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Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Valet, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
20 reviews for Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
This was my first Ethiopian food experience (i think?) and all in all it was OK. The Meskerem decor and vibe is great. Very ethnic/ eclectic. It was darkly lit and smoky (incense smoking not cigarette smoky).
As an appetizer, we order the lentil sambusa and beef sambusa and they were both good. The lentil sambusa was better. I ordered the meet combo with lamb and chicken dishes, another friend ordered a veggie platter, an the other a chicken dish (Dora?). I tasted everything (using a spoon not my hands, btw). The dishes tasted OK, kinda bland which I didn't expect at all. I thought the dishes would be very spicy but that wasn't my experience. I was not a big fan of the bread though I heard it's low in calories and works perfectly for eating the saucy dishes with your hands. All and all I'd go back and try some more adventurous dishes.
I have found a new love in this life. And this love happens to pertain to food, so I am uber excited. It is in the form of Ethiopian food at Meskerem. It was delicious!!! And super vegetarian/vegan friendly!
Prior to Mekerem, I had never tried Ethiopian cuisine. Boy was I missing out! The spices and flavors used are amazing! The food was exceptionally spicy as well, and I could not get enough (though my belly was begging to differ).
Matt and I went here this evening, and got the Lentil Sambusa to start, which consisted of a puff pastry (comparable to spring roll texture) with lentils, onions, and peppers. The jalapeno sauce served with it was awesome, though Matt could not handle its spicyness (silly Matt). Next, for my entree, I ordered the "Kik Alicha Wot," which was a mixture of split peas, onions, and garlic. Matt ordered the "Shrimp Tibs," or shrimp, garlic, and spices. We split an extra side of "Misir Wot," aka red lentils and spices (and, in actuality, we split all of the food).
One of the best things was- YOU EAT WITH YOUR HANDS!!! Fun! All food items are laid out on a large piece of Ethiopian bread (Injura, I think it's called) and you use folded up pieces of it to indulge. Take note, however, Injura does not have the same consistency as bread you and I typically eat (unless you are Ethiopian and reading this of course). It is made without yeast actually.
The people who worked there seemed so warm and happy. They gave off really good energy and I embraced that.
Furthermore, and call me ignorant, but I did not realize how beautiful Ethiopian people are... Very very striking.
Great place... I will be back and cannot wait to get dessert next time (and an Ethiopian brewski)!
My wife and I had a $30 gift certificate to Meskerem, and actually had trouble spending it all in one meal. The food here is a little cheaper than most of the other Ethiopian restaurants we've been to, and is actually more flavorful than most.
We started off with sambusa, which was a great start. The meat combo platter for two provided plenty of food for us and had great flavor. We got tiramisu for dessert, which was very well made.
Our waitress was quick and attentive, though this may have been because we were the only ones in the place. Seriously, it's a Saturday night at dinnertime, at a good inexpensive restaurant - why isn't anyone else there?
The food was good but the empty atmosphere made things a little... odd. Not to mention, the heavy incense smell started to get irritating after a while. I'll be back though.
This is the first time I have tried Ethiopian and I must say that it is my last. The service was good and the decor was fine,I just did not like the food. I ordered a beef dish that was ok, But it was the bread that really turned my stomach. At first I looked at it and thought that I would try something new. After a few bites i felt like a brick has landed in my tummy. I could not stand it. Overall it was a new experience that I am sure not to forget.
Authentic (at least in my mind), flavorful, and very filling. Located in a shopping center that seems to have a couple of Ethiopian restaurants, Meskerem has a nice environment, friendly service, and great food.
We ordered the sambrusas (like samosas at Indian restaurants, but filled with lentils), vegetarian entree for two, (my friends had the lamb dish), and the meal came with endless injera. I loved everything and couldn't stop eating until the injera started expanding in my stomach. I left with a huge smile. Although, I didn't have the lamb - my friends sucked it up.
If you are in to Ethiopian - give it a try.
I have now visited 5 of the Ethiopian joints in this area. Meskerem did not dissapoint. The food is a bit more garlicy here than at other places. I accompanied a large group of Ethiopians here for a business dinner. We arrived very late in the night- the restaurant was not crowded as most people don't eat at such a late hour. The staff was very friendly and quick. They did not complain about the fact that our group stayed after hours.
I highly reccomend their Tibs- very robust and garlicy in flavor, with the meat being tender and lean.
I think Ethiopian food is something you really crave, seek out, ravenously eat, are slightly disappointed with, refuse to eat for a few months, then mysteriously crave again...and the cycle continues.
I went to Meskerem with a friend about a month ago. After being slightly amused by the red carpet club next door, we ventured inside to the slightly disappointing decor. It was much like the little restaurant that could atmosphere...just not quite there.
