Washington, DC has become a culinary destination. Ethiopian food is an integral part of D.C.’s restaurant scene. Initially rooted around “Little Ethiopia” at the intersection of Ninth and U Streets NW, the region’s expansive Ethiopian community continues to spread out to parts of Northern Virginia and Maryland. Discover flavors, festivities and other fun ways to celebrate cherry blossom season in the District. The District of Dining can please any palate, especially those looking for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options at the city’s restaurants.
Little Ethiopia is the unofficial name for a section of the Shaw area of DC on 9th Street between T and U streets. The area was known for its African-American community, but since the 1968 riots the African-American population has slowly declined and the area has since become a magnet for Ethiopian businesses, which have revitalized the streets. In fact Washington, DC has the largest population of Ethiopians outside the country itself. Hundreds of businesses can be found in this small area. A separate Ethiopian phone book is even published to keep track of it all.
The 19th century neighborhood houses some of the area's very best and most authentic Ethiopian restaurants. All of the restaurants were built and maintained through hard work and perseverance that resonates the pride of a people that have faced adversity yet managed to succeed. The Little Ethiopia area is definitely a must-see part of DC. It's a tourist attraction in itself. You walk through the streets and you are immediately transported to Ethiopia. The promise of colorful and flavorful food welcomes you in and music keeps you there longer than you would expect.
The Little Ethiopia Food Tour will take you through historic U Street to 9th street as we visit the heart of the world’s largest Ethiopian community outside of Ethiopia. The Little Ethiopia Food Tour was specially designed for the adventurous eater. Some of the restaurants we visit are ‘hole in the wall’ spots, that focus on the quality and authenticity of the food, rather than the particular ambience of the restaurant. We will traverse through the center of Ethiopian life in Washington DC, located in the heart of the historic U Street and Shaw Neighborhoods. Please list any food allergies/restrictions.
Our Ethnic Food Tours focus less on the history of a particular neighborhood. After the Food Tour, you will have a greater understanding of the friendly and hardworking people, their food, and their cultural hub. Enough food is served that most participants will not need dinner after the tour.
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How much: $56 per adult ticket (plus a ticketing fee).
What is included: Food and drinks served to you are included in the tour price.
How to Eat: Ethiopian cuisine is hands-on
A Taste of Ethiopia: Must-Try Dishes
It seems Ethiopian food has been on the pulse of the culinary world for quite some time. Just witness a recent episode of Top Chef where the contestants cook Ethiopian food for chef Marcus Sameulsson. I've always wanted to try Ethiopian food and I know New York has a good selection of Ethiopian restaurants, but somehow I was always scared of the fact that Ethiopian food requires you to eat with your hands. No utensils are used. Many cultures eat food in this way. So it's not as unusual as you would think.
Ethiopian food uses a spongy pancake-looking bread made from fermented teff flour called injera as its main utensil. You rip a piece of it and scoop up a mouthful of food. D.C.’s iconic Ethiopian mainstays like Beteseb and Habesha continue to set the standard with classic dishes like beef tibs, doro wot, and soft, stretchy, and sour injera.
Here are some dishes to try:
- Doro Wot: It's a very flavorful stew of chicken and hard-boiled eggs and it uses the traditional spice mix berbere.
- Kitfo: Minced beef flavored with spices. The raw version tasted much like steak tartare but spicier.
- Vegetarian dishes: Split pea and bean stews, potatoes, collards, beet and tomato salads, and the cottage-like cheese called lab.
- Lamb tibs: Chunks of sauteed lamb.
- Kinche: Cracked wheat.
- Foul: Broad bean stew with scrambled egg and yogurt.
- Tripa: A stew of tripe and tongue.
Some of us also tried the honey wine called tej. The honey color and sweet floral taste totally reminded me of the Hungarian dessert wine Tokaj. Our bread accompaniments were both injera and ambasha, a brioche or challah-like bread shaped like a large wheel.
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Featured Restaurants in Little Ethiopia
Our group of writers/bloggers was treated to a tour of Little Ethiopia by DC Metro Food Tours, which offers all types of food walking tours of DC. Our first stop was Zenebech Injera, a restaurant and injera supplier. Zenebech, the woman who owns and runs the restaurant, makes injera for most of DC's Ethiopian restaurants. She also cooks the authentic Ethiopian food. After watching Zenebech make injera on crepe-like griddles, we sat down to a large feast of Ethiopian specialties. For now, we say goodbye to now-closed Zenebech.
