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    Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant

    4.1 (619 reviews)
    Closed 10:30 am - 10:00 pm

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    MUDAI ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Classy
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant

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    Meat and veggie combo platter, with additional beef derek tibs in the SE section of the plate
    Veronica C.

    While I may not be the best judge of ethiopian food, wow! This place was delicious! Parking was easy to find on a Saturday late lunch. We ordered a meat combo, a veggie combo, and an additional beef derek tibs, all served in a large platter, and a bottle of the Tej. The four of us easily demolished the plate, and ordered an extra plate of injera to sop up all the remaining sauces and flavors. My favorite was probably the derek tibs and the curried potato/cabbage, but every dish had excellent flavor. The atmosphere was nice and homely. I'd say the loudest thing was when they were making coffee/steaming the milk. With a sleeping baby, I was a little wary, but we survived with minimal tears. Service was pleasant, and it seemed there may have only been one server. While they did check in on us twice, we did have to flag them down for the check. Although, it was also nice they didn't want to rush us.

    Veggie V10. Vegetarian Combo, L3. Lamb Wot, beef tibs
    Aswad K.

    After going to bigger more famous places, we discovered this gem! If you want to avoid waiting, tight spaces at those bigger joints I highly recommend this place! It's on the other side of the highway amongst car shops. Highly recommend the traditional seating on the left as you enter. Will be returning for traditional coffee sometime during the day. Now lets talk food- We got vegetarian combo with beef key tibs and lamb wot. This lets you have whole experience of complete meal with veggies and meats. This would be enough for ~3-4 adults. Order extra injera. Veggies were well flavored- cabbage (Alicha Atkilt) was simple but delicious, mild chickpeas were delicious too. Miser was the best!- well flavored spicy, garlicky and has good amount of spiced butter. Gomen (collard greens) were perfect juicy,buttery and just enough spiced. Now the meat- lamb and beef were both well cooked, tender, juicy and well spiced. Loved it! One minor complaint- the injera had lots of wheat. I completely understand that teff is expensive but please offer teff only (major ingredient) injera may be at a higher price. I am sure people will be glad to pay extra for teff injera ( definitely gluten-free enthusiasts). But definitely will be back here! Extremely welcoming, they have a full bar.

    V10. Vegetarian Combo
    Fran V.

    We were going to try Gojo but it was closed so Mudai was close by. The dining area was unfussy and clean. The seating was all regular tables and a small bar except one area where you can sit on small stools and low table. The young lady who served us was quiet but polite. We shared a vegetarian combo and a sambussa each and even tried the honey wine. All part of the experience! I'm not well versed on this cuisine but I enjoyed the lentil dish and the injera. Not a big fan of the collard greens but I don't really care for them to begin with. If I was craving Ethiopian I would probably go back.

    Lovely combination dish
    Fran L.

    Excellent Ethiopia Foods served hot, spicy and perfectly delicious with reasonably priced and fast service next to the best, new Marriott Town Place. It's a great way to get introduced to the authentic Ethiopian cuisine. It's rare to find a clean, inviting and delicious ethnic food in a new town. We really enjoyed this small restaurant with a new type of food that we have never tried before. For $15 -$22 the food was exceptional and savory. We recommend spicy beef. The gluten cake was something new and strange but with meat on it, was palatable. We enjoyed it very much.

    Front
    Phong T.

    Mudai was a recommendation, and it did not disappoint! The restaurant is located off San Carlos, near downtown San Jose. It's in a more quaint part of town. The service was welcoming and attentive. There was only one server but it wasn't too busy considering it was a Saturday evening. There was only one other party dining when we arrived. However, we were there for the food! The food was delicious! We were so happy that everything was well-seasoned and the portions were abundant. We ordered the Veggie Platter and Beef Kay Tibs, both of which came with injera. The red sauce that accompanied the beef tibs was incredibly tasty--it's the best red sauce we've found in the South Bay!

    B2. Special Kitfo YUM

    One of my favorite spots! The food is always delicious and the portions are generous. Love that they serve gluten free injera. The servers are quick and always super friendly. The restaurant is super relaxed and I always enjoy taking time to sit and read or chat with my friends for a while after my meal. I cannot recommend this place enough.

    Malathy A.

    My friend and I had been meaning to try this Ethiopian spot after driving past it once but not being able to stop since there wasn't a parking spot available. We'd ordered in from here before and really enjoyed it, so we finally decided to check it out in person and we were not disappointed! The flavors were incredibly authentic, and the meat was so tender. We tried both the chicken and beef dishes, along with our all-time favorite: the lentils. Everything we ordered was absolutely delicious, honestly, the whole menu looked very tempting. The place is a bit tucked away from downtown, which we actually liked. It's spacious with plenty of seating, and they even have a bar. While there was a bit of a wait for the food, it was totally worth it. The service was friendly and attentive, we asked for rice, that they didn't have and were very polite and apologetic about it. The injera was soft and perfectly tangy, so good, we ordered an extra round just to soak up all those rich, flavorful curries. We left full and super satisfied. So glad we made here, it was the nice Ethiopian dinner experience!