Anyway, we ordered the veggie sampler, a shrimp dish, and an order of minchet abish. The food was, as other reviewers have more succinctly said, ugh, okay. The injera was not sour enough, but it expanded the second it hit my stomach. The collard greens and red lentils were definitely the highlights. The cabbage and onions was also pretty good. The minchet abish was just sad...it had virtually no spice (think sloppy joe meat tossed in a pan minus any of the yummy sauce).
Of course the act of eating Ethiopian was just plain fun...who doesn't like eating with your hands? But the food was just a disappointment as most of my Ethiopian experiences are. If someone knows of a fantastic Ethiopian place where the food is just as good as the experience, hit me up.
Hey everyone, it has been a while.
Eating at Meskerem was an unique experience. Service was slow ( about an hour to get out all of our entrees.) They ran out of the lentil sambosa, but I'm used to thing mysteriously disappearing whenever I go out to eat, so I was okay with that. I ordered the Miser Alecha, a sort of spiced lentil stew served on injera big enough to cover my whole head. The injera reminds me of something half-way between sourdough bread and a sponge ( not the best in the world, but not exactly bad either.) I warn you, they have an endless supply of injera... but I would limit yourself to one because it expands like crazy once it settles it your stomach.
My family ordered the Mewkerem Combo and Gomen Besesga, but they were not really impressed with any of it. Nothing was inedible, but no one really liked it enough to warrant a return trip.
Highlights: Pleasant waitresses and a decent price tag.
Lowlights: Music was unbearably loud, I got a pitcher of water dumped in my lap, and the food was mediocre.
This review is for Gretchen O. And that's because.. what?... yes I will refrain from cursing. It will be difficult, but by golly I will manage.
Anyway, headed out to this joint with a few peeps - Broderick S. and Lori S. along with a few others. Now let me start out by saying... food for me was a 3. Maybe 3.5. It just didn't rock my tiddlywinks or anything, but it wasn't as delish as I had hoped.
Basically I had some vegetarian dish, with like some flippin chick pea puree and like some green beans and then there was like a other puree and some cabbage stuff. But the neato part is that they put it all on the injera which is like a head sized crepe sponge monstrosity. This thing sits in a pan and you go to town eating this fun flockin stuff with your hands. They give you extra sponge bread too that you can use to pick up the goods. Needless to say, I was happy we didn't order traditional/family style. I don't think I could deal with 8 people digging in with their hands.
But anywhoo, the food, not bad, not crazy. Might be better if I ate meat, I kind of hate eating vegetables as an entree. Which is funny since I'm pescatarian. But that's my own silly fault.
So anyway, right the 4 stars. The service rocked. They were very nice and attentive to our party of 8. They even split the checks how we wanted which was what I would call awesomeness.
I personally wouldn't come back to eat, BUT I am gosh darn picky. If I was headed out with some folk(s) who wanted to get some Ethiopian food, I wouldn't hesitate to head back here. Worth a shot, in my oh so humble opinion. And there are like two other flippin Ethiopian places in that center, so what the hey!
F*** it I'm out. (I can't curse now! boo)
PS I totally reposted this review. The curse word above kept me off the main page / "new" section. How will I gain internet fame now, I ask you?
Ethiopian Cuisine is under represented in ATL. :) More Ethiopian, please!
Good venue close to Emory, fairly home-style. I'm no expert in Ethiopian food, but I was expecting the injera to be more sour... Especially compared to what I have had in LA and DC... which are the largest Ethiopian population centers in the States. I also missed honey-wine/mead.
All the same, it's convenient and close... and not to pricey.
Meskerem was a great experience. From the moment I sat down, I felt like I was going to be taken care of. Our server was great - helpful, attentive, but not in the way at all.
I started off with a St. George (ethiopian) beer. I love restaurants that carry their country's brews. I went for the entree of beef tibs, a great dish of beef strips sauteed in a garlicky butter sauce with tomatoes and peppers. It came on a traditional tray of injera, spong bread that you use to sop up your meal. The two sauces that came with it are h-o-t. One was a spicy jalapeno blend, and the other a mysteriously fiery red sauce.
The only thing I would have liked to see was more of a traditional Ethiopian presence as far as cocktails or desserts, but looking around the dining room, I noticed that the other clientele was mostly Ethiopian or Aftrican - and that's always a pretty good sign. Overall, it was a great meal and a great experience.
Tonight was my 4th time eating Ethiopian but the 1st time at Meskerem. It's hidden in a shopping center that interestingly has two Ethiopian restaurants (the other one is "Ledet Ethiopian Restaurant" ... no Yelp reviews yet). My friend picked the place, and I naturally read your reviews. Not so recent but all good.
Nice & clean inside. Full bar. A few families ... possibly Ethiopian. Very friendly service.
