Kokeb Ethiopian Restaurant

Unfortunately, the delivery driver was an astonishing jerk to our building concierge, cursing him out and using the f-​word for no reason other than that we couldn’t come downstairs to the lobby. As it turns out, there was already a note in our building system about similar incidents with this same place.
The food was ok, a little meager than should’ve been for the cost, but because of the incidents with the drivers, we won’t be ordering from here again.

All I wanted was some food… terrible delivery, terrible customer service, I’ll never order from them again.

One of my «go to» places for my ethiopian fix in DC. Good food. Good prices.

We visited this restaurant on a Sunday afternoon based on the numerous positive reviews on Unilocal.The place was mostly deserted, with one customer at the bar and one family at a table. On in the background were YouTube videos of Nicklback, blasting. But were were hungry, so we decided to give it a go.
We were interested in trying a veggie sampler and one entrée, and the waiter kept pushing us to get the 8-​item sampler, for an a eye-​whopping $ 19. Other ethiopian restaurants charge much less, so we decided on 3 items — the yellow split peas, lentils, and tomato salad. For our meat entrée, the waiter suggested lamb tibs.
After 30 minutes of waiting, hungrily, we asked how much longer. The waiter apologized, explaining that the customer at the bar had a large to go order that was keeping the chef backed up. (She left with 5 carry-​out containers… hardly a large enough order to cause such a delay). He promised our food would be out within 5 minutes. It ultimately took 45 minutes before our food was served. The yellow split peas were hard and flavorless, the lentils had no spice, the tomato salad was 95% lettuce, with a few underripe tomato chunks. Finally, the lamb tibs were tough and unimpressive.
To add to the experience, my dining companion left to use the restroom, only to discover that one of the restrooms was closed for repairs, and the other had no soap or paper towels. Something you really want to see when you’re eating with your hands…
Finally, when we tried to leave and pay, the waiter tried to overcharge us by charging us for the 8-​item sampler, Our total bill (with 3 beers) was over $ 55, and we left still hungry. Needless to say, we don’t recommend anyone go here. Walk a few blocks down the Florida avenue, for Zenebech Injera — fast, good, and cheap.

I have travelled the world, and I cannot remember any places where I have had a better time with friends, family and food. Don’t be out of by the «humble décor. Just have them push some tables together for you group, bring a few pitchers of their rim punch, and bring on platters of whatever is fresh. The food is incredible! Go with the flow, let them guide you too put together a scrumptious meal. Even our picky eaters were digging in and loving it!

vegans/​vegetarians: combo platter in which you can pick any five veggies or get all eight offered
not my favorite Ethiopian place in DC, but it’s nice for folx who know what they like and can customize their platter accordingly. I’m too wiggly to make decisions, so my boy and I were full from sharing the eight veggie platter. ambience is a little discordant, and they play fun Ethiopian music videos on their TV.

The food here is absolutely delicious… we were totally full and then ordered a whole additional round because we couldn’t stop eating it. Best Ethiopian I’ve had in DC.

This place has great food and friendly service! Every time I go, (it has been about 10 times,) the food comes out hot and freshly made. The owner is always available and ready to serve anyone who walks in. Very chill atmosphere, including a full bar and a hookah bar. The place is also very clean. It would be a great place for a chill night out with friends or for a date.

This place is great! So laid back and chill. Great hookah and customer service. The food was AMAZING. I got the beef tips and they were cooked perfectly. The music was great too. Overall it was great, I will definitely be back.
P.S FULL BAR!

This is the worst Ethiopian food I have ever had. I ordered the lamb tibs, as they are the usual go to at any Ethiopian place. They were rubbery and gross, and swimming in a pool of greasy liquid. It came with some pasty lentils, or something, I really couldn’t tell what it was. We also got the vegetarian sampler as well, which was DISGUSTING. The lentils and corn were pasty, and the cabbage smelled like a rotting corpse. Guessing what a corpse would taste like, it tasted like the cabbage.
I was so excited to try a new Ethiopian place within walking distance to our house, but it was really bad. The food made it in to the trash can while it was still warm.

They have turned into a hooka bar. They renovated to make it look actually worse inside. They still serve food but the space is too confined and smokey that I wouldn’t recommend eating there anymore. I’m soooo disappointed.

The food was really terrific, and at a great price. The interior is a bit shabby, but it’s a bar on lower Georgia Ave so it works if you know what you’re getting into. If you want the full Ethiopian restaurant experience, go pay more for mediocre food at Dukem.
At night the place serves as a cocktail lounge. We were there on a relatively quiet Sunday evening, and the televisions and sound system were playing whatever the young lady hostess/​waitress/​bartender wanted to listen to on Youtube, ranging from obscene hip hop to Tigrinya pop.
I am very excited to go there again — the food was just tremendous, and I rather enjoyed the atmosphere.

I liked but didn’t love Kokeb. Oddly the restaurant did not smell like food at all, but had a sterile, school cafeteria-​type feel to it. I did like the laid-​back environment, and it was not busy at all on a Friday night.
We tried one of the lamb dishes and an assortment of veggies. The lamb was delicious, but I didn’t love the veggies, and I felt like the lentils in particular had some off flavors to them. The collard greens and other veggies were forgettable
Service was good and portions were generous. I would give it another try if I were in the area and definitely try the lamb again, but I’d try some different vegetarian options to see if any of them are better. It’s hard to say I’d go out of my way for this though, since there are so many other Ethiopian restaurants in the metro area.

