Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant

Wow! Just perfect. The proprietor is so kind and welcoming. The mood here is calm and warm. We got mixed vegetable platter with injeera, honey wine, and a coffee pot. It was all so delicious. I am vegetarian and there was a whole section of vegetarian dishes. The vegetable platter is the best thing to do because you can try 4 of the stews/vegetables. I am so happy we came, I almost missed my train and it was absolutely worth it to have a filling, delicious, healthy meal.

Everything 10/10. The chicken was amazing. The tea was comforting. I’m so happy.

It's my first time trying Ethiopian cuisine and it was a pleasant experience. If you haven't tried it before, give it a try. You use your hands to eat, and Lalibela offers an authentic experience. I'm pretty sure it's vegan and vegetarian friendly too.

The lights were a little too bright and in the injera portion was slim but the quality of food was off the charts. Great value for the price. We enjoyed it. The most important thing to know is to try the vegetarian combo meal for two(which is not on the menu). That way you can get a variety of specialty items. Most people who appreciate ethnic food will be happy to try

Absolutely delicious food. Exceptional service with traditional ambiance. Beautiful artwork and family friendly atmosphere.

Absolutely loved this. We each got the Specialty Platter with a four different items on the platter. Way too much food for all of us, could have shared some. VERY good, super flavorful, unique flavors. Loved this.

Really good - the best Ethiopian food I’ve had! Plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The spinach and potato’s dish, and collard greens dish, were my favs. Definitely recommended. The owner is super nice too.

Just walked in today. Feels like you step into another world. Vibes were impeccable. Very nice server as well. Good food. Yummy strong flavors! 10/10 would recommend:)

After having eaten at the food truck on Cedar many times over the past years (rosemary chicken with spicy red lentils is a must!), I was happy to finally make my way to the brick and mortar restrurant for a bite to eat. I stopped in for a late lunch and was greeted and given a table immediately. The waitress was attentive, bringing me a glass of water and taking my order quickly. I ordered a favorite of mine, Doro Wat, which is a spict=y chicken stew. The plate came fairly quickly, with a side of red lentils and a salad, served both over injera and with a basket of extra injera. The chicken was well cooked, with the sauce/stew being a wondeeful combination of warming spices. This was complimented well with the injera. I would definitely recommend coming in for a bite or stopping by the food truck!

Went to the food truck for lunch and it was delicious! I got the Grilled Fish with lettuce and salad. Hit the spot! The prices are definitely reasonable for new haven and the amount of food you get. The gentleman running the truck was very friendly. I'll be back again!

This little place is such a hidden gem. Highly recommend for both flavor and portion sizes.

Absolutely delicious Ethiopian food at a great price point! The Veggie and meat combination platters are an excellent deal! You get to choose from 4 different sauces to pair with the injera. Their take on the Somalian "sambusa" was quite odd and favlorless. They also served the sambusa with hummus which I've never seen done before. Aside from that, I really love their flavorful and spicy sauces! Their wait times for take out is a bit long and I find that they often times haven't even started my order by the time I finally arrive to pick it up (maybe they're short staffed on the days that I go?). Overall, Lalibela is a fantastic staple in Downtown New Haven!

Really good - the best Ethiopian food I've had! Plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The spinach and potato's dish, and collard greens dish, were my favs. Definitely recommended. The owner is super nice too.

We love Their restaurant but we love grabbing lunch off the food truck even more! They are generous with the portions, I always get 2 meals out of one. A New Haven staple for sure!

Awesome food and service. Great vegetarian options. Good music and ambience, excellent service. Three of us shared all the food. Apps: - Yemisir sambusa - lentil stuffed pastry kind of like a samosa but with a lovely flaky crust. - Key Sir Salata - chunky salad, crunchy and yummy. - Kategna - tangy, spicy mix in folded triangles, kind of like a stuffed soft thin pizza. Main: - Lalibella vegetarian combo - we chose these four toppings that were placed on different ends of the injera (reminded me of a Gujrati Thali) made with fermented teff batter, one of the healthiest grains there is - Shuro (chickpeas in slightly spicy berebere sauce), - Kosta (spinach and potatoes), - Tikel Gomen; (cabbage and potatoes cooked in vegetable oil with onions and garlic) - Yemisir Wot (lentils cooked in berbere sauce). This came with an Injera basket - spongy rolls that you could dip into the toppings as is or unroll to dip pieces. Our waitress Jano from Andhra was lovely . We had a bit of the injera and toppings left over - cut it into four and folded the bread over each topping.

