The best Ethiopian and Eritrean food I have had in a long time. Dare I say, ever! I have eaten at numerous Ethiopian restaurants in Los Angeles (some gems known only within the local Ethiopian community), as well as multiple venues in the San Francisco Bay area. This restaurant surpasses them all. We came to celebrate my friend's birthday (she eats here all the time, has lived in Africa for years, and knows the owner and his family) and ordered the vegetarian combo, okra, Awaze Tibs (beef), hot bubbling Tegabino shiro, and a fried sambusa (lentil filling) appetizer to share. The flavors and seasonings used in the veggie dishes and beef had a nice balance and went exceptionally well together. The injera bread was fluffy and had a good mouthfeel, with enough bounce and texture to pick up and hold the delicious food and sauces together into the perfect bite-sized morsels. Injera bread was so good that I would eat this plain. As a sourdough flatbread, their injera was not overly sour nor dry. We also finished 2 bottles of Ethiopian honey wine, which was less sweet than I expected and closer in profile to a light Chardonnay, than a sweet wine. Wine was a perfect pairing for the food. As far as beverages go, they have a small selection of beer and wine in the menu, along with Ethiopian coffee/tea which is freshly brewed to order. They also have a nice traditional coffee/tea setting in one corner of the restaurant and I was told they provide a special freshly brewed coffee service on weekends. Definitely a top recommendation from me, for authentic Ethiopian and Eritrean food. My friend informed me that this restaurant is a labor of love/care from the owner, who had a very successful engineering career before he opened this restaurant, which was a dream of his to share the foods he grew up with to the local Ethiopian and Eritrean community. Even more reason to love and support this restaurant! We went on a weeknight for early dinner and it wasn't crowded. Plenty of parking as they're located in a small shopping plaza. read more

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Absolutely loved this place! Ethiopian food is quite the dining experience, as well as a GREAT option for date night! So in short, if you never had Ethiopian food and need a spot for date night, come here... hungry! Oh.... And you'll be eating/enjoying this meal with your hands which would be the traditional way to eat an Ethiopian meal, but of course, you can always ask for utensils! We ordered the Traditional Combo and you're given this huge platter of Injera (think of a spongy crepe like sourdough tasting bread!) topped with different kinds of Ethiopian Dishes. I used my hand as a reference to show you how big this platter really is! The flavor profiles that I believe would best describe the food would be bold, earthy, tangy with a bit of sourness, spicy, zesty, and VERY aromatic, so if this up your alley, this is a sign to go! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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Long overdue! Ethiopian food is my favorite, and Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant does it the best. Anytime anyone asks me where I want to eat, this is my only answer because I legitimately crave their platter every day. I just spent my 30th birthday having lunch here this past February! Tucked away in a small plaza, this truly is OC's hidden gem from Africa. It has that authentic mom-and-pop feel, where it's almost always the owner or his son personally greeting and serving you, which makes it feel even more special. You can tell there's so much pride and care in everything they do, and it's a big part of why I keep coming back. My go-to order is 2 beefs and a veggie: awaze tibs, derek tibs, and a veggie combo or special, all served over injera bread. Probably comes out to about $70, but that's enough for 2-3 people. Very filling! Tip: Be prepared to wait. This is not fast food, and we're thankful that it's not! Everything is made fresh to order, and that takes time. It's the perfect place to take a date or a friend if you're looking for a great catch-up session. (: read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Awaze Beef Tibs Derek Beef Tibs Veggie Combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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Fantastic food and service!! Thank you!! Loved every bite! Friendly and family restaurant. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Atmosphere - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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5/5 - Amazing First-Time Experience! I'm visiting from Sacramento and wanted to try something different. This was my very first time trying Ethiopian food, and I'm honestly so glad I chose this place. The flavors were absolutely incredible -- rich, bold, and perfectly seasoned. Every bite had something new to offer, and the injera paired with the dishes was so delicious and unique. It was definitely different from anything I've tried before, in the best way possible! What really stood out was the owner. They were so warm, welcoming, and genuinely excited to share their culture and food with me. They took time to explain the dishes and made me feel completely comfortable even though I was new to Ethiopian cuisine. You can tell they truly care about their customers and take pride in their food. If you've never tried Ethiopian food, this is definitely the spot to start. Great flavors, great experience, and amazing people behind it! Highly recommend read more

