Lalibela Restaurant

A very rich familiar place!! First time on ethiopian cuisine experience!! ..and was winderful! Great tastes, surprising and delicious… we’ve to learn a lot about this food and culture.. Coffee, as per the ethiopian style, is a must!!

I don’t ever come to Columbus without visiting this restaurant. I’ve been to Ethiopian restaurants all over the US, and I promise that no one has anything on this spot here. HOWEVER! I don’t know who these new staffers are or if I always go at a time when the better workers are here, but the service has definitely gone down. You’re not greeted, they don’t ask if you want anything to drink, they play the saaaame song over and over and over, and the cherry on top is that there are so many incense being burned that it smokes you out of the place! It’s just too much now and I hate that because I love this restaurant so much. I miss the woman who worked there who I would always converse with, was a great hostess at the bar, and the cooks made your food quicker than they do now. Idk. I hope the next time I come, things are MUCH more improved. But just LOOK AT THIS FOOOOOOD!!!! OMG, it’s so good. TOP TIER!!

The food was good and reasonably priced. We had a great time dining here. My Ethiopian friend said food was authentic.

Superbly seasoned and cooked meat. Very friendly service

My girlfriend and I just came in 30 mins ago. She got the veggie platter and I got fir fir to go. First of all, we entered the restaurant and were greeted with genuine kindness and by a welcoming people. I wanted dorowat, but vegetarian. They weren’t able to accomodate because they make the dorowat with chicken and it takes a while to cook. Instead, the lady I spoke to offered fir fir. I decided to try it and she added extra jalepeños without me knowing, because she got the vibe that I’d want it spicy from our convo. Excellent service! You just can’t get this style of service anywherre anymore, I love it! The food ended up being amazing! Well spiced, endowed with flavour. They did NOT skimp out on the spices and flavour! And they gave such large portion, unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else! There is no way I’m ever eating anywhere else besides Lalibela’s ever again. I’ve been so dissapointed with restaurant food lately. I almost got indian food tonight and put “ethiopian food” into google and drove 20 mins to get to this place and it did not dissapoint! Bless this restaurant, its owners, the workers, and the Habesha people!

First time at an Ethiopian restaurant. Very interesting. Food was different but very flavorful and spicy. I liked the beef tebs and red lentils. I really enjoyed the salad. However I didn't enjoy the spongey bread or the collard greens.. Not that it is bad, just wasn't to my taste.

Food was amazing. It was not much different than the other Ethiopian restaurants I have been to..great atmosphere. Dont get upset with the location. Service was good. The best part is the fresh snacks made by a lady there. She was nice enough to explain what it was and let her to try it..I would highly suggest this place to you if you are curious to check out some good Ethiopian cuisine..

Lalibela is an authentic African restaurant. It has a great bar, a pool room, and a clean dining room. I watched the UEFA Nations League semifinal here. Congrats to Spain. Service is good and Wi-Fi is fast. Their meat is always juicy. The price and size are great. There is a large amount of injera entrees in the menu, but I am not used to have the sour taste of the injera.

Small shopping plaza, next to Santiago Supermarket, tattoo parlor too. I hear a pool table by the front and ba Ordered 1 #35 to start, so we could get one round of the veggies with the chicken tebs, spicy. Ordered a second round #35. $42.98. Their only veggies here: cabbage, collard greens, red lentil, ground chick peas and salad. Not a lot of veggie options here. All of the veggies except for the collard greens are spicy, all good. The chicken is a tad dry, but super flavorful. The collard greens are ok, as was the salad. These two weren't my favorite. The cabbage, red lentil, yellow lentil, chick peas are all good. Some parts of the yellow lentil is a bad hard and clumpy. The injera here has a nice bite and tartness to the dough. Food is good, service too.

Finally tried Lalibela and wow it did not disappoint. Sat right away on a Friday night and had excellent service throughout. The flavors were exceptional, service was fast, prices were very reasonable. The restaurant has a bar area, pool table, and a nice lounge in the back intermixed with many tables. Can't wait to go again!

My first time trying traditional Ethiopian and I'm excited to try other places in our city. The food was flavorful and everyone was very welcoming. They did not assume we weren't sure how to enjoy the food. It were happy to answer questions when we had them. Between the beef and the lamb, I found the lamb to be more soft and tender. I enjoyed the injera when it soaked in the flavor from the tebs. The fish was very crunchy and I enjoyed the spicy dipping sauce it was served with.

