Das Ethiopian

My mom and a couple of my friends and I went here for dinner on a whim and we loved it. The hostess (and owner, I believe) is lovely and she chatted with my Mom for a bit about my mom’s trip to Dar Es Salaam (which my mother loved). I wish I were up on Ethiopian food enough to tell you everything that we ate, but I honestly can’t remember the name of a lot of the food that I was putting in my mouth. All I know is that it was delicious, fun to eat (it’s all finger-​food style… which would be brilliant on a date night), and the staff were really friendly and attentive. I would definitely head back here again!

Authentic, delicious Ethiopian food at reasonable prices! The waitstaff was incredibly nice and the service was fantastic. Portion sizes are very generous. Our table shared the Kaisa as an appetizer, which was surprisingly refreshing for cottage cheese (not the typical flavor you think of when eating that type of cheese). For our main course, we shared the Godn Tibs (short ribs), the Vegetarian Entrée Sampler, and Beef Zilzil Tibs. All were amazing and left us feeling very satisfied. For dessert, be sure to check out the grandmother cake!

I am definitely a fan of Ethiopian food but never had loved an Ethiopian restaurants for it’s ambience and interiors as much as the food, until I walked into Das Ethiopian. I took my mom for her first Ethiopian experience during our last visit to D.C. The place is definitely upscale and pricey but the portions are fairly large. We ordered a Sambusa and the vegetarian entrée sampler and it was amazing. Although the menu recommends ordering a double portion ($ 35.50), we got 2 single portion ($ 18.5) to share among 4 of us and it was enough. Definitely going back when I go to DC again. My mom loved it too!

This place is fantastic.
I’d had ethiopian before but my date had not. This place is on the small side but very cute and welcoming. The service was very good and they answered our many questions. We went for the vegetarian sampler for 2 which was perfect. We got to try all of the things! The server went over what each one was prior to us chowing down but we basically forgot once we got going. I could ID the lentils but the rest is sort of a mystery. But, who cares because it was all delicious! No utensils, only that awesome bread stuff that I can never remember the name of. It is fun to eat that way and share w/​someone else. Overall a very very enjoyable and delicious meal. I highly recommend this to anyone new or returning to this unique cuisine. Don’t be afraid to ask them stuff – they know the answers!

Just mouth watering. All dishes were amazing, I had the meet sampler and the vegetable sampler. The chicken was seasoned and tender, and we continuously receive plenty of teft bread throughout the meal to allow us to scoop each dish. Ethiopian food is eaten with your hands reason why there are no utensils on the table. Wish I lived in D. C so I could eat here regularly.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! It’s truly my favorite part of visiting DC. The food is so yummy and unlike Ethiopian restaurants in the SF bay area where I live, its a beautiful décor with top notch service. Oh how wish this place could be transported back home.
I drag everyone on my team here and even the Midwestern guys love every thing they eat here, despise being decidedly non adventurous eaters. Ethiopian should be the next big «food thing» and places like this will win over even the stuffy crowd. Its so elegant and easy to converse in the space.
Keep it up Das! I think of you every time my company want to send be back out to DC for a week and you make me smile!

My first Ethiopian experience and it surely won’t be my last!!! What a wonderful time. From the instant of entering I felt such a warm and welcoming energy.
The dining area was super cute and smaller, yet spacious enough that we weren’t overhearing everyone else’s convos.
My date and I started with a bottle of Pinot, $ 28, fairly priced.
Being a first timer I barely looked at the menu, and deferred to my date for ordering. No utensils?! What!? When my house salad arrived I first thought this idea was gross, but no way!!! The spongey bread, injera, resembled an ace bandage and was delicious like sour dough. Not having utensils made me feel more connected to each ingredient and more in sync with my date or was that the Pinot?
Our main dish was the vegetarian platter. Absolutely delicious!!! Our server went over what each item was and of course I forgot immediately but Yahtzee, each and every item was bold in flavor, unique and overall, fun to eat. I loved using my hands and wrapping everything up
Our evening ended with full and happy bellies! I look forward to trying more Ethiopian. Many thanks Das for making my first experience such a wonderful one!

This place was a surprising gem of a find for Ethiopian food in Georgetown!
I finally conviced my very Midwestern parents to try Ethiopian, and wanted to find a location that didn’t send them into severe culture shock. Cue this location: a charming restaurant with white tablecloths and a warm, intimate vibe.
The place is technically able to seat on two levels, but when we were there they only had the first floor open for seating. The bathrooms are up a slightly narrow staircase on the second floor, which is how we discovered they have extra dining space and a second fully functioning bar.
Since my parents were newbies, I asked the server to give a crash course on Ethiopian dining. She was extremely helpful– she wasn’t even fazed by my parents barrage of questions. She emphasized «just have fun!» And they seemed to really hold on to that!
I ordered for the three of us the Special Beef Tibs and the Vegetarian Sampler Platter (x2). It was more than enough food for us– given that my parents were eating like birds. They did rave about the flavoring of the beef tibs, the spinach, and the lentils. I agreed with them that these were also some of my favorites– along with the chickpea stew served in the sampler.
For dessert– my mom ordered the Grandmother Cake– it was dense but good. Actually hard to describe, had a coating of what tasted a bit like powdered sugar but left my mouth a bit confused.
My stepdad had the lemon sorbet thingie (forgetting the same) — it is literally a sorbet that fills the shell of an emptied lemon — it’s like they carved out the actual lemon, and stuffed it back in as a sorbet– and then froze it. Very tart– but my stepdad ate the entire thing.
All in all I will say that while it’s not my favorite Ethiopian spot on DC, the food was decent and for people who might be prone to judging a more «cultural» spot by appearance– this is a safe bet. It worked for my Minnesotan family!