Our tour continued on to Habesha Market and Carry-Out, where we enjoyed some traditional Ethiopian breakfast foods. The market sells injera made by Zenebech as well as spice mixes, teas, beans, legumes, grains, and of course food to eat-in or take-out. I liked them all but was most pleased with the foul, pronounced fool. The beans were so creamy and flavorful that I could have eaten the whole bowl. I went back to it again and again. Most of the group avoided the tripe and tongue stew for the obvious reasons. Its sauce was spicy and flavorful, but I've never really had either tripe or tongue, so I tried a small bite. Let me just say the textures of both are very spongy. I think I won' be eating it too soon. The kinche reminded me of bulgur in a Middle Eastern tabbouleh, but this dish tasted a lot more like Moroccan couscous.
The tour couldn't have ended on a better note than with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony at Little Ethiopia restaurant. Located in the ground level of a town house, the restaurant is decorated just like an Ethiopian home with walls hung with paintings and crafts and traditional tables and chairs. It's as close to how an Ethiopian home would look like in Ethiopia. As we arrived we could see and smell the roasting of the coffee beans. A hostess slowly toasted the beans in a shallow pan set over a burner, using a wire to toss the beans. The beans gradually turned darker and darker until they were ebony. Meanwhile we were treated to a customary hand-washing as one of the hostesses came by with a kettle of warm water, bowl, and towels. The proprietor, Tutu Belay, treated us to her lentil sambusas, which tasted just like Indian samosas. As we eagerly awaited our coffees, I couldn't help but wonder what it would taste like. The coffee turned out to be a dark, rich liquor and tasted no different from a good espresso except for a slight sour note. I tasted it black first and then added sugar and a spoonful of dry milk, which is the traditional way of drinking it. Afterward we toured Tutu's gift shop above the restaurants and met her musician husband, Yehune, who performs in the restaurant on Friday nights.
Other notable Ethiopian Restaurants in D.C.
Dining Out in DCThe Best Ethiopian Restaurants Around D.C., According to Eater EditorsWhere to feast on spicy stews, lentils, and spongy injeraUpdated May 14, 2025, 6:28 PM UTCEthiopian food is an integral part of D.C.’s restaurant scene. Initially rooted around “Little Ethiopia” at the intersection of Ninth and U Streets NW, the region’s expansive Ethiopian community continues to spread out to parts of Northern Virginia and Maryland. Silver Spring hosts the D.C. area’s biggest Ethiopian cultural festival once a year.
Shaw standout Chercher is on an expansion tear as of late, with additional openings in Bethesda and Columbia Heights. Options for Ethiopian food only continue to grow and improve with time. This month, acclaimed chef Elias Taddesse unveiled a permanent Shaw home for his berbere-spiced chicken (Doro Soul Food) and burgers remixed with Ethiopian flavors (Mélange DC). Here are 15 destinations for the best ayib, sambusas, coffee ceremonies, and kitfo around the DMV.For this latest map refresh, we add: pandemic-era arrival Family Ethiopian Restaurant, Elfegne, and Yeshi Kitfo.
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Here is a small review of some of the best restaurants:
| Restaurant | Location | Specialties |
|---|---|---|
| Beteseb Restaurant | Silver Spring | Shiro, awaze beef, doro alicha, vegetable-filled sambusa pastries, chile-spiked fava beans |
| Family Ethiopian | D.C. | Shiro wot, quanta firfir, tikil gomen, gomen |
| Chercher | West Hararghe zone in Ethiopia’s Oromia region | Sauteed short ribs, fried tilapia, ginger-spiked lamb stew, tej |
| Hanan Mosa | Falls Church | Beef entrees (tibs, stewed key wot, cubed beef tongue, and tripe), vegetarian, seafood, and combo dishes |
Any of these three restaurants offers a fine experience, but Little Ethiopia restaurant was my favorite for its authentic atmosphere. I highly recommend watching a true coffee ceremony. After all coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia. Why not learn from where and how your morning "cup of Joe" originated? Do remember that there are many more Ethiopian restaurants in DC than I've mentioned here. If only I had the time to go to all of them, but even so I was able to experience a very nice sampling of the country's food and culture, which is always the best way to be introduced to a nation and its people.
"Without the tour I would never have walked into these places. But now I'll feel comfortable bringing friends here. "I am not into typical tours, but heard about Little Ethiopia and decided it was time to give it a try. It was well worth it. The food was fantastic- so many flavors I had never tried. Better yet we went to Ethiopian restaurants I had not heard of before, but will now not ever forget. I've never tasted Ethiopian food until my trip to Washington, DC last month.
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tags: #Ethiopia