I'm always a fan of Ethiopian food and Lalibela is a great restaurant on the East side of town. Its a quiet, casual restaurant tucked away in a strip mall. There's a large bar/dance? area that you walk through to get to the seated dining space. Our waitress was nice and patient as we tried to make decisions for food and drink. We got the vegetarian platter along with a lamb and beef tib of sorts. I also got some honey cider to go along with my meal. The food was excellent and so filling. There's just always so many flavors and ways to combine the various dishes along with the wonderfully spongey, soury injera. The honey cider was also great, strong honey flavor, sweet, and went great with my meal. Definitely a must go for Ethiopian food or for anyone wanting to try something outside of common American fare.

The food was absolutely delicious and large portions for low prices! I'd come again if I'm in the area.

Whenever I want some delicious rice and lamb with extra sauce and spice this is the place I go to. I've been going here for 3 years and it never fails. I really enjoy the Italian bread and the salad. I really enjoy the music. It makes me feel at home. The customer service is great. As soon as I walk in the dore there is a person waiting to take my order and the food does not take long to get to me. Beautiful people, beautiful culture and amazing flavorful food.

Love this place! Can't wait to come back with students! This is such a nice laid back place to chill!

It reminded me of top Ethiopian restaurants I've been to in DC and New York. Beef, lamb, vegetarian dishes were of high quality and very flavorful. Especially the Kitfo

Ethiopian restaurant that uses halal meats, but serves alcohol - take it for what it's worth. Veggie combination plate - this plate literally has a little bit of everything. Unfortunately, there are no substitutions. I wanted to try the Shiro so we ordered the Shiro plate. These plates are massive. It's challenging to finish an entire plate solo. The presentation is ON POINT! Some people like their injera soggy by mixing everything together. The additional injera (on the side) is GLORIOUS! my injera was nice and firm with every single bite. Would 100% revisit.

It has been a few hard days and after two doctors appointments this morning, I needed a hearty meal and do we got a combo platter with beef, and a lamb platter substituteing their cauliflower and potatoes veggie for their great greens. Everything was amazing.

I had to update my review, because I realized my last one was pretty old and this has become one of my family's most frequented restaurants. My husband and I came here pretty regularly before but now our daughter is obsessed with it and if asked what she wants for dinner, she'll always say the sour bread place. The food is always somewhere between really good or great. I feel like the variance is indicative of how homemade it all seems. We all love their injera. We typically get the Mahberoch with the chicken tebs as the protein and an order of the ye siga wot added on as well. The servers are lovely, and it's been the same gals for about as long as I can remember. The owner usually will stop to chat if he's around, he's very kind. It's charming inside, with some traditional looking decor and there's a small space in the dining room dedicated to the coffee roasting ceremony they'll do periodically. I believe they have live music sometimes too. The quality of the food plus the experience is always worth the cost as far as I'm concerned, and it's definitely a very reasonable cost at that. Try them out!

Dinner at Lalibela last evening was a real treat. Service was reasonable, and included a visit from the owner. We enjoyed our meals - Ye Beg Wot, and Beef Tibs. Ordered mild, both were plenty of spice - not for the faint of heart :). The Ethiopian beer helped with the spice!Ethiopian food is a rare indulgence for our family, as most aren't adventurous enough. I'm a fan, though; I think it offers delicious and interesting flavors, and the base of injera is a tasty alternative to, say, rice or noodles. Spicy, never boring! Eating with our hands (no utensils) can be really fun - and as a side benefit, it's really hard to eat with one's hands and also manage a cell phone ... a nice respite. Thanks Lalibela - I'll be back soon!

Because things are made from scratch, if you order ahead, things go a little quicker but the food is phenomenal! The coffee service is an experience and wonderful, unlike any other coffee!

We ended up moving further away from this restaurant but still end up making the drive to come eat here. It is truly the best Ethiopian restaurant here in Columbus and worth checking out. The food is delicious & the service is great.

Delicious authentic Ethiopian food, great service and very pleasant people. Everything was seasoned perfectly with nice presentation by beautiful and friendly African ladies!

The food is definitely ethnic. Definitely delicious and definitely worth getting. And it put service back on the map when you go in there they attend you and make sure that everything is OK and I highly recommend it

First time I ate Ethiopian food. Not my favorite style. However the food was authentic.

