If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know my continuing passion for Ethiopian food. We’re big fans of Lablibela Restaurant in Whitehall, and Little Africa in my hometown of Grand Rapids is probably our favorite restaurant ever. When it comes to ethnic eats in Columbus, we trust the voice of alt.eats.columbus, especially when they find a new Ethiopian restaurant. So it wasn’t long after their visit that we found ourselves dining at Addis Restaurant with friends.
We learned from the owner that “addis” means “new.” He said he identified the need for an Ethiopian restaurant in a new part of town, so he opened on Cleveland Avenue.
The restaurant is bright and clean, with a single dining room.
As much as I love Ethiopian food, I’m deficient at identifying individual dishes. We learned Ethiopian food at Little Africa years ago by ordering a platter of… well, everything. And that’s how we still like to order. A sampling of all the dishes allows you to try a variety, and it’s perfect for sharing with a group. I can tell you, however, that our platter at Addis included kitfo, mahbarawi, tibs, and zillzill tibs. This all included lots of veggies, lentils, and stew-like preparations of beef. We ate up every bite of it.
For the uninitiated: Ethiopian food is eaten by hand with injera, a thin, spongy, and slightly sour bread that you tear into little pieces and use to scoop up bites of food.
In general, we’ve learned to trust the owners of the Ethiopian restaurants we’ve visited, which is why we continue to rely on the larger platters full of whatever they want to serve. Our experiences – and Addis is no exception – are full of rich flavors and aromas. There’s no beating the complex spicing of Ethiopian food.
Afterwards we chatted with the owner Niman. He’s very welcoming, and told us about traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies held on Fridays. Good reason to visit again, I think!
If you want to visit:
Addis Restaurant (Facebook)
3750 Cleveland Ave. (map it!)
Columbus, OH 43224
(614) 269-8680
Open daily 11:30a-9p
