They recently changed ownership. We used to go all the time because the food was so good but you would never know if they were opened. But after the change, the food and service is even better. Only one Ethiopian lady, makes the food when you order. They do sell green coffee beans which is good for those that roast their own coffee as well as some other items. Same small space but added a bit more tables so you can eat in the store vs before it was mostly a to go place. Go and support this local business with amazing Ethiopian food. Authentic Ethiopian food, they only have coffee and a large or small veggie combo. You finish feeling satisfied read more

This place is such a hidden gem. I've eaten here several times and I swear the food keeps getting better and the owner is so sweet and caring and she makes you feel like you're eating right out of her kitchen. Highly recommend. read more

Cafe Dareye - Beef Tibs, collard greens, red and yellow lentils. - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

Very delicious and friendly service! Got the full veggie combo with the beef special and everything was great! Highly recommend. read more

Cafe Dareye - Full Veggie Combo with the beef special - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

Very tasty. Very friendly. My wife will like that they have a little spiciness option. Will probably doordash because the seating area is sparse read more

Very kind woman who serves Ethiopian food that feels like home style, we loved it Very comfortable and friendly , and priced very reasonably read more

their veggie combo plate is a staple in the neighborhood and has been for years. I love to frequent and support this fantastic local spot.

Very nice people. The full order is just enough for 2. we had 3 so we got extra injera. We were going to a movie nearby so we just wanted to get something to try it. Very good lentils and cabbage. read more

I love this place! Their vegetarian sampler is a wonderful delicious and healthy lunch. The half size is plenty big for a meal. It's a cozy place with seating and food is prepared quickly after ordering. Highly recommend! read more

Great service! The food arrived quickly and each dish was tasty. There's not many places that serve hearty food that is also vegan, will comeback again! read more

Veggie combo full order was yummy and a good portion size for two. Filling and not too heavy. The woman working was very sweet and hospitable. read more

Incredibly sweet family on business. Highly recommend! Great vegetarian food if you want. Sweet service. And decent ambiance. It is a small hole in the wall so expect that. read more

Great Ethiopian restaurant! I'm vegan so really enjoyed their veggie dish. A half order was incredibly filing

Owner was very kind, and the food was delicious! I was happy to see gluten free injera on the menu as I'm celiac and it can be hard to find safe options when eating out. read more

Splitting a veggie platter combo is enough for two people and is a quick, tasty, healthy and affordable lunch. Will come again!

First off, it's a small but welcoming place and you can smell the delicious spices as soon as you walk in the door. I ordered a full order of the vegan plate to go and it was well worth it for the amount of food. My favorite was the Messer Wot - it had really nice flavor and good amount of spice (not too spicy at all) and I also really enjoyed the Atakilt - the cabbage was cooked to be tender with the natural sweetness coming through. I would definitely go back. I want to try the breakfast items next time. read more

Randomly stumbled upon Cafe Dareye while walking on Telegraph Ave. and looking to buy lunch. This is not a typical restaurant as there are no tables inside. There are 2 tables with some chairs outside the storefront. The shop sells a little of everything ranging from coffee beans to tea to dried snacks and spices. They only sell 1 vegan combo that includes different lentils and greens sitting on top of this spongy bread called injera. All I had to decide was if I wanted a regular or full size, which I opted for the full. Side comment: Sometimes restaurants offer too many options and it becomes hard to decide, but not Cafe Dareye! The flavors were amazing, the spices really infused into the food and the best part was that I didn't feel sluggish or tired after eating. The mother and daughter duo were super friendly as I mentioned it was my first time at their shop. I'm already looking forward to my next visit! #8/2020 read more

See all

We ate here yesterday and it was delicious. The service was sweet and the food was flavorful and well portioned. Everything tastes fresh. Highly recommend. read more

Beautiful shop, nice people, and beautiful vegan food. I remember when the mini combo was under $20. It's not anymore, but it's more than enough to fill me up read more

See all

The food is delish! My family and I have been coming here for years and always appreciate the effort they put into every plate served.

This is one of the best Ethiopian veggie combos in Oakland. Injera is fresh and tangy. Everything delicious and good portions.

