I really enjoyed the tibs, dulet, and firfir with my family. My kids loved Zeni--she provides the absolute best customer service!

This spot is located on Fenton off the main row of Ethiopian restaurants on Georgia Ave. One of a relative's favorite spots so our first time. We met for lunch on a Sunday. We loved the coffee prep area where the Etan (traditional burning incense) scent fills the air and you can view the Buna (coffee) being made. Complimentary Ethiopian Bread delivered personally from table to table was also a nice touch. We ordered Special Kitfo which includes the cheese (Ayeb) side, Shint (filet) Tibs and veggie combo. We had 4 in our party so just right portions. Tibs was tender and seasoned perfectly as well Kitfo. The Veggie combo was delicious. We ended our meal with the freshly made Coffee. Black and No milk please. So good. Service was exceptional! Our server took great care of us. The owner arrived and immediately started to visit tables greeting customers and offering more complimentary bread. We felt like we were visiting family, friends. From the market, we picked up a freshly baked loaf of bread as well Injera from Ethiopia. Our only regret is not discovering Zene's earlier. Serving up exceptional food with above and beyond service-not to be missed! read more

See all

This place is so welcoming! They make you feel at home as soon as you walk in the door. The owner, Zene greets you and offers homemade bread! The smell of the coffee is so inviting! My friend saw them on IG and I added it to my list. I figured they must be new because surely I've heard of all the Ethiopian spots in downtown Silver Spring! Wrong! There's just that many! We had lunch here this past weekend. My friend got some vegan options. I got the awaze tibs - they warned me it would be spicy. It was perfect and to my liking. If you can't handle heat, then stay away from that one. It was an adequate amount of meat. I ended up needing extra injera and they were so nice in getting more for the table. This place is unique in that it's not jut a restaurant. It's a market with food items and clothing. I love that! My friend ended up getting some injera to go! They could do better with the signage as the name isn't clearly seen from the street but maybe that was by design! If you know, you know! I would definitely come here again! read more

See all

Should be six stars, they went above and beyond for our special day! The food was so good!

So delicious and everyone was so helpful!! I was doing a happy dance in here. It seems like the neighborhood spot and my boyfriend loved watching soccer here read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Soooo delicious! And everyone was so sweet and accommodating - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

Zene's Ethiopian Restaurant offers a festive family atmosphere and some of the best food in the DMV. The food is served quickly and pipping hot and is always flavorful and tasty, with virtually everything on the menu being a solid recommendation! For those fasting for Advent season and or at other times, the Veggie and Super Veggie platters are simply incredible. Recently I had bites from both the super veggie platter and the Shinte Tibs and let me just say I will be back later this week! My meal was rounded out by two cups of fresh Jebena coffee which left me fulfilled. Zene's is definitely a must for those who love Ethiopian food or who are looking for an authentic culinary experience serveserved with love! read more

See all

Monday May 26 was wonderful weekend . Me and my best friends went to Zene's restaurant downtown silver spring Md . It was not busy day but me and my friend got nice spot the corner of the window. My friends like Ethiopian food a lot so we ordered Ethiopian dish "beyanetu "vegetable and" lega" tebes so we were waiting 30 minutes Jesus .finally the order came on the table it was fine . Guess what happened the waitress never come back about 10 min or more . Really they need to improve customer service . Imagine if they more customers in this place the food will come tomorrow. Also we ordered drink wow we just begging the waitress to bring more drinks.finally l found out why the waitress doesn't care about customers . If she give good service or not she already got18%service charge on the bills . That is bad. Just look at ur bills read more

Delicious food, gracious staff, and a fabulous scene. I ate at Zene's yesterday and enjoyed a delicious ribeye platter. The food was fresh, the meat was perfectly cooked, and the general setting was relaxed yet lively. Ms. Zene personally visited my table and even gave me a free coffee! FYI, Ms. Zene's mother was roasting fresh coffee right there in the establishment! It was one of the best tasting coffees I have ever had. read more

The owner, Zene is a wonderful person and her food is equally as great! I moved downtown a couple of months ago and I made a comment to the waitress that this is the best Ethiopian food I've found in DTSS. Before I knew it, I was chatting with the owner and just had an all-around great experience. I ordered the 50/50, which came with Derek Tibs and Kitfo. I loved the way the kitfo was seasoned and the tibs were made using high quality beef, not cheap, gristly beef. Zene's is a must stop if you're ever in the area and want amazing Ethiopian food. read more

Want an authentic Ethiopian food with a southern hospitality then you are at the right place. Love coming here and feeling like I'm going to my aunts house to have dinner or lunch. Love it here read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Home - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

My favorite!!!!!!!! The Goden is the special. Also Artale is my favorite hangover food. The owner is ALWAYS super nice read more

We walked in and were seated at this beautiful table. The manager greeted us and was so kind. She gave us Ethiopian bread for free. We ordered a big plate of food and it was so good! We enjoyed the food and our plate was enough for all three of us. We would come back again! Thank you read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

They charged me extra money by changing the tip % what I signed for them so, that means they stealing the customer money & That's so rude & criminal ! read more

Food is great. We ordered the goden tibs and lamb tibs and both were great!. The service is amazing! I recommend the place.

