Chef Amy Abebe Tsegaye’s Lowertown restaurant Erta Ale offers a weekend buffet, traditional coffee and tea service, and an expansive vegan selection alongside dishes like lamb tibs, fried spiced tilapia, and curried goat stew. This is an excellent spot to try one of Ethiopia’s rare beef specialties, like kifto, a tartare dish marinated in mitmita and spiced butter; or gored gored, a dish of lean beef cubes mixed with mitmita, aromatic awaze, and peppers.

Formerly home to Betty’s Kitchen, Yadot is the new Ethiopian restaurant on West St. Paul’s Dodd Road, from owners Asamnew Sahle and Haile Asfa. Start with an order of chuko — a traditional Oromo dish made with roasted barley flour, ample butter, and spices, all blended into a dough and cut into bite-sized morsels — as a precursor to a steaming plate of cardamom-laced siga wat, or gomen (seasoned collard greens) and tegabino shiro (a spicy ground pea stew). Yadot also offers traditional coffee ceremonies.

A neighborhood favorite for Ethiopian cuisine in St. Paul’s Frogtown, Demera Ethiopian Restaurant first opened in 2013. Owners Dawit and Senait Olana serve a broad menu of fragrant injera platters: The misir key wot (red split lentils), atkilt (fresh carrots) and gomen (simmered collard greens) are a few vegetarian favorites. Meat lovers can choose between the beef, lamb, chicken, and fish menus — the juicy lamb tibs come stewed in a rich, delectably oily red broth, an excellent pair for the spongy, lace-like injera.

In true St. Paul style, Dukem serves its Ethiopian fare in a laid-back bar and lounge setting, with sports playing on every T.V. Highlights here are the flavor-packed beef awaze tibs; the vegetarian platter, loaded with greens, stewed yellow peas, shiro, cabbage gomen, and misir alicha (a red lentil dish); and the 10-piece spiced chicken wings.

Located off West 7th in Saint Paul, Agelgil puts its stamp on traditional Ethiopian fare with dishes like savory Agelgil tibs, tender zilzil tibs, and vegetarian dishes like shiro and tikil gomen (a delicate, lightly spiced dish of stewed cabbage, carrots, and onions). What really sets Agelgil apart, however, is its breakfast menu: Think savory Ethiopian oatmeal served with herbed butter; scrambled eggs and beef served with injera; and ful medames, a crushed fava bean dish.

Selam, once a longtime Minnehaha Avenue coffee shop, blossomed into a full-service restaurant not long after the onset of the pandemic. Owners Belai Mergia and Rahel Tassew serve fine samosas — crispy on the outside; steaming when they’re cracked open — alongside tender lamb awaze tibs; generous vegetarian platters; kifto; and rich, fiery doro wot.

A block down from Meseret on Hiawatha Avenue, Mesob Ethiopian may be a little hard to find, but destination dishes like the vegetarian sampler and lamb awaze make for excellent eats: Munaye Tesfaye and Ade Terefe have been feeding the Longfellow and Standish neighborhoods since 2018. Mesob is an especially good place to bring a large group, as the dishes are offered in both small and large portions — or go for the family platters, which can serve three or four diners.

Chef Sara Wordofa’s Katar River, tucked off Minnehaha Avenue in the Seward neighborhood, is also known for serving sizable portions, which allow diners to mix or match veggie dishes or meat along with a heaping helping of fresh made injera. Speaking of injera, Wordofa is known for her supple, delicately sour version, made from a family recipe, which she distributes to restaurants and grocery stores around the Cities. If the weather suits, grab a seat on the patio for an evening of breezy dining.

Doubling as a music venue, this Cedar Riverside neighborhood fixture is known for tasty Ethiopian and Eritrean fare served in a lively, laid-back atmosphere. Swing by the generous happy hour (every day until 7 p.m.) for $3 beers, $4 rail drinks, and $1 off appetizers like sambusas and sampler platters of miser, shiro, and kik rolls, excellent preambles to Abyssinia gored gored, prepared with jalapenos and herbed butter, or chicken tib and rice platters.

Chef T.G Feyisa serves exclusively vegan Ethiopian dishes at Lulu Ethiovegan, leaning into the cuisine’s already abundant use of legumes and stewed vegetables. Traditional beef tibs are reimagined with tender rosemary mushrooms and peppers; doro wot is subbed out for crispy chickpea shimbra asa, marinated in berbere sauce and served with fluffy injera on the side. The snug Franklin Avenue location has a cozy space for sipping a cup of ginger tea or telba (a creamy Ethiopian flaxseed drink) — or order takeout.

A stone’s throw away from the iconic Heights Theater, Adama continues to deliver Columbia Heights fantastic Ethiopian dishes alongside lots of homemade injera for scooping and savoring. Steaming, full-bodied cups of coffee are served alongside lentil-stuffed sambusas, fragrant misir and alechi wat, spaghetti, and combo plates served with collard greens, cabbage, and spiced cottage cheese.