Good Ethiopian place close to Georgetown. Ambience is good and elegant. We had ordered the sambusa which was too oily. But the combination platter was really good, especially the beef. My friend had ordered a veg platter which was just OK. I would say it’s a good place for non vegetarians and not so good for vegetarians.

While visiting the DC area, my husband and I hopped in an über and made small talk with our driver. We talked about where we were from and yada, yada, yada and the cab driver said «New York does everything right in terms of food. But DC has a leg up on their Ethiopian food– we have the best Ethiopian food, hands down… you just have to be open to trying new things»
And that we are!
So on our last night in DC, we found Das Ethiopian a nice walk away from our hotel room. It was a Saturday evening. We did not have reservations but it was early enough into dinner service where finding a table was not challenging.
The restaurant is cozy but not so that it feels too crowded. It seems like the dining room of an actual house is the dining area of the restaurant which i thought was a nice touch. Felt really homey.
We looked around to see what others were eating and it seemed a lot of diners were sharing sampling platters. It seemed like the best bang for our buck to try several things at once. We split an appetizer that looked like a somosa but had a spring roll texture to it. It was filled with lentils which are a personal favorite of ours.
We got our first taste of Injera. A spongy flat bread that is used to sop up delicious bites of food in addition to acting as a plate. It took a few bites to get used to but before we knew it, they were bringing us more rolls of injera.
For our entrée, we shared the Das Combination Chicken & Beef Entrée Sampler For Two which included chicken doro watt, beef kaey watt, beef alicha and beef cubes segana gomen. While different than any meal we have ever had, we recognized familiar flavors. It was pretty good!
We filled up quickly and politely declined dessert.
This is a nice place. The staff were very friendly and patient with us as we asked a lot of questions about the cuisine. We would definitely go back!

This was so disappointing, given the reviews this place has.
DH and I are new to the area, and spent our first month trying Ethiopian restaurants to find the best in the District. This was our 5^th stop. Based on online reviews and recommendations from locals, I thought this could be the one. Unfortunately, the injera is extremely mild, the sauce on the doro wat is grainy from the use of powdered spices, and the beef tibs are chewy and almost inedible. Das Ethiopian did not even come close to cracking our top three – at double the price!
And I know this is a bit of a strange quibble, but I cannot understand why you would post a menu that doesn’t explain the sides that come with an entrée. We ordered delivery online, and nowhere did the online menu say that sides where included. This caused an issue not only because we over-​ordered, but half of every dish came doused in lentils, which I am allergic to! As a result, my review of the food is the product of very careful, unenthusiastic taste testing.

Honestly I do not get the positive reviews for this place. I got the meat combo — Doro Wat two ways (spicy and not spicy), beef and lamb. It also comes with carrots & cabbage, collards and a cold injera-​based bread salad. I love Ethiopian and was so excited for this based on the reviews. And it was… barely edible.
Problem 1: The meat was tough, overcooked and dry. There was no moistness to it at all. Not for the chicken, not for the beef, not for the lamb.
Problem 2: The meats were all spiced with something kind of sweet, almost like a BBQ sauce. So the flavor profile tasted way off base and was kind of jarring. The Doro Wat in particular was disgusting. Well it didn’t taste like Doro Wat, I’ll tell you that.
Problem 3: Nothing was fresh. I got my food less than five minutes after ordering it. It was all kind of lukewarm. And it looked and tasted like everything had been made a couple of days ago and had been reheated.
Problem 4: The portions are small and I have no idea how they charge so much. If it had actually been good I could have finished two plates of it because they only give you a couple of tablespoons of each item. Combo plate, one beer and a coffee cost me $ 35 before tip.
Problem 5: There is noting Ethiopian about the vibe or the décor. The waitstaff are Ethiopian, but that’s about it. White tablecloths and kind of a generic «upscale» look to the place.
In the plus column, the waitstaff were all very nice.
This place is so not worth the money. Don’t waste your time.

Second time eating here, and the food and service were both as excellent as last time. Their injera is very mild, in that you can barely sense the usual slightly sour taste. The vegetarian sampler platter and two meat entrees was enough to feed four people with leftovers to spare, which make a delicious microwaveable lunch.

