The wife and I spent our date night at Ertale. The restaurant has a warm and cozy feel that makes…read moreit easy to relax and enjoy the evening without feeling rushed. We shared Kikil (slow braised bone in lamb) and Firfir (pieces of injera soaked with seasoned sauce and beef) both dishes a definition of comfort food. What stood out just as much as the food was how genuinely welcoming everyone was. They made us feel right at home from the time we arrived until we left. Whether you're introducing someone to Ethiopian cuisine or planning a special night out, Ertale is a place. We'll definitely be back with the kiddos soon.

As an Ethiopian, I have high expectations for Ethiopian food, and Erta Ale absolutely delivered…read more The food was incredibly authentic, fresh, and full of flavor. Every meal on my plate was outstanding. Specially the Kitfo and Doro Wot. Beyond the amazing food, the hospitality and atmosphere made the experience even better. Without a doubt, one of the best Ethiopian restaurant in the St.Paul, MN. Highly recommended!

Come here every time I'm in Minneapolis!!! Love love love. Teetee is amazing! The food is so good…read moreand I dream about it!

Great Ethiopian food, and beautiful restaurant. They also have a few tables outside and a bar in…read morethe back. The service was great and friendly. Very attentive. Wish they didn't use one use plastic ramekins when we dine in. And would love if they added some Ethiopian coffee to the menu. But the rest was fantastic.

I have been to the Bole in St. Paul and the consistency between the restaurant shows just how great…read morean establishment this gem is. I came here with my sister and a friend while visiting home from where I currently live in Miami. There are no Ethiopian restaurants in Miami. None at all! And so every time I am in Minnesota, I HAVE to stop! We ordered the veggie sambusa, my sister and fried got the Ethiopian tea, which also comes with a teabag of English Breakfast on the side in case caffeine is desired, and I ordered the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Yes, ceremony. The tea is hot and filled with spices and comes in a clear glass mug. For those who have not had Ethiopian coffee before, the coffee is brewed in the same clay container with the grinds and the vessel is then poured straight into a small coffee cup. The vessel has a narrow and long spout to pour out the liquid and not the grounds. It is flavored with different aromatics that I wont even try to identify. Cardamom, maybe? cinnamon? Alongside the coffee is an incense-like natural rock that burns to provide a pleasant and accompanying aroma. The server explained the name but I cannot remember it! It was a perfect introduction to what would transpire to be a great lunch. We ordered also the lunch super vegetable combo platter, which has each of the vegetable dishes laid out on a large plate and my sister and I both got the lunch portion doro wot. The dinner version comes with 2 pieces of chicken whereas the lunch comes with the drummy alone (still plenty of meat!) My friend who has a lower tolerance for spicy food ordered the steak tibs. The tibs came out on a sizzling skillet and each doro wot in an individual dish/bowl. It was a LOT of food but we dug in greedily. The server provided two extra baskets of nijera for us in addition to what came with each dish. Tibs were tender and the smell of toasted rosemary added to the aromas from the tea and coffee ceremony Unlike a foible of some wot/Ethiopian dishes, the doro wot was well emulsified and had no layer of oil, which just highlights the care taken to properly cook the stewed chicken and blend the spices. Needless to say, there were plenty of left overs which were gone within 24 hours at home. Congratulations, West side suburbs! There is a GREAT Ethiopian restaurant in your neck of the woods! No need to haul yourself over to downtown Minneapolis or over the river to St. Paul when you have this great restaurant in your backyard!

One of the best dining experiences we had in a long time!…read moreUpon entering there, wasn't anyone at the hostess desk so we walked up to the counter and were quickly directed to the last remaining open booth in the restaurant. Our waitress came over and brought us water and menus right away. She asked if it was her first time there and we said yes, and she genuinely got excited about being able to explain the menu and the experience to us. She walked us through the options and made recommendations taking into account our an anticipated spice tolerance. We wanted to try a variety of things so opted for the half-and-half platter, which had three stews and three veggies - even though we were warned it might be a bit spicy. Based on her recommendation, we also got the rolled crispy kitfo roll appetizer. The food was delicious. Each bite had a different flavor and it was balanced well with the salads and veggies to tone down the spice when needed. Our favorites were the lamb stew and the beef stew but as we watched other items get delivered we were clearly making our list for what to try next visit. I can't understate how exceptional the service was. Our waitress was an absolute gem. She kept walked us through the menu, explained the way to eat the food with the injera and kept checking on us, even offering rice if it was too spicy. An extra bonus was we had a lovely couple next to us that had dined at the St. Paul location before and they asked us how we liked it, what our favorite was and also recommended a specific drink for our next visit. The food was great but the service and environment made it stellar. We will absolutely be back...hopefully soon!