Went there with four other friends around 9:45pm driving back from Boston and were so glad and relieved that they would still take our orders and serve us. Two of my friends are really picky when it comes to restaurants (another reason we were still without food at this hour after a long drive), so it's a 'yay' moment when we saw that the atmosphere is exotic and warm and the place, clean and neat. I love the combo where we could pick and choose different combinations of sauce and food. Each of my four friends had a different vegetarian dish and according to them, those were good. I had a combo of vegetables and shrimp and they were great.

Food was FANTASTIC! Super rich, very flavorful. Loved this and will definitely go again. Did the specialty platter that has a bunch of items to try. Huge and loads of foods.

Absolutely delicious. I tried 6 different vegetable dishes and punctuated each bite with an, "ummmumm". It is so tasty. Not only did I enjoy the food but my two picky toddlers enjoyed their meal as well. This is going to be my new birthday/date night spot. We did take out, but we found the workers to be attentive in the short time we were there. Great choice for vegans, so much flavorful variety.

Such a wonderful experience at Lalibela! The food was absolutely delicious. I had the vegetarian combo. The gomen was my favorite! What made the experience even more special was the friendly and welcoming service. Authentic Ethiopian cuisine and genuine hospitality.

The food at this restaurant was so amazingly delicious! Service was great and fast. Would definitely come back and visit any time I'm in the area. More importantly, I lost an expensive wallet and bag and thought it was gone forever. I opened my instagram DM requests two weeks later to find one of the employees not only found and messaged me letting me know they have it, but found out they've already mailed it to the location on my ID. So grateful for kind, honest people. EAT HERE! but don't be so full and happy that you forget your important stuff like I did haha.

Great restaurant. Beautifully spiced food, nicely done injera. The space is peaceful, spacious and well decorated. My server Anteneh was kind and attentive. Would definitely come again

Ate here mid-week and thought food was ok. Have definitely had better Ethiopian food, but would not have complained if not for the fact that it gave me food poisoning. About four hours after eating I had to abruptly and dangerously pull over to the shoulder of I-95 to vomit. Will not return.

I've patronized here for years. They are overpriced, quality of food on the decline, and don't give a lot of food for all you're paying. There's a similarly priced Ethiopian restaurant that recently opened down the street, Habesha, that has much better food & customer service than Lalibela.

Too salty for my taste buds. Had to drink significant amount of water to balance the salty pancake underneath and used for wrapping all the food with. Guess it must be for African food preferring to not get spoiled in hot weather and inherited such salty base.

When I crave Ethiopian cuisine, I can count on Lalibela to hit the spot! The menu is very vegetarian-friendly, the ambiance is great for casual groups, and the dishes are super shareable. The combo platter is a nice way to start off if you want to try multiple stews or vegetables. If you know what you want (or if you're on the hungrier side!), you can get a bigger entree size that still comes with two smaller vegetable dishes - I ordered the yemisir wot (one of my favorites) which came with zucchini and fosolia. The zucchini was cooked in a savory tomato-based sauce and was delicious. My partner ordered the combination platter with Tikel Gomen, Siga Alicha, Shuro, and Doro Wot. We both agreed that the Doro Wot was the best! Service can sometimes be on the slower side, especially when there are a lot of people in the restaurant. The servers are very nice and knowledgeable, but not as attentive - water glasses were not refilled even though they were empty before we were halfway through with our meal. When we were able to flag down a server they were refilled very quickly. The owner is also very kind and if he's free, he will occasionally stop by tables to chat with customers - we loved learning about the restaurant and his family! He mentioned that the restaurant also has a food truck that offers lunch on Cedar St (near the Yale School of Medicine) during the weekdays, which I am looking forward to trying!