I love Ethiopian food and wasn't disappointed here. My husband and I came as part of a Meetup group and I'm glad that this was the place they choose. It was clean, service was good for our size of group, and the food was good and presented well. The prices were reasonable too. I especially loved the coffee. Because the coffee charges must be done separately and she won't accept a credit card, remember to have cash with you. Each tiny cup is$3 and worth every drop. My husband had the Netanyahu, which is the combo. It was flavorful, but my shuro was fabulous. Just the right amount of spiciness. The only negative was parking. We had to go in another restaurant's lot and walk over. What that means was others have discovered a good place to eat and reasonably priced. We will go again.

Outstanding food. We got a combo and also a lamb ye beg wot. Everything was terrific. At least on par with if not better than the best Ethiopian food I've had (in D.C. and in Frankfurt, Germany).

Food was very flavorful, and came out in a timely manner ! Staff was very hospitable had a nice family vibe to it. They burn incense through out the restaurant, it didn't bother me at all but May bother some. Very very authentic food, coffee ceremony was amazing.

Wonderful service and great food selection. The restaurant space itself is welcoming especially on a rainy night when I craved some comfort food. The vegetarian combo is generous for 2 and if you add one meat dish, it's the perfect dinner for two. I wish the dishes were a tad more flavorful but other than that, we will be back.

Love Love Love! This restaurant has never failed to bring me pure joy! Ithe staff is great! Get the special coffee if you can its amazing! I wish i could eat here every week! Bringing my grandkids soon!

This is where I started going after blue nail downtown closed. Our whole family loves it! We come in from out of town once a month. My daughter really likes the lights they put up a few weeks ago. The Kitfo is my go to. So glad they have been making the cheese with it again.

One word - wonderful! Coming from a city where there is a huge Ethiopian diaspora and some amazing food, this was a gamble to try and we were not disappointed. All of us being carnivores opted for an all meat selection with the exception of the shiro. The service was excellent and the food was absolutely delicious and we ate to our hearts' content. We definitely will be back on our next visit to Columbus!

I'd give it six stars ****** if I could! I love this place. Years ago, I went there with my two kids, little at the time. I really enjoyed it then but my girls thought it was too spicy so it fell off my radar. About a year ago, my wife and I decided to give it a try and we both loved it. We've been back over and over again. The derek tibs are my favorite, hands down, but I've never had anything that I found disappointing. The place is not fancy, but it's clean and comfortable. The owner is there often and he politely makes sure everything is working as it should. The food is always fantastic and the prices are totally reasonable -- actually, they're really good considering everything you get.

I love the people here. I love the food. I wish it were something like this closer to where I lived in Dublin. I have never had the opportunity to sit down and eat there, but I always get the food to go. I'm always getting excellent suggestions from the staff

Love this place. Delicious food and very authentic. The atmosphere is not super fancy but it's authentic and the service is great (just don't expect fluent English). Highly recommend!

Wonderful prices, great portion sizes and the food tasted great. The space is also very large as well. We both ordered a lamb dish. We live in the north of Columbus so it's a bit of a hike, but we will be back. Highly recommended for Ethiopian food.

Let me start by saying that I love Ethiopian food, and the food here is pretty good. The injera here is quite good and the couple of dishes we had nice flavors, although I've eaten better berbere sauce at other locations. The staff is also quite friendly although a bit more reserved than typical Ethiopian places. I'd probably give it 4 stars on the food itself. But the 3 star overall rating is really related to the cleanliness. The table we sat on had stains on the tablecloth, and the floors was very dirty. The latter became especially apparent when my wife broke the heel of the shoe and had to walk bare feet for a bit. My breakdown would be as follows: Food: 4 stars Service: 4 stars Cleanliness: 1 star

This place was amazing! My friend from Ethiopia took me here and it was a true experience. Lalibela has food true to the culture and atmosphere true to the culture. My friend walked me through every decoration they had and where different pictures were from. The food was so good. We got shiro and maberoch with beef. It was delicious and such a good portion of food to share! This is a really nice place to sit and enjoy dinner with a friend.

Our meal was incredibly tasty. Went with the marinated beef (tebs) and the chicken drumsticks with sides of collard greens and cabbage. Everything was really good. Next time, I'll definitely go with the beef again and maybe try a lamb dish. Don't get me wrong, the chicken tasted amazing, but it's hard to eat chicken on the bone without utensils (i.e. injera). Can't wait to come here again.

