The Surprising Location Of Austin's Best Ethiopian Restaurant

Don't let its locale keep you from savoring the delicious trappings of the Taste of Ethiopia restaurant. Located in a suburban strip mall, the authentic Ethiopian restaurant holds its own against trendier places south of Parmer. The bright décor and well-designed interior are as inviting as its friendly staff and Ethiopian owners, husband-and-wife team, Woinee Mariam and Solomon Hailu.

 

Taste of Ethiopia is the ideal place for a group dining experience, as it offers communal sampler dishes served with injera, an Ethiopian flatbread which tastes like sourdough and has a sponge-like consistency. Diners eat with their hands; the injera is used to scoop up dishes like yemisisr wot, lentils cooked with red onions and traditional Ethiopian spices, or the ater kik, split peas spiced with turmeric. Though a lot of traditional Ethiopian food is vegetarian, meat lovers can also find beef and lamb here. Taste of Ethiopia serves a few spicy beef stews as well as their house specialty, kitfo, beef tartare that's chopped and seasoned with African chili powder and served with butter.

 

As coffee is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, servers at Taste of Ethiopia would be remiss not to offer a cup of coffee at the end of the meal. It's worth the extra couple of dollars to end the evening sipping on Taste of Ethiopia's espresso and soaking in the colorful wall art.

Elizabeth Trovall is the Austin Travel City Editor for The Daily Meal.