    Interior
    Angela G.

    We drove to San Jose from Fairfield as we had a baby shower to attend. We pre-planned to eat here after looking at the reviews of other ethiopian restaurants...and we were specifically looking for a place that served gored gored. The location is not far from downtown. There is no parking directly in front. But we found a spot not too far away. There was a parking lot behind the building but it said "no parking" so I assumed that we could not park there. The interior of the restaurant is large and open. There is a space to the left thst could hold a larger party. They also have a bar area. Everyone who we made eye contact with, greeted us warmly. There were no other patrons in the restaurant other than my daughter and I. The other people there appeared to be friends and or family as they all sat in the larger area with the owner, watching the football game. We ordered gored gored and the veggie combo!!! Absolutely delicious. We also got the berebere and a hit sauce on the side. It was so good with the perfect amount of heat. The owner said it was too spicy for him, but it was perfect for us. We like spicy. I would definitely come next time I am in the area

    Kathleen W.

    We got the party platter where you could get 2 veggies and 2 meats. As a group of 4, we picked out the shrimp and lamb. The food was delicious and fresh. Another friend got the veggie sandwich and sambussa and thoroughly enjoyed it. We all raved about the freshness and quality of the food.

    Inside
    Daisy S.

    Mudai is located in midtown on San Carlos St. It's easy to miss when driving down the street. They have a dirt parking lot in the back. Street parking is very limited in the area plus there was construction when I visited. The staff were friendly and very attentive. They have the classic Ethiopian food offerings. The price point is competitive to the other local Ethiopian restaurants in the area. We ordered the vegetarian combo platter which comes with 4 dishes, their traditional salad, and of course lots of delicious injera. Their injera is probably one of my top favorites! It tasted super fresh and was soft and bouncy. Unfortunately, the food wasn't warm :/. It almost felt like some of the food was just taken out of the refrigerator. The spice level is more on the mild side, which I didn't mind but my boyfriend didn't get the spicy kick he was craving. Overall, good tasting food and I would return.

    Chicken and vegetables! Yum!
    John C.

    Went to Mudai last Saturday night with my two teenagers who never had Ethiopian food before. The server was very nice and the ambiance was very welcoming. Many of the regulars can tell this was our first time and gave us all a smile. Fairly busy with only one server, the food took a little while but once it came out, it looked and tasted delicious. We had a lot of fun eating with no utensils. Although the water was cold, it would be nice to have it served with ice. Overall, a great experience. We will definitely return! Looking forward to trying the sambussas and lamb next time!

    Elisa T.

    Such a great place to try some Ethiopian food for the first time. The people here helped me picked out what to get since i've never had it, they helped me even show me how to eat it properly. Amazing place with great scenery heavily recommended. Go try something new and local!!!

    Meat Combo and Alicha Atkilt

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    21 days ago

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    9 days ago

    I liked it! There were really good portions and the food was hearty and flavorful! Inside it was very clean which is important.

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    2 years ago

    If you have been a patron there in the last 7-10 years just know they are under new management and the food tastes complete different.

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    Page 1 of 16

    Ask the Community - Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant

    Hi, saw a question with a reply noting new owners, when did this go into effect?

    A year and half back

    Hello All, I got a groupon coupon dinner for two people.Did anyone got the same and Can someone tell me what options we can choose or what options will be provided?Thanks in advance. I appreciate your response !!

    We used a groupon not too long ago. The entire menu was available to choose from.

    How come mudai restaurant website is not a website, but a for sale offer for the website? I'm not familar with item names so it would help if mudai would update or not even offer info on www, groupon, living social or Yelp.

    Mudai has a new owner. You can Wikipedia or Google most of the dishes.

    View All 7 Questions

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    Day Visited: Monday @ 2 PM Price Range: $$…read moreParking: Free parking lot (fills up!) Ordered: Dark Iced Chocolate Mocha and Nitro Cold Brew Bathroom: Yes WiFi: Yes This was our second time visiting and while we went into it with high expectations because of how much we enjoyed our visit (2 years ago), we did notice a dip in customer service and beverage quality. The espresso shot used in the iced mocha was not fully dialed to hit that balanced note that we are used to. The cold brew tasted more muddy than the previous time. Overall, the customer service seemed more like us inconveniencing the team, as opposed to being welcomed into the space. We noticed after we ordered our drinks, a line formed, and no one was available to take orders for customers due to behind the counter conversations that seemed more important than serving customers. There were two gentlemen who had been there approximately 10 minutes before us, and went to the pick up station three times to see if their orders were ready (multiple customers got their coffee and tea drinks before them). A quick note on the customer service - as someone who worked in food service for a number of years, I could empathize with teams that deal with high volume of customers. However, what separates good from great customer service is the ability to communicate with your customer when times are busy, as opposed to ignoring them. There are seated areas but fill up quickly, and they do have an outdoor space to hangout as well. If I'm in the plaza area and need a coffee, after this experience, we would debate before going.

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    Mudai Ethiopian Restaurant - ethiopian - Updated September 2026

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