My friend is vegetarian so we ordered the Vegetarian Combo Platter for 2 which cost $16. The food was plenty. For those who haven't eaten Ethiopian before, the injera is provided with your meal and injera is a gray spongy & sour-tasting bread used as a wrap but also to scoop up some of the fillings since no utensils are provided. Our combo platter included a spicy lentil filling, a non-spicy lentil filling, green beans & corn, collard greens, salad, stewed cabbage & potatoes, & some mysterious greenish VERY SPICY filling. All very tasty & interesting. A great sampler platter, esp. if this is your 1st time. One thing worth noting - you don't realize that the injera has been slowly expanding in your stomach until BOOM, you're full. It's three hours later and I don't think the injera has moved at all.
Dessert selection was not so Ethiopian -- baklava & tiramisu. I was so craving a nice fruit smoothie ...
My friend & I agreed that we liked the food at Queen of Sheba more -- the atmosphere also feels more African there. Still, Meskerem is pretty good and the location is very convenient (right next to I-85). But I'll probably try Ledet next time.
After dinner, due to curiosity, we visited the European grocery store in the same shopping center. They sell some interesting foods -- mostly Russian, Lithuanian, and Ukranian -- incl. beers, liquor, pastries, meats, candies, chocolates, sodas, marinated mushrooms, .. even Russian tea sets. In case you're in the mood to explore another part of the world just around the corner.
After hearing a lot about Meskerem, I was really excited to try this place with some friends who never had Ethiopian. The service was slow (like at all Ethiopian places really), so we ordered appetizers: them a beef sambusa, and I got a lentil sambusa. Well, our waitress got ours confused, and unfortunately I did not realize this until I had a mouthful of beef, which as a vegan was rather unpleasant for me. We joked about it later saying "SURPRISE! IT'S BEEF!!!" But still .... one of the least pleasant things I've had in recent memory at a restaurant.
The entrees were okay. Between our friends, and my husband and myself, we ordered one meat combo for them and a veggie combo. The thing that surprised me is just about every Ethiopian place I've been to separates them, but the veggie combo and meat combo were on the same plate. I didn't really enjoy this since there was a meat dish in the middle, which means meat sauces tended to end up splashing all over the vegetarian dishes. Their green bean dish was actually pretty good, but I found their yellow lentils bland, and the Misir Wot (split red lentils cooked in berbere sauce) had too much cinnamon and were not spicy enough to my taste. The Atkilt Wot (cabbage, potatoes, and carrots cooked in a sauce) was decent though not outstanding.
Overall, the food was all right but not outstanding. It certainly couldn't hold a candle to some of the Ethiopian I've had in DC, but sadly that just seems to be the downside of living in Atlanta. I'd much rather go to Daallo in Stone Mountain - while their Ethiopian menu isn't as large (it's Somali and Ethiopian, plus some Mediterranean), the dishes are prepared just as they should be.
This was...an experience...
I decided that I really wanted to try Ethiopian food, and really, I'll try everything twice, but I was not a big fan.
In a strip off Clairemont. Families gathering, groups of people- possibly Ethiopian. Foreign TV and music videos streamed in. Basic, simple decor. Slow, slow service.
We ordered the lentil soup as a starter (not bad at all) and the meat platter for two to share. Now, I'm not saying that the food was horrible. It was decent. The injera (sourdough flatbread) was not what I expected; it was pretty rubbery. But, no matter.
Chicken, beef, lamb, and red lentils comprised the platter...and actually, that's the order I would rank the dishes. It definitely had good spice and a lot of flavor, but I've decided Ethiopian food just isn't for me.
If you're up for trying something new and very different, plate's up.
I took my visiting family (including an 18-month-old) to Meskerem for Sunday lunch after church. I selected it primarily because it is a) close to the church and b) Ethiopian seemed like it would be toddler friendly.
The service was good, and the server and the other patrons seemed totally okay with the alternatively happy and angry pterodactyl noises the kiddo emitted, and the fact that I believe every other group of patrons in the place was African is a pretty good endorsement in my book.
The decor was classy, and it appears that they must have music on the weekends. The bar area, which dominates the far end of the room, was clean and modern-looking, though I found the extremely large flat-panel TV over it kind of surprising. I've never seen that in an Ethiopian place before.
So, the food. I had concerns about how I would feel about it given that I spent much of the last year living in the "little Ethiopia" section of DC. We ordered sambusas, which were excellent, if way too hot to handle and eat for several minutes after they arrived. Then came our combination. There were beef tibs, collard greens, lentils, chicken, and some other things on the platter. The injera came ingeniously pre-cut and served rolled up in a basket, so you could just grab a roll and unroll it as you tore bits off to grab the food.
Everything was decent, and probably excellent in the context of Ethiopian food in Atlanta, and the baby had a ball feeling like we were treating her just like the adults since we were all eating with our hands. She had been making a show of militantly independent pterodactyl noises earlier in the day, so this was a good good thing.
