Sawa

If Sawa was still open I am convinced that I would not be losing my two best friends to Chicago.
DAMN YOU SAWA!!!
5 stars for the best Ethiopian food ever and Hakim Stout.
Minus one star for closing and driving my friends out of the city.

This was my favorite restaurant of all time. I can’t believe their closed. The family who ran it was nice. I loved the tibisi meats and their mushroom dish was the best in town!

This was my favorite place in SF to eat. Thankfully I still have Tsegai’s cell phone number and can call him up for catering. If you want it send me a message and I’ll tell you.

I guess my review got to them. They done went and closed. Or something.
***Three and a half stars***
I love the Ethiopian beer we tried on the owner’s suggestion. I love the owner. We had a great discussion of the maps on the walls with him. He’s swell. I love that he’ll wave at me when he’s arbitrarily closed and entertaining a couple of guests in the dining room when I come to get some tasty Eritrean treats and I’m locked out. WHY ARE YOU CLOSED SOMETIMES?! At dinner time? On random nights? I see you in there! Let me in and cook me something! Gah. I suppose it’s a bit like traveling to a foreign country where dining out is a completely different experience than in the US and a little xenophile such as myself should appreciate it for that.
The food is okay, not the best Ethiopian I’ve ever had, but I keep going back anyway because it’s a block away. And I like the game of wondering whether or not it will be open. Keeps things exciting.

This was my favorite restaurant of all time. The best food I’ve ever had.
It is painful to even talk about because I am sad to say that Sawa II is closed for good unless the owner changes his mind. Tsegai (owner/​cook) had too much going on in his life to handle the restaurant but would like to do catering at some point. I’m keeping my eyes open because his food is beyond divine.
Update: I’m still really depressed about Sawa closing but I’ve used Tsegai for catering several times and the food is as good as ever.

why oh why are you still closed???
Incredible food. The meats and the sauces are fantastic. Not sure why they have had the doors shut for the last couple months, but I look forward to their return.

my best friend of 12 years now brought me here on one of my birthdays =] i love it here! i just park near her house and we walk over to a little cozy restaurant called sawa =] i love how you can eat your own ‘placemat’ XD hmm well one piece of advice don’t dress up because you’ll smell after
its a bit out of the way for me but i always manage to get myself there =P the owner (i assume) gave us one of his specialty drinks. apparently it’s a mixture of mountain dew, sprite, honey and lemon it was so appropriate for that one summer day i was there, i tipped 50% that day

This is one of the best «cheap eats» places in the city! I ate great Eritrean food (think, Ethiopian food), including several dishes of flavorful, sometimes spicy chicken, meat and veggie dishes, along with dessert and drink. .. all for only $ 10. This is a fun place to bring a big group and sit around dipping into the LARGE plates of multiple entrees, while getting to sit back and laugh and possibly drink at this simple, inexpensive restaurant.

I really enjoyed the lentils, and ordered another round. We had a table of 5 and plowed through our options. This is the second time I’ve been here, with two foodies who remember everything (and should probably be writing this). The service was OK but it’s definitely a family run place on a budget. We managed to order a chicken + hard boiled egg dish that a foodie friend remembered from last time, and it was very tasty. Low-​budget but tasty, and in general good!

super good food. it’s not too spicy and the people that work there are nice. you’ll end up spending around 15 bucks for food and a beer. you can’t go wrong. your food will come really quick and you’ll for sure be full when you leave. it’s a great place for a date. it’s one of the best places to eat around there ya heard me?

Let me just start by saying that the food at Sawa is good enough to endure the less than desirable atmosphere, service, and temperature. It’s my top Ethiopian choice right now. All of the veggie items are quality and the portions are bountiful. Delicious lentils and spinach. Sufficiently sour injera. Also, if you like the Harar lager, try the Harar Hakim Stout, it’s lighter than a traditional stout and quite tasty.
One comment regarding the service: Yes it’s unpredictable and sometimes totally lacking, but it’s a small family run joint and usually has only one person working, so don’t go when you’re feeling impatient or you’re in a hurry.
Bottom line: Better Ethiopian food than neighboring Waziema and Axium, with reasonable prices but very slow service.