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It was our first time trying Ethiopian food! It was actually nice that the server asked us and explained how they do it in their culture. Which I thought was nice and very thoughtful. They asked if it was okay to have the food in the same plate as that's how it is traditionally done. The inside gave me mom and pop shop vibes which I loved!! Support locals!! I will assume their decor was all traditional and it was actually genuinely nice knowing about a new culture! But has a few tables and even a little bar area. There wasn't too much ppl inside as the day we went. Awaze Tibs chicken 9/10 it was nice and tender. I wouldn't really know how to fully explain the flavor. But trust I did like it. But it wasn't too much spice. I will say maybe I want it to have a hint of spiciness but that is a personal preference :)) I forgot what the beef dish that was chosen since the original wasn't available but I will say I preferred the beef over the chicken!!! Next time I'm here I do wanna give the traditional combo a try!!! Will come again and try more stuff!! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

Although I won't say this will be my most favorite cuisine, I am by certainly very happy to have tried it. Such a colorful palette of exotic yet homestyle vegetables, mixed with their refreshing spiced meats and earthy chicken and eggs, you can completely taste the culture on the plate. I will definitely try more meat next time and am interested in their coffee/tea ceremony as well. Service was great as well. Thank you! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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I'm so glad I found this place, the food was phenomenal. We got the combination platter and it was just so delicious. Injera, doro wat and all the veggies were just so amazing. Service was great, the gentlemen kept coming around to check on us. The restaurant is adorable and perfect. I'm definitely coming back! read more

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Kind of a hidden gem in my opinion. Went for dinner and the restaurant was absolutely empty. But the employees were super kind and attentive. We got the combo and I absolutely loved it. The Injera wasn't super sour. The variety was great. They ran out of the doro wot and instead replaced it with a different chicken dish, which was very yummy. Ambience is clean and quiet. Great for conversation. Definitely looking forward to coming back. There aren't a bunch of Ethiopian places around, so I'm very excited to have found the spot. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional Combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

First time having this type of food, and it did not disappoint. This restaurant is tucked away in the corner, and packed with flavor. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional Combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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My favorite go to Ethiopian in the area! The family run restaurant is consistently delicious and the father son duo brings a smile , I can taste the pride of the chef as every dish is fresh, flavorful, and just plain delicious. I live in Hawaii but go there whenever I'm in town. read more

Was my first time trying out this place and i absolutely love it! Everything tasted so delicious and fresh. We ordered and had to wait 35 minutes which we don't mind just because we know it's fresh! It took us nearly 3 days to finish everything! My favorite is definitely the beets and veggies! Definitely will be back! :) read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional Combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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Always Love this place. Pleasant atmosphere, awesome food. Excellent and very pleasant service. Get the traditional combo! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional combo. LOVE IT!! - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

Abysinia Restaurant is one of the most prominent Ethiopian- restaurants in the Southern California located at Orange County Anaheim. It's delicious menu can definitely attract any one who is brave enough to discover new African meals. I enjoyed every flavor of the food. The combination is my favorite! I highly recommend it !! read more

We love this place! The variety, taste and color of the food is so good and appealing. The waitstaff is helpful on what to order. We will and have recommended Abyssinia to all our friends and family! read more

I highly recommend this place . We ordered traditional combo, 2 beef and chicken item. Also honey wine and Ethiopian tea . Must order combo, they have everything you want to eat in the bread and specially vegetables are so good , very simple flavor but flavorful not sure what kind of seasoning they use but really good. I would go back and order combo again . Also server was very helpful and very caring !!! I recommend this place read more