Great robust flavors for meat and veggies. The only problem is parking. Enjoyed all the food . I just asked them to give me a veggie dish and a meat dish. So they gave me a combination of the two. It was all great. As always is this a place I would bring a friend from out of town. Hell Yeah! Chicken was moist and all veggies were soft and delish.

I will give this place a one (1); their service sucks and are slow. They drinks are the smallest portion too.

Lalibella was overall an amazing experience! We had such a good time there. This restaurant is great for either a big group or a date. There's plenty of seating and the server was very kind and stopped by our table frequently to check up on us. The portions are big! The dish we ordered was big enough (and some left over) for two people. The lentils, lamb, and sides were filling, rich with flavor, and still felt healthy to eat and not to heavy. Eati g with your hands and the injera is definitely a new experience, in which my friends and I loved! It's a new skill to learn and enjoy. My friend also ordered the vegetarian version and loved it. It's super affordable for all of the different parts of the dish that come with it. Parking is available but it's tight. The restaurant is tucked into a small plaza to the left and on the corner of the plaza. I loved Lalibella and will definitely be going back!

disclaimer i only ate the veg platter, cant speak on the meat dishes. first coming in i was very hopeful, place is a cool dive with pool and a bar. i shouldve walked out when i read they have pasta. think about this - an ethiopian restaurant serving pasta.. its silly to assume anything else than the preparation of that being anything better than microwaved out a freeze dried box. which shouldve clued me into the preparation of the rest of their menu its trash, stews tasted like mud puddles with a little salt and the cabbage/kale couldve been soaked with rainwater and food coloring. weirdly they have berbere spice in a shaker on the table, probably cuz the stews are less tasteful than dogfood. gets 1 more star cuz the place looks really cool

Wonderful Ethiopian restaurant! The food is always delicious and the service is always very friendly. Definitely a hidden gem in Columbus.

In a strip center and don't mind the decor you will get a top notch Ethiopian meal. I like spicy and it was delicious. You can choose mild and the flavors are great. Don't miss this.

THIS PLACE WAS INCREDIBLE. I love Ethiopian food. It's one of my favorite cuisines and this place was amazing. I've tried other Ethiopian places in Ohio but this was the absolute best. The flavors are amazing & the serving size is huge! I had two meals just from my lunch! I would definitely go here again.

Enjoyed our Whitehall Chamber lunch here. So interesting to see the ethnic meal. Will go back

Few cuisines are more satisfying than East African food, and after telling a colleague about a great dining experience we'd had at Drelyse (which is West African), he recommended Lalibela, and my girlfriend and I ended up trying it out a week later. First of all, mentioning the location can't be avoided. Lalibela is in the Whitehall neighborhood, which is one of the more crime-ridden areas in the city. In fact, there was a fatal shooting a mere four blocks away on the day we ate there. Yikes. But if you're willing to drive to the area, the food at Lalibela is indeed rewarding. The atmosphere of the restaurant is a little strange, as it opens into a bar-like area, with the dining room off to the right. The decor is a little bland, and the lights were notably flickering, but we were seated and given our menus quickly enough. So many of the menu options are appetizing, and quite a few have pictures and thorough descriptions so that neophytes to Ethiopian food have a sense of what to order. I personally ended up getting the beef dices, while my girlfriend ordered the goden tibs, though we wound up sharing a lot of each other's dishes. The portions here are huge, and as much as I loved both dishes, there was definitely too much to eat -- this isn't a problem, obviously, but more of a feature. Since my meal was served on injera, and my girlfriend's on rice, we both had enough carbs to cause Robert Atkins to roll over in his grave. But the flavors of both dishes were so complex and delicious that we didn't mind stuffing ourselves, and we wound up doing our best to soak up some of the sauces in our respective carb-of-choice. The prices are more than reasonable for the amount of food you receive, so I count the entire experience as a win. Despite certain legitimate considerations like the location, we'll certainly return for the best East African food I've had in a long while.

Decent Ethiopian food. Nothing spectacular. Ive had way better elsewhere. There's a server there, a woman who has a mousy squeaky voice, she's rude. But the older gentleman who brings out the food is so kind. I'm vegan. I order the veg platter. Again, not great but not terrible. Subpar Ethiopian food. Some days are better than others which shows they are inconsistent.