Oh MAN is it tasty! Especially for the price, it’s such a great place to go. Although I do agree the service is not 4-​star, it’s not any great insult and I def don’t think they make you feel uncomfortable. I always see the owner preparing my food after I order, and the care that would have been in service seems to go into the food, so you really can’t complain. WARNING, and this is for all ethiopian food – but it’s not exactly the best date fare. interesting experience yes, but afterwards, sometimes, it may just need to be a date with you, your tummy, and an sf weekly.

Excellent Ingera, wonderful vegetarian dishes but the service sucks. I always get food to go so that way I don’t have to sit and be annoyed waiting to be served. If you go expect to wait a while for your food. My absolute favorite dish is the chicken tibs which comes with a salad and some lentils. I highly recommend ordering take out.

Great food and incredibly reasonable. The «bad» service isn’t really bad so much as nonexistent. The idea that your patronage is valuable seems to have been lost on these proprietors. I just warn my companions and then giggle behind their backs. It’s much more fun that way.
You know what it’s like? It’s like being invited to dinner by the warm and friendly wife of your cantankerous neighbor. You walk in to their house and get excited by the wafting smells of great food and then you feel the tension emanating from cranky hubby who is clearly pissed that wifey invited you over. Analogy clarification: lovely wife = great food, crab cake husband = surly service.

i wrote a song about this: ⁵⁄₇ time, in A minor
” notice my scores on Unilocal are down
a torrent of C grade food yields this frown
gummy injera, a tepid carrot
a positive review i am unable to merit
a hunk of tofu that presents hulking promise
lentils of vengeance like a diverting temptress
tea at the end, what a miraculous comeback
this imbalance palace a tough nut to crack
so with a roomless belly and few cents to spare
i retreat to the dojo and stamp a rating of «fair»!
BACK UP OFF, REGGIE!

My favorite spot for Ethiopian/​Eritrean food in the city all the vege stuff rules and their Injera is plenty sour. It’s a little pricy but chances are you won’t be able to walk away from the table if you eat everything you order. The lunch special is a good deal.

The food at this place is fantastic and the atmosphere and service is… well… lets be honest, they are not here to bother with making you feel ultra cool or kiss your a**. But I definetely didn’t feel like anything was left to be desired. If you get more than a few dishes your food is served family style on a platter lined with more inerja than you can shake a stick at, what more do you want? Also, I got the best glass of fresh squeezed lemonade I’ve ever had in my ENTIRE life. How did they make it that good? I have no idea. The vegan mushroom, okra and lentil dishes are to die for and everything else I tried was really tastey too. I’ll be going back to this place, and often.
p. s. And it’s cheap!

fucking delightful food and horrendous service. during our entire time in the restaurant, the owner/​waiter/​chef/​busboy was playing in what appeared to be a card tournament (the game resembled gin rummy but not) and could not be bothered to offer us any sort of service unless it was in between rounds. it’s possible that someone’s life was riding on this game as it got pretty heated with some yelling in ethiopian and such but still. i ate there with a good friend who is going through a terrible break up and the service did nothing to improve his already suicidal mood. THAT BEING SAID, the injera (delicious ethiopian spongy bread) is the best in city and you have to try the vegan mushroom stuff. SO GOOD!!!

The food was good but the service was not. I like eating with my hands and the Eritrean bread was perfectly spongey and light with a light tang to it. I just wish that I hadn’t been neglected like an Ethiopian orphan before Angelina Jolie came along. Seriously, I wanted to spend money but it’s like they thought I was some South African colonist. However the food was tasty, authentic and prices were decent.

Excellent food and low key, authentic atmosphere. I was so happy and surprised to find such a funky, eclectic little café/​restaraunt tucked away on the quieter end of divisidero street. You walk in and smell the amazing spices of simmering meats and vegetarian fare. There’s african music playing along with a TV tuned to an african channel. The décor is quaint, the tables utilitarian but clean. The menu serves everything from american breakfast (in the morning) to authentic east african food. The spiced tea is delicious too. I will be frequenting this place!