It's kind of a stretch to call this a cafe because it's primarily an Ethiopian mini-mart with lots of kitchen supplies, injera fixings, and dried lentil beans taking up most of the store. When I looked at the chalkboard menu, there was only one item featured, the Veggie Combo, no other options. It was made up of five items - red lentil beans, split pea, collard greens, salad, and stuffed jalapeño on house-made injera. Good thing that's my favorite Ethiopian dish, and they put it in a plastic takeout carton (photo: http://bit.ly/2XfPUwW). Why no plate? That's because there are only two tables outside on the sidewalk, one that was just vacated as I was ready to sit down and eat. My al fresco dining experience, however, was highly compromised by the crime scene that was occurring in real time in front of me. Three cops had to tackle a shirtless guy who was running out of a neighboring shop and looked like he was as high as a kite. He kept giving me a death stare as he was being handcuffed and I was picking up my jalapeño. I don't blame the owner for what happened, but hey, welcome to Oakland, baby. FOOD - 4 stars...if I focus on the food, it was choice AMBIANCE - 3 stars...well, the store was atmospheric and outside was just too atmospheric SERVICE - 3.5 stars...nice enough but they disappeared when the crime scene occurred TOTAL - 4 stars...I'll just focus my memory on the veggie combo RELATED - Lost in Oakland? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2ObVcpQ read more

See all

Best veggie combo around. Strong recommend! Wonderful supplies also - hear up for big weekend cooks or a gift for a friend.

Got the full veggie combo. I haven't had Ethiopian food in a minute, but everything was great. The cook/owner? made it decently fresh, only took 5-7 minutes to get my food, very cordial. I would go again for sure. It is a decent sized meal, great value. read more

Conveniently located on Telegraph and owned by friendly people. A nice place for grabbing lunch. There isn't any indoor seating, and the outdoor tables are quite small so it's definitely a place to dine solo or with one other person. Full plate was a decent size, half order would've been too small in my opinion. The food here isn't as expensive as other Oakland Ethiopian spots and it's pretty good. Cheesecake wasn't the best though, it was reminiscent of daiya cheesecake and I'm just not into that flavor. I love that they sell various other goodies here like bulk ingredients, spices, grains, teacups, pans, etc. read more

I've been coming to this place consistently now. - The food is consistent. Flavors are tasty - ** They seem to use the least amount of oil which is a feat to find for an Ethiopian spot! I always feel like I've eaten a good CLEAN meal after. -Personable staff. - And reasonably priced (cheaper than surrounding spots but not compromising the quality) read more

Cafe Dareye - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

Veggie combo hits every time! Food is always fresh, the service is very kind and you can have fun shopping while you wait for them to prepare your food. They only offer veggie, hot prepared food. read more

This place is more like a supermarket with a place to order food than a cafe. It has spices on the shelves and tea and beautifully woven boxes. I had never had Ethiopian food before, so to see the whole dish served to me wrapped in the bread was a bit of a surprise. But when I stuck the fork in and began eating, I eventually ditched the fork and used my fingers because it was hella good and I didn't care . Some of the foods have such a lovely tangy taste kinda like sour cream. There were lots of things on the plate and I'm not sure what they were, but the food was delicious. For only $13 it was so much food. I hope to be returning. read more

Bomb Ethiopian food. The stuff jalapeño was super good. That was a first for me. The lentils, greens, and the injera was tasty. The customer service was great and the place is very nice and clean. I plan to return again tomorrow. Oh and the price was great for the amount of food I received and the quality. read more

This was such a great find! I live across the street and have walked by many times and finally stopped in last night with a my bf and a few friends. They only serve one thing as other people mentioned, which is the veggie platter in either a half or pull portion. Everyone in my party of 5 opted for the full veggie platter, as well as some samosas and baklava that were on the front counter. The store is a small grocery so although they didn't have much other prepared food they did have a lot of lentils and spices. The food only took about 10 minutes so we waited at the small tables outside while it was prepared. There isn't any seating outside of the outdoor tables, but thankfully we were able to take it back to our apartment! The food itself was awesome- the platter came with tons of injera, salad, lentils, collard greens and excellent flavors. I was really impressed at how much food was included for $12, and most people in our party had leftovers. This is a great spot for a straightforward healthy option! Would recommend taking it to go vs sitting at the small tables as the area can be a little weird. Don't skip on the baklava either! read more

Cafe Dareye - outside storefront! - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

This is a tiny vegan Ethiopian shop and cafe that has no indoor seating. If you're coming here to eat, you'll end up sitting on the sidewalk at one of their three small tables (which is fine, except for if it's cold or raining). The menu is small. You can either get a half-order veggie combo or a full-order veggie combo. I got the full-order veggie combo ($12). This is a huge portion and good enough for two people, though it's hard to eat and messy in the plastic takeout container they give. I thought the flavors of each dish were fine, but the texture was overly soupy on the kik alicha and misir wot. The kik alicha also went heavy on the turmeric. I did enjoy the jalapeno stuffed with tomatoes and onions (be warned it's spicy!). By the way, I normally hate the veggie combo, because it's a scam: I really love two Ethiopian dishes---misir wot (lentils in berbere sauce) and kik alicha (split peas in a turmeric sauce)---so I'd rather just get large portions of those two dishes than be saddled with tiny portions of other dishes that are bland filler (boiled collard greens? lettuce and tomato salad?). I'm not impressed with the Ethiopian food in the Bay Area, though I know people rave about Ensarro and Cafe Colucci in Oakland. If you've been to the Ethiopian spots in Minneapolis-St. Paul (which has about a couple dozen), LA, Chicago or DC, Cafe Dareye won't convince you of anything. read more