Really enjoyed our meal at Das Ethiopian tonight. The servers were extremely friendly and the food prompt, plentiful, and delicious. I was a little surprised that they didn’t have a drink menu or any specials, but hey, no biggie. We got the sampler chicken and beef. The drumsticks and spicy beef was especially delicious, though my husband really liked it all. It was way more than we could eat, but was nice in that we got to try it all and really enjoy our favorites.
The shock of the night was the dessert menu though. They had about six or so options to choose from, each one more unique and interesting then the next! We chose the profiteroles and the chocolate pyramid. The profiteroles were to die for. So moist and creamy. The perfect balance. The pyramid was tasty too, just paled in comparison. We also noticed many tables having the lemon sherbet which was a beautiful presentation. Something for next time!

Polite staff. Clean establishment. Great service. AWESOME food. We tried the vegetarian platter along with the cottage cheese appetizer. My future in-​laws were hesitant to try Ethiopian food but this place definitely won them over.

I went there in the afternoon around 3pm. we were one of the 4^th people were in the whole restaurant. The service is very sub-​par. The servers were look confused or not sure who is going to serve which table? Anyhow, we ordered one of the combination platter which contained, lamb, beef, chicken (as seen in the picture). the food delivered to our table pretty fast, we were impressed. But the bad part, the food appeared almost served from a fridge. It was cold, and nothing warm. I been to several Ethiopian restaurants around the country. the the quality of the food seems to be low. Mainly when the food is cold and the service is bad (when only there are handful people at the whole restaurant?) I am bit confused about what all the hype about this place? Sorry Das Ethiopian. you have lot of room for improvement.

We had the veggie and chicken and beef samplers with an order of the beef short ribs for a table of 4. It was too much food. I had enough leftovers for 3 more meals.
Best thing was the chicken. it was shaped like an egg and very tender, as in fall off the bone tender (there was only one small bone). The rest was all meat around it — almost a meatball chicken. My description is not doing it justice. Just imagine tender and full of flavor. As far as ethiopian restaurants go, this place was on the nicer side. It had nice wood floors and a very clean interior, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s not authentic. It was still very tasty and we ate with our hands.
We tried the ethiopian tea at the end which was good too. Light and not too sweet.

I came here on a sunny afternoon and it is definitely a gem! The food and ambiance are great. I had the beef kitfo and the mixed veggie platter and it was more than enough for two people. Although my dining partner and I love meat, we found the veggies, especially the lentils, really stood out.
We ordered the kitfo medium rare and it was tasty with a little bit of heat. The mixed veggie platter came with an assortment of red and yellow lentils, greens, eggplant, and carrots and string beans. The food wasn’t overly buttered and wasn’t greasy or heavy but it was most definitely filling.
There was plenty of parking nearby; both metered parking and 1 – 2 hour spots. It’s also a stone’s throw from the Old Stone House, a National Park Site.

I have a confession: I’m not the biggest fan of Ethiopian food. It’s the texture of the injera that gets me. It has nothing to do with the flavor.
So for me to say that I like a place means something. DC is said to be a capital (haha get the pun?) of Ethiopian food outside of Ethiopia so I needed to give it another try.
The food itself is great. Everything was cooked well, you can get as much injera as you need, and the flavors were spot on. My recommendation is to get a sampler. We got the vegetarian sample with extra red lentils.
The service was what lowered the rating for me. We felt like we were being ignored for a good chunk of our time there and waited forty minutes for a table. For a party of three where there’s plenty of empty seating? Not really sure how to feel. I wouldn’t say the service is awful — because it’s not. But it’s not great either.
If you’re in the Georgetown area and have a Ethiopian food craving, I would say go for it. It’s a solid spot. Also, street parking nearby is relatively easy.

I love this restaurant, just as I also love any good Ethiopian food! I have been eating at this amazing restaurant whenever I have visited DC for at least the past 20 years, dating back to when it was still called Zed’s Ethiopian and was located in a tiny, narrow hole-​in-​the wall storefront on M street locateddnot far from the M Street bridge. In fact, I have faithfully eaten at this restaurant across each of several subsequent changes in location and, most recently, its apparent change in name from Zed’s Ethiopian to Das Ethiopian (although I note that their Zed’s Ethiopian website is still up on the web, in addition to their Das Ethiopian website!!!)
Having eaten here across 20 years or longer, I can only simply say that the menu is great, the food is great, and the service is great, and the prices have always been very reasonable.
In fact, I must confess that I am more than a bit addicted to this restaurant: I not only try to find excuses to visit DC so that I will have a chance to eat dinner once again at this fine eatery, but whenever DC-​based friends make the mistake of offering to take me out to dinner, I always rudely, inflexibly and boorishly insist that we go ONLY to Das Ethipioan/Zed’s Ethiopian for dinner each and every time!
So, bottom line is that this place is excellent! In fact, it is like being in heaven! I love it so much, and am so doggedly loyal to this restaurant, that across all of the past 20 years, I have steadfastly refused to even bother trying any of the other Ethiopian restaurants (and there are many) in DC whenever friends have tried to suggest alternatives!