us because we weren’t hungry. If you see the giant round pizza size ones its actually two orders. The food was okay. I think New Eritrea Restaurant is a much better Ethiopian restaurant and they serve seafood there unlike this place that only has a veggie or meat. The best one is the side salad so I don’t know what that says about this place.
Cash only, bathroom set up is super bizarre. Many doors to walk through only to meet up with one lonely bathroom stall with a door that barely closes but there is so much room outside the bathroom. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
Service was actually super nice! Don’t know what all the other reviewers are talking about. My only gripe is she didn’t offer water and when my bf asked for a glass, it was never refilled.
It did the trick but I would probably never come back.