This is a nice family owned place, food always comes out hot and fresh but it certainly takes a…read morewhile so cut out at least 90 minutes for your visit. We got the Meat Combo Plater which had 4 different dishes included, all very tasty (see photo for description)! But I was left wanting a little more spice/heat. The menu say this player would feed 2 but I have a smaller appetite so I think it could easily feed 3 or 4. Also when you're ready to pay, you go up to the counter and wait for a person to appear to ring you up (which can be confusing if you've never been there before).

I hate to write this review but the glowing reviews made us drive 20 minutes out of our way to try…read morethis place. Very much not worth it. The food is ok. We had a beef dish and a lamb dish. Both were so greasy it was difficult to wrangle. This was Made doubly difficult by the real problem. We were dining at 6pm on a Sunday evening. No one else was in the restaurant but for some reason we still had terrible service. We got 1 glass of water each, 1 bottled beverage and then were completely ignored. To the point we weren't given any silverware with our entrees. A spoon would have made things easier but really probably not that much better. Yes I know how to eat Ethiopian food and I understand the traditional presentation of serving the food on the bubble bread. Both of our dishes were served in bowls and the grease problem made it difficult to grasp with the bread. This was maybe my least favorite rendition of the bread I've had as well. It was very moist like very very moist and made the whole experience lack luster. It's clearly a family establishment and the kids are nice but they are not servers. All of this might have been ok but for what we got the food was also quite expensive. We've done Ethiopian many times and often seek it out when traveling. This place wasn't it. The restaurant it's self is ok if old and fairly dirty. But the neighborhood is a little off the beaten path. Exactly the hole in the wall kind of place where I'd the food is amazing and the service is great you could expect The kind of reviews we saw. I don't know if this place used to be good or maybe we were just here on an off night but if your traveling and looking for a great place in msp this has potential to disappoint.

Very diverse food selection. Was generous portion size for what you got. The Ethiopian food was…read morefantastic. Would go again and try more!

Ordered take out from Mesob a few nights ago. Was only in…read morethe restaurant for a few minutes to pick up my order, but the smells were so amazing. You walk in the door and immediately mouth watering. The decor is also cute. Lots of fun art and images on the walls. The food itself is so good. I always love samplers at Ethiopian restaurants, so I can try a bit of a few different things. Mesob's Veggie Sampler was fantastic. 8 different veggie dishes to try and loads of injera to eat it with. My favorite was the shira (not shockingly), but all of the dishes were good and a very good mix. The sampler also lasted me about 4 meals! Very good bang for your buck!

First time here with fellow yelper Rhonda. I've had Ethiopian food at my clients' homes and it is…read moreso yummy. I ordered the vegetarian sampler that included lentils, beets, collard greens, cabbage with carrot and 2 other vegetarian items with injera bread. Also a vegetarian sambusa, as they were out of beef. What gives this a 4 star review is the service. The owner's wife I presume was also the cook and server. Warm water was served, so we asked for ice. I can't scoop the food into the injera properly, so I needed a fork. We needed more napkins. I needed a refill of water and she was sitting by kitchen. Also no asking how the food is. We needed to ask for checks and boxes. I also needed a knife to trim injera bread. As we were leaving, I assume the other owner, her husband asked how things were and was friendly. The sambusa needed a dipping sauce of some kind, but I just put beets on top. I like Ethiopian food and my clients that are Ethiopian are super friendly, but I have no desire to return.

I met Yelper pal Michelle A. and we tend to try things in Eagan Burnsville and AV. They don't have…read morezil zil tibs but I got tibs. They were super tender with a crunch on the outside. Loaded with onions which I love. But since there were no rosemary sprigs there was a lack of flavor. I got a side salad, dressing could have used more flavor. They serve tepid water so it will need ice. It's a place where you will be aware of being in a strip mall. Service was seriously lacking. The owner came in when we were finishing up and he was really friendly. My curiosity has been satisfied.