This was the first Ethiopian spot I tried and I feel comfortable and saying it will be the only one I eat at! I love the envy and the food is always delicious and comes out fast! Love it! Something about eating with your hands that makes it taste better lol

Had a wonderful experience yesterday while dining in for dinner. The injera with lamb (I also get a side of rice) is my go to, but I always get takeout! I met a new friend, had a wonderful & friendly server/bartender & as ALWAYS ... the food was delicious & flavorful.

We sought this place out. Walked in and found ourselves in a casual bar type setting. Definitely a place were the local come back over and over. The cuisine is authentic, the servers helped us in how to eat as their customs and what they recommended. Beef tebs and Goden tibs, and the Fir Fir tibs all came out on a large family sized tray to share. Everything was great. The Injera bread was good, but I will say I missed a fork after a few! We came back a few more times after our first visit, even brought more people with us!

I've had Lalibela bookmarked for years. It has good reviews. The space is roomy. They have a big bar/entertainment area when first walking in the door. A big seating area past that with several four-top tables. Our waitress was young, very pleasant, gave a few suggestions for what she likes. Tried the Ye Beg Tibs: Marinaded lamb chunks mixed with onion and red pepper sauce (Berbere), served juicy. You have the choice of mild or spicy. Mild was a bit of a kick, but I could taste the awesome meld of spices. Great dish. Comes with a small side salad (FYI, the zesty dressing is tossed in before plating), and, of course, several rolls of injera. My mother also got a lamb dish, however her dish did not have "acidic", tomato (?) accents. Having trouble describing it, but at any rate, it was also very good.

The food was wonderful. Walking in to a dark bar with pool tables to the left was a surprise. I was there for lunch on a Monday and the service was fast.

This place never fails to disappoint. I haven't been here in 2 years and they are still serving terrible food. I ordered Zil Zil tibs for takeout and EVERY piece of lamb was like jerky. If I wanted dried up lamb jerky I would've gone to another store for that. I thought surely after 2 years they would've upped their game. Sadly--no. The atmosphere is not pleasant at all, the parking is atrocious because they are in a small strip mall that has a lot of traffic. Apparently none of the shop owners have a desire to powerwash the filthy sidewalk. This place should really be ashamed because excellence is NOT their motto when it comes to food.

The food was authentic tasted great, server was nice . I wish that the service was a little bit faster there was only one person serving the entire place this could be due to Covid so I'm not holding that against this restaurant . I will be a returning customer.

I'm convinced that a friend and fellow co-worker of mine bought his car from the Ford dealership across the street from Lalibela just so that he would have the excuse to come eat here everytime he took his car to the dealer for service. Which is exactly how I ended up at Lalibela for lunch with him the last time I was here. I've eaten Ethiopian food in places like Philadelphia and D.C., back when I lived on the East Coast. Honestly, I was never that taken with the cuisine back then; everything seemed underseasoned and overcooked. Lalibela, however, is not that kind of place. The food here is perfectly cooked; leafy vegetables are stewed until they're tender, but still have a little bit of bite to them. Lentils and split peas are delicate without being mush. Everything is nicely spiced, with just the right amount of flavor. My friend's go-to is the zilzil tibs, slices of lamb stir-fried with onions and green bell pepper, seasoned with chili pepper and an array of other spices. It's the kind of dish that keeps me from ever even contemplating becoming a vegetarian. Having said that, I also recommend the beyaynetu, a vegetarian platter that includes collard greens, lentils, yellow split peas, stewed cabbage, and salad; everything is tasty, and you get five different dishes in your one order. You might also want to consider the doro wat, which according to the Internets (which are never wrong) is the national dish of Ethiopia. It's bone-in chicken drumsticks, plus a hard-boiled egg, stewed in an unctuous spicy gravy. It's one of the few chicken dishes on the menu, and wow, is it good. Entrees are served family-style, arriving on a large platter on top of a bed of injera, the spongy Ethiopian bread, and a basket of injera accompanies your meal as well. Traditionally, Ethiopian food is eaten with your hands, using the injera to scoop up your food, but they'll provide you with forks if you prefer. The restaurant itself is modest, from the standpoint of decor. I've been here both for lunch, when it's pretty quiet, and for dinner, when it can be quite the scene - they have a pool table and bar in the front area, and it seems to function as the local watering hole for many members of the local Ethiopian community. Service is a little slower then, but equally welcoming and friendly, and they're open until 2AM, which doesn't hurt, if you're jonesing for a stellar late night meal.