The community behind the food
Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants began arriving in Minnesota in significant numbers in the 1980s and 1990s, many fleeing civil war and famine. The Ethiopian Community in Minnesota (ECM), founded in 1995, has served as an anchor organization for nearly three decades. Today, Minnesota is home to one of the largest Ethiopian and Eritrean populations in the country, concentrated in Minneapolis neighborhoods like Cedar-Riverside, Phillips, and Seward. The restaurants in this guide are not just businesses — they are cultural institutions that preserve foodways, host coffee ceremonies, and serve as gathering places for a diaspora community that has shaped Minneapolis in ways the city is still learning to recognize. The food is the most visible expression of a much deeper story.
Restaurants
5+
Price Range
$–$$
Best For
History, late-night dining, live music
The Red Sea
The first Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant in Minneapolis, open since 1990. The Red Sea is an institution. The injera is spongy and sour in exactly the right way, and the doro wat has the deep, slow-cooked complexity that only comes from hours of simmering berbere and onions. The Eritrean dishes — particularly the tsebhi birsen (red lentil stew) — are as good as anything on the Ethiopian side of the menu. There is a full bar with Ethiopian beer, a dance floor, and live music on weekends. This is not a quiet dinner spot. It is a community gathering place that happens to serve exceptional food, and it has been doing so for over three decades.
Dilla’s Ethiopian Restaurant
Located on Riverside Avenue, Dilla’s is open seven days a week and serves one of the most extensive Ethiopian menus in the city. The lunch buffet is a smart entry point if you are new to the cuisine — generous, affordable, and well-maintained. The kitfo (minced raw beef seasoned with mitmita and niter kibbeh) is excellent for those who want to go beyond the familiar. Tibs come sizzling and well-spiced. The dining room is straightforward and unpretentious, the kind of place where families gather on weekends and regulars know what they want before sitting down. Dilla’s does not try to be anything other than a very good Ethiopian restaurant, and that is enough.
The scene: Cedar-Riverside is where Ethiopian dining in Minneapolis began and where it still feels most rooted. The Red Sea and Dilla’s anchor a stretch of Cedar Avenue that has been a gathering point for the East African community for decades. You eat here surrounded by the people this food was made for — not as a tourist experience, but as a neighborhood one. The late-night hours and live music make this the only Ethiopian dining corridor in the city with genuine nightlife energy.
Explore Cedar-Riverside→Restaurants
4+
Price Range
$–$$
Best For
Vegan Ethiopian, hidden gems, everyday dining
Lulu’s EthioVegan Cuisine
At 12 East Franklin Avenue, Lulu’s is one of the most exciting Ethiopian restaurants to open in Minneapolis in recent years. Chef Tigist creates entirely plant-based Ethiopian dishes that do not feel like compromises — the shiro is creamy and deeply spiced, the misir wat has real heat, and the combination platters are generous enough to share. The injera is made with pure teff, naturally gluten-free. The space is small and warm, and the 4.9-star rating is earned. If you think vegan Ethiopian food means something is missing, Lulu’s will change your mind. This is not vegan food that happens to be Ethiopian. It is Ethiopian food that happens to be vegan.
Taste of Africa Restaurant & Deli
A grocery-restaurant hybrid on East Franklin Avenue that serves hearty, no-frills Ethiopian plates at prices that make you wonder how they do it. The injera is fresh, the portions are built for working people who need a real meal, and the staff will walk you through the menu if you ask. Taste of Africa is not trying to win design awards — it is a neighborhood spot where the food speaks for itself. The sambusas are crispy and well-seasoned, and the vegetarian combo is one of the best deals in the city. Come hungry, leave full, spend under fifteen dollars.
The scene: Phillips is where you find Ethiopian food woven into the daily fabric of the neighborhood. Franklin Avenue between Cedar and Minnehaha has a quiet concentration of East African restaurants and groceries that most food guides overlook entirely. The restaurants here serve their communities first — prices are low, portions are large, and the cooking is personal. Lulu’s EthioVegan has brought new attention to the area, but the corridor has been feeding people well for years.