Their food is SOOOOOO good. I had it once earlier this year with a friend and couldn't remember the name of the restaurant so when I tried to go back I went to the wrong place. Recently I rediscovered the name and ordered takeout and it's literally the best Ethiopian food I've ever had. I got the Lamb Tibs, Spicy Lentils and Collard Greens. read more

an immigrant watering hole. If you're looking for a slow introduction to Ethiopian food this may not be your spot (absent minded service, dimly lit, the strong whif of frankincense) but for the initiated this place is a solid food spot with the ambient noise and aesthetic of home. My group got goden tibs, hollande (collard greens and beef) and kitfo special (steak tartar with homemade ricotta like cheese accompanied by a slice of kocho a Southern Ethiopian dry bread. Portions were generous and delicious. Space is cluttered and has a refurbished lounge feel which is starkly adjoined by the market side of the shop. read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Gomen hollande, goden tibs, and kitfo - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

I ordered food for a pick, unfortunately when I arrived, they handed over my order to another person & I left. I found this act simply unprofessional. read more

This restaurant is Amazing!!!! 1st of all everything is covid 19 proof so you won't have to worry about a thing ! Their service is A+ very sweet, kind and knowledgeable. The food is beyond delicious I could've ate 2 more plates lol. My parent enjoyed everything as well. I Will definitely return without a doubt. read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Special kitfo and Goden tibs - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

If you want good Ethiopian food, eat at Zene's! We ordered the special kitfo and veggie combo and it was delicious! The inside is spacious with a nice ambiance created by the Ethiopian music and traditional coffee serving area. The restaurant owner is very friendly and attentive, however we were disappointed with the service (slow and inattentive). read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Special kitfo and veggie combo - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

Zene's restaurant has very tasty and authentic Ethiopian dishes. The portions are generous and the service is courteous and friendly. A special area exists for the coffee ceremony, which serves strong freshly brewed coffee. Zene is very positive individual and even joined us during the coffee ceremony. A convenient Ethiopian Market is next door. This restaurant, market and coffee house is one of my favorite places to enjoy a good meal in the D.C. area. I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. read more

What a beautiful experience. The moment you walk in you smell the beautiful incense burning. The injera was delicious! The owner is so beautiful walking around every table and passing out delicious bread. Then they roasted fresh coffee and walked around for everyone to smell the coffee, and then brewed fresh coffee with it that was unlike any other coffee I've tasted. Overall had a great authentic experience and I would love to go back again. read more

Highly Not recommend. They sold us a rotten, fetid and sodden meat. After we figured that meat was horrible, we went back and let the guy (the clerk) know it's not good so we would like to return it. He goes then u couldn't return it, After few arguments he returned it but he didn't gave what we've paid. Isn't that embarrassing. Long story short they are not responsible, very des respectful and that was the second time actually we was des appointed. Avoid this place at any cost. read more

Decided to try this new place as we had tried the other Ethiopian establishments around S Spring. Was pleasantly surprised as the food was exceptional. It was an interesting environment but felt like you were back in Ethiopia. The service was very hospitable and the owner went out of her way to make sure we enjoyed our meal and brought another order on the house. This small token went a long way and was truly appreciated. Deffinately will come back! Keep up the good work read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Inside the market restaurant - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

I brought my friends to eat the so called "Banatu" on Monday, but I was very disappointed and ashamed by what they did! "Banatu" is supposed to be an equal portion combo of "tibs","tibs firfir" and "Kitfo", but what we ate, 95% of it was tibs firfir; they were trying to play smart and covered the tibs firfir with an extremely low amount of kitfo & tibs and ayib: just so we see them. People do good while they build their reputation, but after, they try to play smart on their customers, which is very disappointing!! I will never come to this place again and never recommend anyone! I hope this would be a lesson to Zeni! read more

Honestly the best Ethiopian food I ever have! The service is fantastic and everything is kept clean. Will definitely come here more often! read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - a plate of food - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

Loved going to this place! It's a very Covid-19 safe restaurant . They follow proper social distancing measures. The food was great too along with great service. Definitely would recommend!! read more

Zene's Deli & World Market - Tire siga - Ethiopian Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

See all

The first time we visited, I was impressed with the service and the kindness of the people, especially the owner, who came over to be sure we felt welcome and gave us a small slice of a homemade cake. Ambiance was a mix of the homey and the creative, clearly popular with local Ethiopians. The food was good but not great, but definitely good enough for a second visit. On the second visit, the food was absolutely excellent--one of the best Ethiopian meals I've ever had (and there have been many, as it's one of my favorite cuisines). Kudos to the chef! Can't wait to go back. This restaurant deserves to do well. read more

