I ordered the veggie combo for 2; the food was good. I was not a fan of the plating. Instead of…read moreeach item placed on the plate twice (one for each person) it was 1 large serving of each item. The honey wine is served in a traditional berele which I liked, but I did not like the wine at all. Tasted house-made and under fermented. I recommend if you're into liquid sugar. They played Spanish music in the Ethiopian restaurant The waitress either checked too frequently or barely, no in between. This is the worst ethiopian spot I've ever been to, but it's decent for take-out/uber eats. Ideas for improvement: Better plating Actual East African staff Training wait-staff to be appropriately attentive (do they have clean napkins?) Giving wet-wipes with the check (customary with finger-food dining) Play Ethiopian music.

What a treat this was! First experience with Ethiopian food and I am hooked for life!! Wonderful…read moreservice, nice lowkey vibe at the restaruant, really can't ask for more. Get the sampler!

Delicious!! I would make the trip out here just to eat here. The owner was a very sweet and nice…read morelady.

I love the mixed veggie platter. Each item is so well seasoned and I like that there is plenty of…read morevariety. The injera is slightly tart from the fermentation, chewy, and a great vessel for carrying everything. Yebege Tibs was a little dry and took some chewing to breakup. It definitely tasted lamb-y. I liked the hint of rosemary flavor that would come through. I don't think I would go back for this dish

Very tasty. very fresh. Excellent service. Polite patient and informative! Authentic decor and…read moresmall but small space. Recommended 10/10

Nice spot with a calm, relaxing atmosphere. It's run by a husband and wife team, and while I was…read morethere, an Ethiopian political discussion was playing on the TV, which added to the feel of the place. The food was good and flavorful. The spices definitely came through without being overly spicy. I did ask for some sauce on the side for a little extra flavor. Overall, it's a cute place to stop by after work, wind down, and enjoy a good meal.

This place had so much flavor. What really stood out to me was the veggies. They were seasoned…read morereally well, which I appreciated because at a lot of Ethiopian restaurants it feels like the meat gets all the flavor and the veggies are just kind of there. Here, the veggies were delicious on their own. The service was quick, probably about five minutes, and the people were kind. The space was also spacious and comfortable. I do wish it came with another piece of injera, but I'm sure you can buy extra if needed. Overall, I'd definitely come back.

EDIT: after a few weeks I read my review and realized that it comes across as generally negative…read moreeven though my opinion is very positive. I went on too long about the kitfo. Salam is a delicious place with really friendly people. Me and my family have been taking out and eating in about once a week for months. It also attracts people working with laptops, as it is quiet and there's coffee. I am returning the 5th star because why should they appear less than excellent because of one guy's opinion of one dish? Btw the kik alicha is amazingly satisfying. ---ORIGINAL REVIEW I have a lot of positive things to say about this place, and just two complaints. I'm going to skip the positive as it is all repeated here in other reviews, other than to say that while the cooking here is not 100% in the mainstream of Ethiopian cooking, meaning that you can expect the Ethiopian dishes to land some short distance from what you are used to at any other place in Philly or D.C. or NYC etc., it is nevertheless usually delicious. The wots are spiced differently than traditional, there are more middle eastern flavors in general. The first time I came, soon after they had opened, I was disoriented and disappointed, but in later visits I decided I didn't care. The injera is among the best in Philly. Complaint#1: the doro wot sauce can sometimes (only twice) verge into the realm of so intense that you don't want to eat much of it, this has to do with both salt and spices. Complaint#2: This is the one that lost a star. They won't make their Saturday kitfo raw. If you ask for it raw it will be served rare, so the meat has received enough heat to toughen the texture and remove some of the color. I did complain, because I love kitfo and it is one of the most celebrated raw beef dishes, the beef glistening with niter kibbeh butter and looking like a shiny mount of rubies. It is amazing when made according to tradition and kind of lame when Americanized, like so many ethnic speacialties. About 3/4 of the best Philly places make it right, most in D.C. I would guess that Salam is either nervous about hygiene, a real consideration unless you mince your own beef, which is labor intensive. The excuse offered was that the beef got a little cooked by the hot butter, to which the answer is, your butter is too hot. No cooking can happen with this dish. (In Ethiopia a few do slightly cook the beef, but nobody likes those people.) I urge them to do Ethiopia justice and take kitfo off the menu, or do it right. Americans have learned a lot in the past few decades. Tell them what to expect and many will be enthusiastic. It won't work if you let them expect cooked beef. That's all the negative I have, I am looking forward to my next visit for the kik alicha.

I'd give it 10 stars if I could! Knocked it out of the park in every aspect…read more First, the cafe is super cute with Ethiopian music playing & lovely decor. It's spacious with two floors of seating and easy take out as well. The service is excellent. Sid is so friendly and wonderful. I was the only person in the restaurant for a brief period in between other guests leaving and coming, and we chatted about Ethiopia's history & travel, as I'm dying to go there. Above all, the food was fantastic. I got the Village Scramble, spiced eggs with veggies in injera. Wow wow wow! Their injera is delicious and the heat level was great (not ridiculously spicy, but a good kick). I also got their Shai Tea, similar to a chai but spiced slightly differently. It was delicious and now I know I can just come for a takeout chai latte here too. Can't wait to come back!