Food 5/5 Service 4/5 Ambiance 4/5 I came here for an early dinner at 5pm with a friend. The restaurant had one other party of 2, and was otherwise completely empty. We were seated immediately. My friend, and I were a little overwhelmed by the menu, given the many choices. We asked our waitress for a recommendation and she let us know that they offer combination plates in which we get to choose 4 different things to try. This is what my friend and I ended up getting. Another thing I liked about the menu is that they offer the same things in a spicy and non-spicy option. My friend and I got a few of the same things but she got the spicy version and I got the non-spicy. Overall, I would rate the food 5/5. It was delicious and I was SO full by the end of the meal. My one disappointment is that I had ordered a coffee, which came out in this beautiful jug. I had only consumed maybe 1/3 of the coffee when the waitress came and said that another customer ordered the coffee and she needed to take the jug away. I thought she would take the jug back and pour the remainder of my coffee into a mug or a different container for me. She didn't. She took the jug away, and next thing I see is the waitress bringing that same jug to the other table. I was very disappointed that I paid for the entire jug of coffee and only got to drink maybe 1/3 of it and I was still charged the entire price for it. Knocked off one star for the coffee incident, but otherwise I would absolutely recommend for the food!

Went here with my family to celebrate a birthday. They were understaffed so it took a while to get our drinks. I had wanted a gin & tonic, but they were out of tonic. ( a little annoying) ended up with a beer. We had sambusa's for appetizers, then a meat sampler platter and a vegetarian platter. The food was terrific! Definitely a different experience eating with your hands! Felt bad for our server since she basically working alone on the floor. She did her best. Would definitely come here again

The food was delicious. Ambiance was comfortable. Service was a little slow. Only one server on. But a good experience.

Delicious food, cheap prices, huge portions. What more could you ask for? I ordered the veggie combo with yemisir wot (lentils), tikel gomen (spinach), and shuro (chickpeas). All of these dishes, plus the injera, were fantastic. The portion I received was immense considering the price of ~$13.

Beautiful authentic ambience. Great service and food Very courteous Suggest getting the combination platter. Unique taste and bread. Will surely come again

amazing food! wonderful piano player. get the tea!!! its amazing & so is all the food. service is great super friendly

I had never had Ethiopian food before but now I'm hooked! The food is amazing here. Literally anything off the menu was one of the best thing I ever ate. Two of us ordered the veggie platter and the meat platter. It was only $40 total and it was two full meals worth of food (and we have big appetites) The atmosphere is casual and the service is fine. The food is the real star here!!

Went with two friends for dinner on a Friday night and had a great time! Can say we were very grateful to have gotten there a little early, they were packed right after

Really good food, like as if your friends mother made you super delicious huge portions stewed food . We had the lamb and chicken and it came with sides of green beans carrots and another side of lentils with tomato sauce. If you are familiar with homemade Arabic or North African stewed food, this is exactly like that

Food was tasty but a little cold. Service slow but pleasant. Seemed understaffed. Will definitely return

Loved this meal!! Came across this food truck while walking around town. I ordered the rosemary chicken, which i believe is there doro tibs on their menu. This meal filled me right up, it had the perfect spices and the texture was amazing. I already miss this meal . I got a small squirt of hot sauce and it was just right. Definitely need to come back down and have this again!!

Many years ago during my first visit to New Haven, someone told me that I needed to eat Ethiopian food. I'm guessing it's because there is a large Ethiopian community here, but admittedly I haven't actually independently determined that. Over the years, on virtually every trip back here I've found myself in an Ethiopian restaurant, and this most recent trip was no different. We settled on Lalibela both because of its rating and the fact that it was across the street from our hotel. Though we made a reservation during our drive in from Manhattan, it wasn't necessary since the restaurant was mostly empty (as were the streets of New Haven during the summer break of a Covid year. We spent a long while regarding the menu, as my other three companions had not experienced this cuisine before. I sipped an excellent Ethiopian beer as we waited for our food, but unfortunately will not be able to find this again because I couldn't read the label which was printed in only the native language. Our dining adventure consisted of the following: Yemesir sambusa - a puff pastry, similar in texture and shape to a turnover, filled with lentils. Light and flaky, it was a good start to the meal. Fosolia - green beans, carrots, and onions cooked in a mixed of spices and herbs. Just okay; the seasoning seemed to really take over the dish. Doro alicha - chicken cooked in butter and spices, moderately spicy even though it's advertised as mild. Quite good. Siga wot - beef cooked in a similar way to the chicken dish. Beef was tender and heat level was low, which was appreciated. This was probably the best-liked part of the main meal. Yasa wot - white fish cooked in an herb sauce. There was a mixed reception to this; a couple of us thought it was really good but others found it to be less to their liking. These dishes are served with these rolls of what is best described as an unleavened sourdough pancake sort of thing. You use your fingers to scoop up the food. In past experiences, this is usually quite sour in flavor but on this occasion it was much less so. So, a fine meal overall. If our travels take us past here again in the future, we might stop in again. I would probably try to consider the way the individual dishes are prepared more carefully to choose flavors that are a little more dissimilar so provide a little more contrast to the meal.