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it has been a while since I had Ethiopian food and we had the veggie option and it was amazing. it was packed with flavor and we just finished the entire platter and left stuffed. Washed it all down with a delicious and refreshing Ethiopian beer. The owners daughter was our server and she was so attentive and very friendly as well. It's always a good sign that the food is amazing when the locals flock to it. We definitely plan on returning and recommended enough!! read more

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Friend and I came for lunch, which turned out to be a quiet and relaxing meal :) it was our first time eating Ethiopian food and we really enjoyed it! Our server showed us how to eat it and was overall very attentive throughout our visit. Service was a bit slow, but it seemed like it was only our server doing all the serving and cooking??? Maybe another cook at most?? Anyways, on to the food! What we got: - Traditional Combo for two people, which consisted of Doro wot (spicy chicken stew) and what you see on the big serving plate are lentils, cabbage, collard greens, tender beef prepared w/ house herb blend, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, berbere (spiced red pepper powder), and (spiced, infused, and flavored butter). This came with a side of injera, which was used to scoop up the food from the plate. It was a fun and delicious eating experience! There was so much food, my friend and I split up the leftovers and I had it for dinner that night. Overall, I would come back and bring more people with me to eat!! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional Combo and Injera - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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I am a longtime lover of Ethiopian food and was used to going to LA for my cravings. I went to Abyssinia probably a decade ago and just lost track of it with COVID and the like. I finally convinced my daughter to go with me and it was absolutely fantastic. Our waiter (the owner's son) was very nice and explained Ethiopian food to her, while I just counted the time until our Dora Wat and Gored Gored came. We also had the veggie combo. Apparently the new owners took over nine years ago and it was AWESOME. Better than what I had in LA, better than what I had in DC. I had a great talk with the waiter and their mission was for more people to try Ethiopian food, and I agree with him! Abyssinia is a must try! My daughter has the bug now, and we will be back. read more

Great food and good service. Decent amount of seating. Cozy environment. Parking lot is fairly limited considering the number of business there. We ordered the traditional combo platter and it was very good! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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I absolutely adore this authentic mom and pop Ethiopian restaurant serving up my favorites including the awaze tibs, vegetarian combo, and extra injera! read more

LOVE everything about this place! Good music good vibe friendly servers yummy food. Just sad I cant add a side of tibs to the veggie combos. Cant be ordering a traditional every time man im single and thats a LOT of food! read more

5 stars for value, service and ambiance. Our new fave Ethiopian restaurant. We tried the traditional combo for 4 which came with a variety of veggies and lentils, 1 chicken dish, 1 beef dish and 4 baskets of injera. Food was fresh and delicious and the portions were generous. We were shocked that this combo was just $65! What a steal. Our waiter was so sweet and attentive. This restaurant will be part of our family dinner rotation. It was a hit for all of us! read more

10/10 experience. The food is delicious, fresh, and beautiful. We had such a blast eating such good food and felt very welcomed. The establishment is tastefully decorated. Can't wait to come back. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Family combo. So much food, so many flavors. - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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Excellent service and food. We ordered the traditional combo for 2. Came with veggies and meat, which made pairing sides a delight. Think our fav was the doro wit with the pickled onion salad. We had our meal mostly in silence - a telltale sign of food that warrants a return. We appreciated the hand sanitizers at every table. Great touch with the string lights too! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional combo for 2 - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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What a treat to find great Ethiopian food in Orange County. This is definitely a must try, you will be a regular when you do.. It is family owned and nestled in the corner, which makes it even more cute and quaint. I received excellent service and more than enough food to take home. Yummy! read more

melts in your mouth. came on a sunday evening for dinner and place was quiet with a few tables beside us also enjoying the vegetarian platter. we added a plate of lamb to it and it was amazing with all the vegetarian dishes. i ordered the spiced chai without the black tea bag, and it was so delicious and comforting on a cold night. our server was super attentive especially to my elderly grandmother. i love the decor and soft music playing in the background. forgot i was in anaheim in a random small plaza. read more