I like Ethiopian food. I've gone to most of the restaurants in town this was our first time here…read moresnd the food was particularly good.

I really wanted to like this place. Ethiopian is my favorite kind of food. I ordered the veggie…read morecombo to go, listed on the menu for $19.99. When my box of food came out, I went to pay and was charged $27 for the dish. Surprised, as she had said nothing to me when I ordered, the response was unapologetic: "the price has gone up ". When I got home and opened the box of food, there were just four dishes: three types of lentils and one of split peas, instead of the usual 6+ salad in an Ethiopian veggie combo.

Who doesn't love a restaurant that makes their own injera? Ummm, I was delighted that they have…read moreinjera here that is gluten free and you can buy a pack of 10 full size pieces (unlike other places when they say a piece that is NOT a full size piece) for under $15. You might say that's expensive, but it is a steal of a deal and absolutely worth it. The flavor profile was rich and well developed/ fermented. The texture was lovely and the thickness was on point. Ok, so my sister and I also loved this because we ordered a vegetarian combination for 2 people via delivery. Boy oh boy was my fat stomach super happy and my pieplate sized eyes overjoyed when the takeout/delivery container for the 2-person veg combination was a huge aluminum buffet style container that legitimately weighed at least 5 pounds with the 3 pieces of injera in addition to our other on the side 10-pack of gluten free injera. It was insane. So, folks, when people say this is a good deal for your money, that is an understatement. We two folks love Ethiopian food, and we could not finish it at all. The servings were deliciously generous for every one of the veggie dishes. There was the traditional salad that was made with spring greens mix, not just iceberg- very nice. There was also a raw cabbage salad, which I adored. There were all the other traditional dishes like green lentils, kik alicha, gomen, tikil gomen, misir wot, shiro wot, beets and fossolia. A nice addition to round out the 11 items was dinich wot, a lovely potato dish with pieces roughly the size of one-sixth of a potato cooked to tender and gently spiced perfection. We both loved the green beans dish, I loved the gomen and cabbage dishes, and my sister loved the shiro wot. All the flavors were fresh and balanced, with nothing being overly salted or greasy. It actually felt much healthier than some other places that overcook, over-salt and over-oil the dishes. This buffet dish could easily have fed 3 hungry people and 4 normal people (sorry, I do not have a normal appetite for Ethiopian food, I am a glutton for it!!). The food was prepared faster than expected and even with delivery, it was piping hot. Loved this Ethiopian restaurant for the freshness and healthful dishes in the vegan combination that was extremely generous in portion, sure flavorful and complemented by the best gluten-free injera I've ever had. I am sad I do not live next door or even in the same state, even though MN is a very large state... So good!!!!!! Dreaming of when I could go back....

Katar River Ethiopian Restaurant is a true hidden gem tucked away in a quiet corner of town--and it…read moredeserves every bit of praise. From the moment we stepped through the grocery store door, we knew we were in for something special. After walking through the grocery Store, the warm, inviting décor set the stage, but it was the food that stole the show. We began with the combination sampler platter, a colorful array of perfectly seasoned lentil stews, sautéed greens, and creamy split-pea dishes, each piled atop soft, fresh injera. Every bite was bursting with spice flavor. Next came the Doro Wat, rich and tomato-forward, with tender chicken simmers in a luscious red sauce that left us scraping the plate for every last morsel. We also tried the beef tibs, seared to order and tossed with fragrant garlic, fresh jalapeño, and just the right pinch of rosemary. What really elevated the meal, though, was the service. Our server Isaac was patient, kind, and deeply knowledgeable about the menu. When we hesitated over which combo to choose, he guided us toward the perfect balance of mild and spicy dishes--and he was spot on. It felt less like ordering off a menu and more like discovering family recipes. If you're craving authentic Ethiopian cuisine--fresh, artfully seasoned, and cooked exactly to your taste--make a beeline for Katar River. Whether you're a longtime fan or brand-new to these vibrant flavors, this restaurant is not to be missed. Highly recommended!