The food is amazing! The staff is friendly and helpful. We ordered a vegetarian combo and the meat combo. Everything was so good! I've been there a few times and it is always packed but we were seated right away and food came out quickly!

My cousin and I have been wanting to try this restaurant for awhile and finally got the chance. It's been around since the 90s, and anyone we spoke with who has been loved it. Our experience didn't disappoint! The staff was very nice, the piano music was lovely, and the food was, as my cousin put it, FIRE! We had all mild options because of my kids, but it was all delish! Our favorite was the beef though. Whatever combination of seasoning used was just perfection. The kids found eating with their hands fun, and even my 10-month-old was obsessed with the lentils. I can't wait to come back!

Food was good- service was slooooooow and not sure why as there was only one other table and they were already served. Waters not refilled- that sort of thing.

Delicious Ethiopian food. Great vegetarian options that are full of flavor. Great lunch or dinner spot

Delicious! Not super spicy and some of the best I have had for San Diego, Portland, to Kenya. Definitely coming back if end up in New Haven again!

I have to stay, the Fosolia was amazing and brought back a lot of memories from Egypt. Overall the vegetarian dishes were exceptional. Felt like I went on a short trip to Ethiopia. Would recommend this place for anyone who wants to enjoy healthy and spice filled meal. Entrees were light but filling. The staff was also exceptionally busy but courteous and kind. Overall great experience and would come here again. And the ambiance was also pleasant

Went here to celebrate my husbands birthday. What a nice restaurant. Food was delish! It's def a unique experience. Would go back. Clean and beautiful restaurant. First time dining out as a family since March 2020. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is the server was very dry and my water was never refilled. We only got one napkin which isn't enough when eating multiple course with your fingers. Also it to a really long time to get the check when we were finished.

The food can't be beat. I am always extremely satisfied with my meal whenever I come here. The ambiance is lovely, too - last time I was there, a pianist was providing live music. That being said, the service has typically been somewhat slow for me. Not the best place to go if you are in a rush. Also, once when I was there, we were served scoops of food that were not the ones we selected from the menu. We decided not to say anything because it looked (and was) delicious. Although there are a couple of service-related aspects the restaurant needs to improve upon, the food is just so delicious it still warrants a 4-star review. This is still one of my favorite restaurants ever.

Visited this restaurant at the end of a year of visiting my 100 new restaurants and this one was a fantastic one to end on. Our server was super helpful as our group of 6 order lots of different combinations of items. I also appreciated that at the beginning of the menu it offered definitions and pictures of traditional Ethiopian dishes and flavors. All of our food was delicious and flavorful. Our one complaint was that the injera was flavored slightly like lemon which ultimately balanced anything that was spicy but threw off the taste of other things. I would definitely return to try more dishes.

My husband and I are quite big fans of Ethiopian food and our search for the same led us to Lalibela. I don't think we have any other Ethiopian joints in New Haven. The place is quite big and is maintained pretty decently. There was only one lady to take the orders and as a result, we ended up waiting so long to get our food. We ordered veg combo and meat combo, both include 4 side dishes each along with fermented crepes names injera. We definitely liked our food but find it more expensive for the quantity we are offered.

Food was very good. Service was great too. We tried a variety of things and liked it all.

I have had Ethiopian in Boston that set my standard for Ethiopian food. Took a little bit while for our food albeit we were a sizeable party of 8 and each got a combo. They forgot our appetizer which ended up o being ok since we were full. The injera (bread) that you eat with had more flavor than I was used to, it was almost lemony, which the food masked ok, but felt it took away from the food flavor a bit (which was very good by itself). My friend spilt her water on her food when we tried to have the waitress take a few epic picture and they were very quick on replacing it. Friendly staff, quiet enough atmosphere (although we went during the week). I plan on goin back.

