While Ithaca boasts an impressive range of American, European and Asian restaurants, African cuisine has been conspicuously absent from Ithaca’s food scene. Enter Hawi Ethiopian Restaurant, located at 113 S. Cayuga Street. Conveniently located on 113 S Cayuga St. right near The Commons, Hawi Ethiopian Cuisine aims to bring the traditional dishes of Ethiopia to Ithaca - and it succeeds with flying colors.
The restaurant first opened in 2015 and has been filling the stomachs of Ithaca residents ever since. As Ithaca’s first Ethiopian eatery, Hawi highlights the diversity in Ithaca that some may not have realized existed.
Authentic Flavors and Ingredients
Hawi Ethiopian Cuisine offers a very special treat in a small town like ours: Authentic Ethiopian entrees served with traditional injera. The restaurant selects its spices and ingredients to match the authentic flavors of Ethiopian cuisine. Wright described that the company offers a range of spice mixtures, including awaze, berbere and mitmita. "Wat sauce is [a] deep dark red spicy sauce,” Wright elaborated. “It's extremely rich.
The Founders
Hawi Ethiopian Restaurant is the first venture in restaurant ownership from Citra Mohammed and Gadise Degebasa, who previously worked together in an Ethiopian restaurant in New York City. For Mohammed, who has wanted to open her own restaurant since she came to the United States four years ago, Hawi is a way to introduce Ithacans to a dining experience not found elsewhere in the town.
The Unique Dining Experience
Ethiopian cuisine may be a new experience for many Ithaca-area students, as the dining customs and flavors differ greatly from many of the restaurants in downtown Ithaca. As the gracious servers tell customers, Ethiopian food has its own unique etiquette of eating with one’s hands. Ethiopian food is usually served with injera, a flat, fluffy bread, and is eaten without silverware.
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The main dish is served with a large piece of injera, a soft teff-flour-based bread laid under the meal. It’s typical for Ethiopians to consume this bread on a daily basis. A variety of spices, meat and veggies are placed on top of it. With an extra basket of injera, Ethiopians break off a piece of the bread and dip it into the steaming hot food on their plate.
This notion of sharing that Mohammed, who is Ethiopian, refers to is regarding the way meals are served in Ethiopia, and thus in this restaurant: Guests are served a large platter with injera, a spongy, sourdough flatbread, that is then topped with whatever dishes the guest orders. Food is eaten by hand, a departure from American and European dining customs.
Adding to the communal dining experience is the age-old tradition of gursha. Individuals feed the best portions of food with their hands to those seated beside them or to their loved ones, symbolizing generosity, hospitality and affection. “In Ethiopia, the tradition of Gursha is very important,” Wright said. “For couples, it is a gesture of love to feed each other. It is a very sharing [based] culture.
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Menu Options
There are plenty of choices on the menu with options for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans alike. Each food item also has a label indicating how spicy it is, ranging from mild to medium to hot, which is extremely helpful for people who do not want to eat super spicy food.
Read also: Authentic Ethiopian Cuisine
The meat combo freshly served with Tibs Wat, Yebeg Wat, Misir, Shiro and Kik comes with delicious injera to break off and dip into the meal for extra flavor.
There are options on the menu for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. The vegetable dishes, often consisting of split peas, lentils, beets, chard, potatoes and carrots, can be quite spicy. All the vegetables used in Hawi’s kitchen are unprocessed, and there is very little oil used in the food preparation, making this cuisine a healthy option. Guests also have a wide selection of beverages to choose from.
Appetizers
For appetizers, the crunchy wrap Sambusa is a great starter option, with the ability to fill the shells with lentils, chicken or beef. The creamy dipping sauce that it’s served with adds a nice kick of flavor without taking away from the succulent meat.
Main Courses
When looking at the main course, there are multiple choices that can satisfy any hungry stomach. The first option is an entree for one, with the ability to select one meat or one veggie for the main portion and two smaller portions of veggie on the side.
The veggie combo is a great option for vegans, including all seven veggies offered: Misir Wat, Yater Kik Alicha, Shiro, Keysir, Gomen, Yata Kilt Alicha and Fasolia.
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The lamb is always an excellent choice, with the Yebeg Alicha cooking lamb cubes in onion stew and the mediumly spicy Yebeg Wat providing a special hint of tomato. For chicken, the Doro Tibs is a go-to choice. The Doro Wat is also great, but it can be difficult to eat it with injera since it’s a drumstick and egg. If that sounds appetizing, make sure to ask for a fork. And for beef, the Tibs and the spicy Tibs Wat are always perfectly cooked beef cubes, with just the right amount of crunch and juicy flavor.
The veggie sides also offer terrific options for non-meat eaters, with the Misir Wat, Kik and Shiro being the best choices. But don’t overlook the Gomen: even for people who may not typically eat vegetables, the impressively cooked diced greens add a unique mix of flavor to any Ethiopian dish.
Each table gets an unlimited serving of injera and in the past, the restaurant has offered gluten-free bread if customers call in advance, although they are currently not able to serve that because of understaffing issues.
A Welcoming Atmosphere
Immediately upon stepping into the tidy seating area, locals and foodies alike are greeted with the fresh smell of spices, meat and veggies being prepared. Foote said the aroma from her Ethiopian-spiced tea made her experience at Hawi feel cozy and comfortable. "We get a good mix of students and locals,” said Leland Wright, a Hawi staff member.
Is It Pricey?
The food is admittedly on the pricier side, with the meat dishes ranging from $17.50-$19.50 a piece and the chef specials all costing $22.50. With an appetizer or drink alongside it, the money can quickly add up. So while Hawi Ethiopian Cuisine may not be affordable enough to frequent every few weeks, it’s a great place to revisit every few months.
Other Dining Options in Ithaca
Ithaca is well known for its great restaurants and bars. We are definitely a destination for foodies. There is so much variety that we can’t include all the amazing places to eat so feel free to ask our staff for recommendations if you don’t find something that interests you on this list. To walk to these restaurants, just go down the driveway and turn left. They start one block away.
- Viva Taqueria has been serving fresh Mexican food since 1995.
- Cent Dix features modern French cuisine in a small and cozy setting.
- Right next door to Cent Dix is the Italian half of this pair of restaurants, Mercato Bar and Kitchen, with dishes like Osso Buco and Fresh Fish in Parchment.
- The Ithaca Ale House is the local favorite for burgers, wings and beer.
- Thai Basil serves delicious Thai cuisine. A little bit of a walk but worth it.
