Adama Restaurant and Awash Bakery

No seasoning at all on the veggie platter/ very bland, no flavor. Before my review, I tried this place three times at all different hours. This breaks my heart; this is the only Ethiopian restaurant in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, and I want to love this place. The injera is good, and the ladies there are friendly. I eat at Bole’ Ethiopian cuisine in St.Paul or Maple Grove, which is impressive but far away. Please, please try your BEST to find a different cook. Bring some specialty to this restaurant so you can be successful, and special seasonings for your cuisine, which will separate you from the rest. I would hate for you to go out of business. People love Ethiopian food now, and it’s popular. Good luck!

Stopped by Adama while I was passing through. Quick and prompt service, as my food was ready in no time at all. The doro wot was full of rich flavor and spicy, loved it. I also ordered the Adama kitfo. The kitfo beef was cooked medium and it came with collard greens and cottage cheese. This was also spicy and good. They have baked goods and a few cooking supplies for sale as well. Pleased with my visit overall.

We have visited twice and will be back. The food is excellent. The service is friendly and checks on you often. The atmosphere is nice and smells savory. Park in back in the municipal lot. It's free. There's a side entrance (has steps) or front entrance for wheelchairs. Our son's wheelchair is long, but we could sit him up in the chair to angle the entryway and get in. Our daughter's electric wheelchair fit just fine. We'd prefer Ethiopian music in the background, but they have the news going on instead (softly). Not many dine-in patrons although there's plenty of space. We got our 2 wheelchairs around with ease. Many patrons order online and are in and out picking up their food. If the menu item says spicy, it means spicy! They also sell goods, spices and injera. Overall, I definitely recommend eating here and we will definitely be coming back.

We came here last year in late October, but I remember the experience very well. At the time, we felt this place wasn't suited for dine-in, as no one else was in the restaurant except for us and we went on to see lots of people come through the door and order things to-go or from the bakery. Our waitress was kind and patient, despite us frequently changing our minds on what we wanted from the menu. Why were we changing our minds so much? Because the menus we were given were outdated, and as such, they didn't have the dishes we originally wanted. I remember the food took a long time to get to us and by the time it did, all of our injera was ice cold and while the entree dishes were still warm, they were unbearably spicy. Everything from the derek tibs to the legumes and lentils. I'm pretty sure it sat on the counter for a good while before she noticed it was there and brought it out to us. Our family is East African but this was too spicy even for us, our throats were still burning at least an hour after we finished eating. For what it's worth, they have very strong authentic Ethiopian coffee, and the porcelain it's served in is absolutely gorgeous. Recent reviews make me believe that things relating to the dine-in experience seem to have changed for the better since our visit, but we have not been back since and don't plan on returning.

So many delicious flavors on one platter. Just the flavorful warm hearty meal I was seeking. We were the only diners on a Sunday evening so the atmosphere may be different on others evenings. Friendly and helpful staff. A smile goes a long way.

The food is very great. It has lots of taste. I love the soft bread thing. It goes well with all the sauce and soup and I love the workers. They’re all nice and they helped a lot and they make me feel like I’m at home. I got really full and spent lots of money. I will definitely be going back there. This is my new favorite place to get Ethiopian food. One of the workers was very nice and I tipped him big big money money money, big big green, green cash and I’ll be going there a lot more. PS this place smells great very, very satisfied, very satisfied

This is a gem, I'm an out of towner and I introduced 2 locals to this place. Finger licking good Ethiopian food. Authentic Habesha cuisine, injera, doro wat, the collard greens, lentils... I wish I were a local. I would eat here all the time. Don't underestimate the place based on ambience. Food >>>> tables and chairs. Parking is available in the back if street is full.

Been here twice. First time was good but this last time, the food wasn’t fresh at all. Injera was dry and the vege combo wasn’t great. Not that many diners - would be better with some music.