Somehow I've become a very picky eater. Usually I like to stick to what I know and avoid all weird spices and always cringe when my friends talk about going to strange foreign hole in the walls to eat tongue or whatnot. Thus when my girlfriend suggested we go eat Ethiopian for dinner on a day when I'd eaten nothing else by 5 PM, I was a little wary, but interested. I didn't know anything at all about Ethiopian food. I knew nothing about what they served.
Now I do and I am glad.
Basically, you come here to eat with your hands. They bring plates of different meats (ours had lamb and chicken) and vegetables (potatos, yellow stuff, green stuff: I didn't really know what everything I was eating was), which you pick out from a rather varied menu, all of which I knew nothing of. Instead of utensils they bring little rolls of bread that looks like washcloths but tastes really good and has a nice consistency. Then you use the bits of bread to sop up the platter items.
I was really happy to discover that the spices and weird flavors I had expected weren't so weird: the flavors were all very palatable and unique and easy to enjoy. I found myself wanting to gorge. It was very nice to discover that something I assumed was way out there was actually easily lovable and filling. We also tried the lentil soup which was very tasty and easy on the stomach.
The decor was moderate: just a standard building with a animal skin rug when you come in and a big screen TV over the bar playing Ethiopian music movies. Pretty awesome. On Sat and Sun nights they have live DJs which I think would be interesting to come back for.
I'm glad I got to try this place: I'd go again in a heartbeat. It's nice to expand your horizons, even when you're a cereal and sugar-fed white boy like me.
I don't care if you've never eaten Ethiopian & are scared. Go here!
It's so good I've never eaten at another Ethiopian restaurant in town. They have only one vegetarian entree, which normally I'd whine about. But it's irrelevent, because I'd never eat anything else anyways.
Ethiopian food comes to you on a big platter (the veg option comes in for 1 or for 2 sizes.) The food is served with a basket of a bread called injera. Wash your hands, because you're about to eat with them.
You unroll the bread & use it to scoop up the food. When I'm at this point, I'm completely silent because all I can mumble is "oh my godd" & "mmmmmm."
Meskerem is low-lit & cozy - a perfect date restaurant, especially with the whole hands-on thing. Even if it's busy it stays quiet due to the high ceilings & tables spaced far apart. This makes it a great place for dinner conversation! Service is excellent, & you get all the bread you want. They have a full bar, but don't seem to have bartending finesse. Stick with a beer or wine if you get booze.
The location is next to the Tara theater & Return to Eden. Come before a movie if you're on a date, or before your grocery shop so you'll be nice & full.
I walk out of Meskerem miserable every time, because I cram every morsel I can into my mouth.
Oh wow. I don't even know how I can write about how amazing the food and service was here, but dammit! I'll try!
Everything was delicious and the portions are ridiculously huge for the price you pay. Our waitress was so kind and very eager to help us out with anything we needed. And the food..OH GOD. I can't even think about it without shuddering with pleasure a little bit. We got an appetizer that consisted of of heavily spiced (not hot, spiced as in cumin etc) meat dumplings wrapped in a dough similar to the wonton around Thai eggrolls and fried and the meat combo for two and it was LOADED. Tons of food on this platter! There was incredibly tender chicken that was braised and in this smokey spicy sauce, tender shredded lamb, cubed beef with bell peppers and tomatoes, garlicky sweet cabbage with potatoes, and collard greens. I have to say, I freaking hate collard greens, but I love these! I liked them better than the meat! The inerja was soft, spongy, tangy and delicious. For those with a fear of "wet bread", inerja isn't like your typical bread that gets soggy. It's not a yeast bread, it's much more spongy and liquid doesn't penetrate it as easily.
I would come back here over and over again, I really really loved it.
I was definitely feeling the love @ Meskerem. Meskerem sits among other Ethiopian restaurants and has a big open room with a TV above the bar in warm surroundings. The full bar offers an array of Ethiopian specialties including the tequila sunrise, Cosmo, Blue Kamikaze, Irish Coffee.... OK scratch that. The cocktail menu is not Ethiopian at all. The clientele was predominantly Ethiopian, and I saw zero demand for any of those drinks. They did have a nice Ethiopian beer.
The servers were top notch and very helpful with the menu. I had the shrimp tibs with plenty of injera (pancake like bread made out of teff flour). The jalapeno paste on the side was fresh and tasty. The food came out quickly and drink orders and refills came out promptly. My only gripe is that they could've used normal sized shrimp instead of salad shrimp for the entree (the only reason it doesn't get a 5-star from me).
It was an enjoyable meal with fellow yelpers and friends, and the server had no problem splitting checks for our group of 8.
I have had better Ethiopian food at other places, but this was better than Moya. The food was all pretty good, especially the vegetables. I didn't think the lamb dish had enough lamb in it. Also, the service is slow. Painfully slow.