Cafe Dareye - Small interior. Only three small tables on the sidewalk if you want to eat there. - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Cafe Dareye is quite a find! Extremely fresh and flavorful. I was actually suggested to experience it first-hand and am indeed onboard. Very well done. read more

Before the shelter in place order, my fiancé and I would drive from San Francisco to Cafe Dareye weekly. That's how much we loved the food. Sometimes I would even get two orders so I could have more at home. I miss this place so much and I'm very sad they had to close during the pandemic. I truly hope they are able to reopen safely one day soon. They do have a go-fund me if you're able to donate! https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-save-our-small-buisness?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR1gE6O1tOArbg_m3OZta4fGMiJye-eMtfQAZ9v6Yo1uXFCehcfhmijNSdw read more

Cafe Dareye - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

The absolutely best veggie combo. Please support this small family-owned business, take out only, good selection of spices for sale as well. Gluten free injera available. read more

Food is really delicious here! It's pretty simple to order - they only have a veggie combo (all vegan) and you can chose half or full. I got the full for $11.99. Everything is to-go, but they do have a few small tables outside if you want to eat there. They have a little grocery store inside where you can get dried lentils, spices and Ethiopian goods. My full veggie combo was very flavorful and you get a lot! The red lentils were a bit spicy, split peas were tasty and it also came with collard greens, salad, stuffed jalepeno and gluten free injera. I enjoyed it all, except I was too afraid to bite into the jalapeno thinking it would be too hot for me. You definitely get your money's worth - I took my leftovers home and enjoyed it the next day. I'll definitely come back! read more

Cafe Dareye - Full veggie combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

I love the food here. No hard choices, except whether or not to get a coffee as well. 10m wait. Staff are always friendly.

food and service was incredible!! my friend and i tried this place out today and cannot wait to go back. definitely worth it to get the full plate but even the half portion was a generous amount of food. read more

It's consistent, the flavor is amazing, sometimes I can't believe something so simple can taste so good. Always a great place to stop by they're quick, and it's a fair price, even though they could get away with charging more. read more

Cafe Dareye - Full Veggie combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Oakland, California

See all

Before shelter in place orders, I probably grabbed the veggie platter here at least 2-3 times a month. I would often go after long Saturday workouts when I needed a densely packed plant-based protein and a good carb boost. Dareye is super humble about serving the BEST Ethiopian food in Oakland (seriously, I've tried a bunch). The best part about her veggie platter is she always throws in a fresh stuffed jalapeño. Sometimes you end up with an extra dangerous one but it's always worth the risk! I appreciate that in the past year they've changed their takeout box to a compostable, paper-based material. Cafe Dareye is also a small Ethiopian market. They sell fresh injera throughout the day and have a lot of dried ingredients from coffee beans to lentils to teff if you're interested in trying out Ethiopian cuisine at home. I keep badgering them about hosting private cooking classes! For the local Ethiopian community I've observed that this shop is a key location for hard to find groceries. During First Fridays, I always loved seeing their tent on the sidewalk and I would yell at the kids to go there instead of the other food trucks (lol nothing against the trucks though). Dareye's cafe is a true hole in the wall: easy to miss but hard to forget! I really hope you check it out when they reopen again soon! read more

There's basically one thing on the menu. I didn't ask what the "Daily Special" was because the Veggie Combo is my jam. I ordered, gave my $8 for the half order and was rewarded with the most packed clam shell container I've ever seen. Every cubic inch of this thing is packed with all the components of an Ethiopian veggie sampler plate and generously wrapped with injera. It's seasoned to perfection. If I had to compare it to the competition in the area, it's my favorite. Even the yellow lentils are outstanding and hold their own with the red! I can't wait to return for more. I'd say this place is dangerous, but for $8, it's also a heck of a deal! read more

My family and I had the generous, tasty veggie plate, fresh food prepared with care by a lovely Ethiopian cook. Small family store, easy to miss. but stocked full with unprocessed dry beans, grains, seasonings, imported teas, small gifts and native cookware. Mainly take-out with limited sidewalk seating. read more