Explore Phillips→Restaurants
3+
Price Range
$–$$
Best For
Grocery-restaurant combos, coffee beans, spice shopping
Shabelle Ethiopian Grocery & Restaurant
Part grocery store, part restaurant, entirely essential. Shabelle sits on East Franklin Avenue in Seward and serves traditional Ethiopian plates alongside a market stocked with East African spices, teff flour, green coffee beans, and the jebena pots used for coffee ceremonies at home. The food is homestyle and honest — the vegetarian combo with shiro, misir wat, and gomen is filling and flavorful. But the real draw for many is the grocery side: if you cook Ethiopian food at home, Shabelle is where you get your berbere, mitmita, and injera. The staff will explain anything you do not recognize. This is a community institution that doubles as a restaurant.
Meseret Ethiopian Restaurant
A family-owned spot on Minnehaha Avenue where tradition runs deep. Meseret’s spices are sourced directly from Ethiopia, and you can taste the difference — the berbere has a warmth and complexity that generic blends cannot replicate. The Sunday vegan and vegetarian buffet is a neighborhood ritual. Coffee is served with traditional incense, the way it should be. You can request your dishes made with 100% teff injera for a gluten-free option. Meseret is the kind of restaurant where the owner’s family recipes are the menu, and that personal investment shows in every plate. Unpretentious, consistent, and deeply good.
The scene: Seward’s Ethiopian food scene is quieter than Cedar-Riverside’s but no less authentic. The Franklin Avenue and Minnehaha Avenue corridors here have grocery-restaurant hybrids that serve the East African community’s daily needs — a place to buy spices, pick up injera, and sit down for a plate of doro wat all in one trip. If you want to understand Ethiopian food beyond the restaurant experience, Seward is where you learn to cook it yourself.
Explore Seward→Restaurants
4+
Price Range
$–$$
Best For
Coffee ceremonies, family dining, Minnehaha corridor
Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant
On Hiawatha Avenue since 2018, Mesob is a family-owned restaurant that has quietly built one of the strongest reputations in the city. The buffet is generous and well-curated — a smart way to sample multiple dishes if you are still finding your favorites. The traditional coffee ceremony is done properly here, with the roasting, grinding, and brewing performed in front of you. The dining room has high ceilings and a welcoming feel that makes it a good choice for groups or first-timers. Spices are sourced from Ethiopia. The doro wat and the tibs are both excellent, and the injera has the right tang without being overwhelming.
Selam Restaurant
Selam means “peace” in Amharic, and that spirit defines this small family-run restaurant on Minnehaha Avenue. Owners Belai Mergia and Rahel Tassew started with a coffee shop in 2007 and turned it into a full restaurant after the pandemic. The Ethiopian and Eritrean menu showcases both traditions — the vegetarian combo with split lentils, yellow peas, shiro, and collard greens is the signature dish. The coffee ceremony here involves hand-roasting beans and brewing in a traditional jebena clay pot. Selam is intimate, unhurried, and feels like eating in someone’s home. That is the highest compliment.
Katar River Restaurant & Bakery
Also on Minnehaha Avenue, Katar River combines a restaurant with a bakery that produces some of the best injera in the city. The bread here is the star — soft, slightly spongy, with a fermented tang that is balanced rather than aggressive. The kitchen does solid renditions of the classics: doro wat, tibs, shiro, and vegetarian combos. But many regulars come specifically for the baked goods and the injera to take home. Open daily with generous hours, Katar River is a reliable neighborhood staple that rewards repeat visits.
The scene: The Minnehaha Avenue and Hiawatha Avenue corridors in south Minneapolis have developed into a second center of gravity for Ethiopian dining. Mesob, Selam, and Katar River are all within a short drive of each other, each family-owned, each with its own character. The coffee ceremonies here are done with care. This is the stretch to visit if you want a quieter, more intimate Ethiopian dining experience than the bustle of Cedar-Riverside.
Explore Longfellow→A note on what we left out
This guide focuses on Minneapolis proper. The Twin Cities Ethiopian scene extends into St. Paul, where restaurants like Bole Ethiopian Cuisine (Como Park) and Erta Ale (a stunning Ethiopian art and culture hub on Prince Street) are absolutely worth the drive. Adama Restaurant in Columbia Heights serves excellent Oromo and Ethiopian cuisine just north of the city line. We also chose not to include Ghebre's, a beloved Eritrean restaurant in St. Paul that has permanently closed. The scene is always evolving — if a favorite is missing, it may have opened after our last update.
Keep exploring Minneapolis food
Ethiopian and East African restaurants are one thread in the broader tapestry of immigrant-driven dining that makes Minneapolis exceptional. Explore our neighborhood food rankings or dive into the city's equally remarkable Somali food scene.