Great food, good service, good music, and close to our home in Petworth!!! Will definitely be back!

This was my first time ordering from Kokeb, and my first time ordering through Unilocal.I ordered the yebere tibs. When I arrived, I was a bit put off by the ambiance, which wasn’t at all what I expected — this place is more like a bar/​hookah lounge than a restaurant. I told the women behind the bar that I’d ordered food online, and they looked kind of confused and asked what I’d ordered. The food took about ten additional minutes to come out, which leads me to believe they never received the order or weren’t aware of it. I have no idea whether that’s Unilocal’s or Kokeb’s fault, but I probably won’t order through Unilocal in the future just to be sure.
Anyway, they were very apologetic about the wait. The food was still nice and warm when I got it home, and it was delicious. I hadn’t had Ethiopian in a long time, and while I didn’t like this as much as Ethiopic, this definitely satisfied my craving. If I ever want Ethiopian in my neighborhood, this is probably the place I’ll go back to.

Oh, this was delicious. My first time eating Ethiopian food. The injera had an interesting texture. I was thinking it’d be like roti but it’s not. It’s so good, though. I got yebeg alicha and yatakilt wat. Flavors were very well balanced. I like my lamb a little more tender but it was still very good.
The venue is intimate. Can’t wait to go back!

Ethiopian is one of those cuisines I tend to forget about, and then when I have it again I think «why has it been so long since I’ve eaten this!» I’ve heard some pretty polarized opinions about it, and about injera in particular, so I guess maybe you love it or hate it, but I’m firmly in the pro camp. Some friends picked this place, and I’m glad they did because it turned out to be delicious.
The restaurant itself isn’t exactly brimming with atmosphere, but it’s pretty small and has a very casual feel, just one long bench seat along the wall with tables and stools lined up across. The service was great, constantly checking with us and bringing more injera right as we were using up our initial supply. The food was all fantastic, savory and well-​spiced with juicy chunks of meat and delicious vegetables, lentils, and chick peas. They even have a few different Ethiopian beers, more than I would have guessed even existed actually, and I love drinking the local beer with international food. For four people with a huge communal plate of food that didn’t leave anyone hungry plus alcohol, the bill came to well under $ 80, which in this town is staggeringly cheap.
Based on its location you might not find yourself near this place by chance, but even though there are plenty of Ethiopian places around town, this one is definitely worth a trip.

Last night was my first time at Kokeb, and I will definitely be coming back whenever an Ethiopian food craving strikes!
It is a bit of a trek from the Columbia Heights metro stop and not the easiest place to find only because it is small, but look for the yellow awning. Once inside, my boyfriend and I were seated right away and were asked for our drink order quickly to take advantage of happy hour, which was ending in a few mins (goes from 4pm-​8pm, so long!). There were a few other couples also eating, but no more than 5 other customers in the restaurant.
We ordered the yegeb wat and zil zil tibs, both spicy. Both were FANTASTIC, huge portions and accompanied with veggie sides and injera. Boyfriend was a little confused about eating with the injera but he caught on quickly and our waitress brought more to the table without us even asking. We had more food than we knew what to do with leftover and came home with a delicious doggie bag that I am looking forward to eating tonight.
Great service, amazing food.

Let’s face it, DC is a bit of an embarrassment of riches where Ethiopian food is concerned. I had heard about Kokeb for years, and often heard it mentioned in the same sentence as Ethiopic (which is, in many people’s minds — including mine, the best Ethiopian spot in DC).
So first, a word on the space itself. Kokeb is not a place I’d take a date– especially on a very cold winter night (there is limited heat in Kokeb, and any time the door opens, everyone inside gets blasted with cold air — note to Kokeb: you might consider getting one of those thick curtains small restaurants use to save customers from freezing). The décor is more Dukem than Ethiopic, dark with a flat screen TV and music playing simultaneously, random wall hangings. Definitely Kokeb is a local spot — when we walked in, there were three tables of folks just hanging out, drinking and chatting (we were the only people eating in the restaurant, actually). One more note– the owner, a tiny man referenced in some other reviews, is quite charming and he will come around and chat with you (and make sure you’ve enjoyed everything). I really appreciated that.
As for the food, everything we sampled was fine — more home-​cooked tasting than, say, Ethiopic (and, for Ethiopian food, surprisingly non-​spicy). The veggie sampler had all of the usual suspects without the strong spice, but the standouts were the cabbage and the beans. I would skip the brown lentils if I were to return, and only order the much more flavorful yellow lentils. We also ordered a curried chicken which was, in my mind, less than stellar — it was very sour, and very onion-​y (I’m sure the sour-​ness was enhanced by the sourness of the injera — Kokeb’s injera is definitely much more potent and much more sour than Ethiopic’s.) Indeed, if I had to do it again, I’d probably just stick with the veggies.
But we had more than enough food for $ 28 (we didn’t order drinks), and though we were cold, we appreciated the kindness of the Kokeb folk.

This is my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in dc. I know that there are others that have more notoriety, but none who has as tasty food and as pleasant service.
Every time I have come I have gotten the veggie combo and then plus or minus a meat (lamb or beef tibs). In addition the injera is fabulous.
Even if Kokeb is out of your way it is worth seeking out on your journey for delicious Ethiopian fare.
(A note: I spent a couple of weeks in Ethiopia and this is the best food since eating in Addis)