This place is a disgrace to Ethiopian food. Super small portions of food for the high price…read more Although the Doro Wot was delicous, it was smallest chicken I have ever seen and they gave only two pieces and one boiled egg. The meat combo plate (Siga Wot and Siga Alicha w/ two veggie sides) was very underwhelming. The meat portions were tiny and barely flavorful. The veggies were just ok. We did have an order of chicken and beef samosas. Those were good. Sad that the appetizers at a restaurant tastes much better than the entrees. The customer service needs lots of work as well. Although this place is BYOB, our server wouldn't bring us cups until we ordered food. I guess she did us a favor by providing us with cups of water first. Our server brought our food out and we never saw her again. No other staff member checked on us either to see if we needed anything (and a few of them passed us as they were in and out of the restaurant). I was irritated and we were ready to leave. I went inside to pay the bill since no one came back to our table outside. Like we literally could have gotten up and went to our car and left. That's how ignored we felt. We did notice how the staff were being very attentive to other patrons inside the restaurant (Ethiopian as well and possibly family and/or friends). An Ethiopian guy (seemingly the owner or manager) was behind the counter and I told him I wanted to pay the bill. He had the nerve to ask how was everything. I said it was ok. I paid in cash and didn't leave a tip. That'll be the last time I go to this place as I do not recommend it whatsoever. I'm sure there are better Ethiopian spots in the Philly area.

For sure a basic dive - practically no ambiance other than iconic wood paneling. But the food!!!…read moreIt's amazing. I had the doro wot. It was out of this world. Service was very friendly and good.

Food was just okay. It wouldn't be my first choice for getting Ethiopian food but the bartender was…read moreso attentive and always ready to answer questions. It's an interesting combo between sports bar and Ethiopian. It was good for a midday meet-up.

I decided to try some Ethiopian food for the 1st time, and placed a order for Abyssinia through…read moreGrubhub. I order the Beef Tibs that came with Injera. My order arrived 90 mins later and cold. After popping my food in the microwave for 60 seconds, after a few bites I trashed the whole order. The Beef Tips were overcook, extremely tough, simply inedible. If I could give this order less than 1 star, I would in a heartbeat! The only good thing is, I received a full refund from Grubhub. Presentation: Not Good Taste: Flavorless, Extremely Tough, Inedible Value: Not worth 20.00, A lot of Injera but the portion of Beef Tibs was small (In my Opinion)

Food was plenty and very flavorful. The injera was less sour than prior ones I've had…read more We got 2 combos (Abyssinia 2, meat) and an extra order of lentils (I believe??) for 4 people. Personally I think the veggie bits were better than the meat but that's just preference. I wouldn't order the lamb again bc I thought it was a tad too gamey and tough to eat. There are bones with some of the meat options. Overall, I think it is very hard to go wrong with a pick - just personal preferences would influence what I get next time.

Enjoyed the food very much. The place was very welcoming and answered any questions we had. I also…read morethink it's genius to have a hand washing station right by where we eat! I came in blind to Ethiopian food but was not disappointed. More than anything I really enjoyed the side vegetables.

I love Ethiopian food and this is the only place nearby so I come here often, unfortunately this…read moreplace misses the mark sometimes. We came here for chicken and beef tibs ( they are always out of lamb tibs) , the beef was overcooked and somehow not hot , the chicken was also not hot , the injera was pretty cold , I am not sure why the injera would be cold to the touch and why they would serve their meat dishes lukewarm , they need to improve their standards here. The food is a lot more than just flavor and this makes it taste much worse. The beef being very chewy and overcooked is another problem that I keep running into, please improve your standards and your cooking. We also tried some samosas which were not flavorful at all and were just packed with plain ground meat. We tried the special mango juice which was ok too. Service is always great and friendly and the place is never busy with a quiet laidback ambiance

I didn't know that this is owned by the same owners as Alif (see that in one of the other…read morereviews!), but that kind of tracks. I stopped in for lunch w/ some friends, and I thought everything tasted great! I opted for an order of chicken tenders with fries, one of their featured specials, and I definitely couldn't tell that it was gluten-free, but it is! Looks like they use teff flour for their batter (it does have dairy, though, for those who can't have it). Not that sports stadium chicken fingers are the best kind, but the ones here definitely beat those. Admittedly, I don't often get chicken tenders, but I would get them again here. Some of my friends got the chicken sandwich, which looked to be essentially my meal but with a bun, and another got a falafel wrap, which also looked good. I would try either that or a chicken shawarma wrap in the future. You order at the counter, but if seated, they bring the food to you, which is nice. Not a huge amount of room inside, less than Alif, but enough for a few tables, and just about what I've come to expect in West Philly. Good spot for a relatively quick lunch, and some great gluten-free options to boot.

Still amazing fried chicken here! It's get the basic criteria of fried chicken right, having…read moreamazingly moist and marinated meat with a crispy delicate breading, but with such unique and delicious flavors. I've always loved the spicy flavor and how it perfectly evokes the flavor I love from Ethiopian food, but I had the lemon turmeric for the first time today and it absolutely holds its ground against the spicy with its bright pop! The mac and cheese was also incredible, with a golden baked top just as it should. Who knew a supposedly Ethiopian spot could also do that Southern side perfectly. I happened to come during Ramadan and they have a really good-value Ramadan special that comes with a three-piece chicken, mac and collard greens, a salad, and a side of rose pudding for $20. We added another half chicken to feed a second person and left very happy and full.