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Wow, I can't believe that I am back so soon! However, this time, we dined in, and look how pretty the plating is! My sister and I brought our parents and they absolutely loved the food as well, especially my mom because she is very fond of veggies. We ordered the traditional combo for 3 (again) but with an additional side of beef awaze tibs, which was so deliciously flavored and tender. I believe that this was my dad's favorite. Compared to the other place we had tried this dish at, this place makes the awaze tibs less spicy, which was better for the rest of my family. The food took a long time to come out because they were short-staffed, but the service was still very good! They kept coming out to apologize and update us on the status of our food, which I appreciated. Portions were generous like before, and we ended up having leftovers to bring home, which both my sister and I consumed the next day. Love love this place, please try it if you haven't done so already (: read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Traditional Combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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Compared to all the other Ethiopian restaurants I've been to that feel cafeteria -like, this place is beautiful. Lots of cultural pride, posters and art and maps on the walls. Colorful with a warm and cozy atmosphere. Server was friendly and helpful. Food was excellent with reasonable prices. Definitely will be back. read more

We decided to try Ethiopian food for the first time and selected Abyssinia Restaurant. Wow! The restaurant was clean and inviting. The waiter was friendly and explained the dishes and how the food is traditionally eaten. Most importantly, the food was amazing!! We are definitely coming back to eat here! read more

Amazing food and service! Highly recommend! We got the sambusas and the vegetarian special. Everything was super flavorful and nicely spiced. The injera was fluffy and delicious! Will visit again soon! read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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It was good and authentic. Good service. You eat with your hands. It's a different experience which I like.

Tucked in the corner of Anaheim/Stanton is this amazing Ethiopian restaurant, which is also tucked in the corner of the plaza. Traditional combo 5/5 gr8 flavors gr8 portions The owner operates table waiting/cooking/assembling by himself so food prep can take awhile! Parking is somewhat limited, but a lot of people seem to rotate in and out. It's cool watching locals come in, chat with the owner, pick up a little food, then go :) read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

First time trying Ethiopian food and I chose Abyssinia Restaurant to be the place. I am happy to report that I loved the food! We ordered the Traditional Combo for 2 ($41), which comes with a small portion of a variety of stews and sides on top of a giant piece of injera and additional pieces of injera on the side. We also ordered Awaze Tibs with Lamb ($19). Man, everything tasted so good! I love bold flavors and every side and stew was flavorful. The injera had a really good sour taste to it - it's the kind of sour that I wish all sourdough bread would come in. What I didn't know was that you're supposed to use your hands only - we were not provided any plates or utensils to eat with. Not a big deal to ask for some, but the owner may give you the stink eye for doing so. Speaking of the owner, he's not the friendliest guy in town. Granted, he was working alone the day and time we came in so that could explain his rudeness. But I would probably be pretty flustered myself if I was the only one cooking and serving. For the lack of service and how long it took for the food to come out, I am going to order takeout the next time I come. The food is pretty expensive, but I would still come back because it was that good to me :). read more

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Amazing restaurant and friendliest service! I highly recommend you check out their delicious food

Abyssinia is a small family owned business where the owner isn't welcoming and the food was served cold - not even room temperature or warm. The son(?) saved the day near the end of our dinner hence the four stars, but seems like this is the regular with the owner according to other reviews. It's a shame since the food is authentic. We had the honey wine and veggie special. We could drink the honey wine everyday, and the veggie special is enough for 2-4 people depending on your appetite. The collard greens and sweet lentils were my favorite. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Honey wine - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

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(Review Update: I have more to say) You know why this place is so good? I just found out the owner was once a chemist. That means he understands chemistry. He understands ingredients and temperatures and processes. He understands flavors and chemical reactions. He is about to do some voodoo on your tastebuds. Watch. Mark my words. read more

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We were visiting the area and randomly decided to try Ethiopian. It's delicious! We got the combo and awaze tibs. Came in the afternoon so we missed the Ethiopian coffee. Next time! read more

Delicious food and wonderful service, no complaints. Also the music was divine and so are the decorations. read more

Abyssinia Restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Anaheim, California

We enjoyed a few different types of tibs and the veggie platter. Leftovers are always good the next day. Will be back!!