By far my favorite place in New Haven to eat. All the dishes are so well seasoned and tasty. I can't get myself to stop eating every time I come here. The wait can be a little bit longer than usual to get your food, probably because of how complex each dish is. But trust me, the wait is worth it. I've never been disappointed coming here. The only downside is I leave this place so stuffed I can't even move because the food is just that good.

Food-wise and menu this restaurant deserves 4.5 stars. The menu is large and quite diverse with all sorts of toppings and sides. The food is delicious, flavorful, the sauces are fantastic. You can combine them in any way to eat with the Ethiopian thin bread. The Saturday night jazz pianist is good and a nice, unique touch. However, I am giving it 3-stars because this was arguably the longest restaurant wait time I've had - there was 1 waitress in charge of the whole night of about 25 customers. After sitting down, it took her 20 minutes to come and ask for our order, then another 30 minutes for the food to arrive. Also, for whatever reason, they kept the outside back door open, allowing into the restaurant a drift of 30 degree weather. That and the restaurant closes soooo early. On a Saturday night it closed at 9pm!

Some of my favorite vegetarian food in New Haven. I find myself craving it. You can't count on everything going smoothly, but the food is delicious and made with love.

I got the vegetarian sampler from here after a long hiatus because I was underwhelmed from my last dining experience and somehow it got worse. For the record all the vegetarian entrees are vegan. Everything here is premade, which normally isn't bad, but the food has the quality/consistency of food that has been left in a steam bath for hours just waiting for you to order it. The fosolia was limp and lifeless, like it had been over cooked. The flavor showed promise but the texture left a lot to be desired. The yemisir wot saved the entire meal, and was just as tasty as I remember it. It is stewed lentils, so if you are not a fan of mushy food then you won't like it, but it's well seasoned and spiced. The lunch time specials have a bit more texture so that confirms my suspicious that all the dinner time food is hot-held. The most egregious part of eating out from here is that they use frozen vegetables. This shows most apparently in their greens dishes, like the kosta (spinach and potato stew), which tasted like it was prepared with freezer dried chopped spinach. The gomen wasn't much better, it was way undersalted, sour and overboiled. I threw both of these away. Injera is fermented so I expect sour notes. I love fermented foods and enjoy making them (kombucha being my big one, but I also make traditional Ghanaian fermented foods) but I did not expect heartburn or to wince while eating it. I don't remember it ever tasting this sour. It seemed like it was just a day or two away from being unusable and I threw most of it away. For $17 it was a sad meal. I used to like eating here but when you throw out 60% of your meal it's not worth recommending. Should you choose to come here, get the yemisir wot and maybe the fosolia. Skip the rest.

If you've never eaten Ethiopian food before, this is a great place to go for rich, authentic flavors. The food is centered around injera, which is the soft flatbread that comes with every dish. For apps, we got the senge karya which was okay and the yesiga sambusa which was amazing! For entrees, we got the combination platter for two and chose a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes (see photos). You really can't go wrong with any of the choices! It was more than enough food for two people. We also got an Ethiopian beer and wine, which complimented the food well. Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable but it was a little slow.

I wanted to love this place due to the lack of vegan/vegetarian options in the New Haven area. I liked it, not loved it. Visited during the lunch buffet. Wasn't busy, but service was slow. Slow to greet upon entering. Slow to get more water. Slow when we had a question. There was only one woman and she was the nicest woman but wasn't always around (Theory in my head: she was working the back of the house cooking/ prepping as well as front of the house getting/serving/bartending) The food on the buffet was delish!!! Worthy of returning! My only problem was that there were no labels on any of the food. It wasn't a real problem until I wanted something with a sweet note. So I went to take a bite of what I thought was corn, and to my disappointment it was beans.... That's when I realized that I'm really just eating random foods. Even if I wanted to return to order something, I would have no clue as to what I ate... guess I could order a dish by color! Give me the yellow stuff that looks like corn and tastes likes beans or the shredded meat with a red orange sauce.

I would like Lalibela to create a chewing gum, so I might have their wonderful flavors at any time, anywhere. Truly my favorite Ethiopian food around!

The food is always great. The service is always nice. I have dined in and ordered before. Great for vegans! I always get the veggie combo.