Zena's deli & world market has the best Ethiopian food and their customer service is exceptionally great too. Zene is always there to make sure her customs are satisfied. Wether it's injera or any Ethiopian spices you can find it here too. Never disappointed. read more

This place is amazing! The workers were very welcoming. The food was great and came in a timely manner. Definitely will come to eat here again!! read more

This was one of the worst places I've ever been to. The food was horrible, service dismal and the place was extremely dirty. I do not recommend. read more

I love love this place! I went for New Years with my family! Great atmosphere! The owner was so beautiful and she greeted us with a warm smile. Hiwot was our server and she did amazing! She was so kind and professional. I admire that. I would recommend it. Oooo the food was amazing ! read more

We were occasional visitors of this place and they had a good meal but today's experience is horrible. We ordered Tibs for dinner and the Tibs was hard to bite and not we ordered. What is worst is it had some spaghetti in it which we didn't order at all, we were surprised how it come like that? We informed the waiters about that and she took the order, no one apologized for that and we were charged. No apologies, no effort to correct it. We have no choice but to pay and leave. I will not go again. read more

This is an under the radar Ethiopian spot. The inside is huge, with a side market. It seems like many Ethiopians choose this place for food, which is always a good sign. The ful breakfast is awesome, as is the vegetarian platter we had. Very good ethiopian coffee which tasted like maybe there was some clove or nutmeg in there. Overall extremely friendly staff too. The whole time we were there, there was a steady stream of Ethiopians coming in to pick up food. I would give this place a nod over some of the trendier places nearby. read more

The food at Zene's was great, and the ambience seems rather authentic, too...as if if you are actually in another country! The hosts are also very friendly, too. We had the combo dishes. I highly recommend them! read more

If you're in downtown silver spring, GO HERE!!!! I love Ethiopian food and this was one of the best. Order the veggie combo and zelzel tibs with a glass of Tej honey wine. Your stomach and mouth will be smiling. SO GOOD!! Amazing amazing amazing read more

Great food. Really authentic but the music is so loud. People go to eat and socialize. You pretty much have to scream across the table in order to speak to the people in your party. read more

I don't recommend this place for the food or atmosphere.Poor sanitation . Bad customer service .The menu price is totally different form the receipt price . The owner Zene comes to the table with a master piece fake smile . If you have a problem or a suggestion or comment she will never fix it for example the bathroom was very very dirty and we stayed there for about an hour and a half she never addressed someone to clean the bathroom. The fried fish has no flavor at all . The vegi Combo for $24 they give you 1 teaspoon of veggies with one piece of enjra . The Kitfo has so much fat and lost of unwanted meat . They're always overcharging us when we go there I don't know if it's the mistake or if they're doing it on purpose. Also they have different pricing for different customers. Lots of favoritism. read more

I have never been to an Ethiopian restaurant like this! It was at capacity so that meant we were about to eat the best food. The proof was in the amount of people eating! I was visiting some friends and they invited me here for dinner one night. I was skeptical cause it looks sketch from the outside, but I walked in and my jaw dropped. I literally felt like I was in Ethiopia. I am super critical of the way restaurants cook meat. A lot of Ethiopian restaurants tend to over cook it, making it hard to enjoy. This place knows their meat and knows how to cook it so that it is perfect-not raw and not burnt!! We had Goden tibs and another type of tibs, but I didn't catch the name. It was really very good! This is a must go restaurant! read more

We Deaf pay for food with tip $10 but they don't accept that tip. They Tell us should pay tip $38. We were so shocked. We were no to understand why that's. We think they try making us foolish to pay tip much. We don't want to argue with them. So we pay tip $40. We were really unhappy about that happening. They must have access for deaf and they must give good way to serve to deaf. But They didn't. So sad. They were no respect to us deaf. We have never seen before same happening read more

Bad products and even worse service. My wife bought some bread from them on 11/20 for $4...probably the worst Ethiopian bread we ever tried. We dumped it as quickly as we could. The kicker was that when we got the digital receipt, we saw that they had taken the liberty of adding another $4 as 'tip'. Tried reaching out to them for days on end...'VM is full' message on the phone listed as a business number...if that is not a bad sign I don't know what. After three days of calling, I got someone who claimed to be a clerk and all she did was punt and delay with no sense of accountability. Early last week my wife talked to the 'owner' who promised to call back and never did...and since then back to, "VM is full' message. I finally disputed the charge with my credit card company and will get my money back. Run away from this 'business' with all your might. There are more deserving Ethiopian stores withing walking distance that would love to earn your hard earned money. read more