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Alem Restaurant

4.6 (54 reviews)
Open • 10:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

Alem Restaurant Photos

Business Info

ALEM RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Dogs allowed
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - Alem Restaurant

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Alem Special

The Alem Special was a great choice to taste a little bit of everything and was enough food for two. The injera was the perfect vessel for the food, all of which had great flavor. The staff was also very kind, would absolutely recommend!

Meet and Veg
Michael T.

We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon and it was not busy at the time. Coming in during slow times always makes it difficult to judge the service but it was ok. We ordered the meat and veg sampler. The food was good. I think Ethiopian food has some of the best veg dishes. I was hoping for a bit more but I believe it was just the weird time we came in.

Vegetable sampler
J G.

Very good Ethiopian Cuisine. I would come back. The lady who helped me was very friendly and helpful. I had the vegetable sampler and a side of shiro. The hot greens dish was super good in the sampler and everything else was enjoyable as well. If the shiro had more flavor it would be an easy 5 stars. I reviewed 3 Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle in last week, I would rank this one the best. They are all above average! I've had Ethiopian food at numerous spots in NYC, DC, and Baltimore so my standards are extremely high. Most people would rank 2-3 of these spots I reviewed at 5 stars which I do understand.

Meat combo dish
Megan L.

We want to this restaurant on a quiet weekday afternoon. We were the only customers there for the first half of the meal. The cook was also the server, and she said she was new, so things were slower than usual. She graciously apologized for the wait and treated us very well. We ordered a veggie platter and a meat platter. Both were great but the meat was especially good. I'm never completely sure what I am eating at Ethiopian restaurants but that doesn't matter, as it is all delicious.

A perfect coffee.
Krystian F.

I stopped by Alem on a Rainy day for a generous late lunch for one. I live South of Seattle, and don't have Ethiopian food readily accessible so I was really looking forward to this meal. There was plenty of seating, and I was able to grab a table right away. The server was very kind and took my order right away (I ordered the #1 meat/veggie). My food came out shortly after, and was beautiful. I had so much food, it was really enough to share but I was in heaven. I ate as much as I could but still had about half of the meal left. It was all perfect. ALL PERFECT. The okra is especially amazing. The chef also came to introduce themself and asked if I'd like a coffee. Y'all. They brought me a beautiful cup of coffee. It was sooooo delicious. I want another cup right now. 10/10

Good food, neat place, very shady location. Street parking available although it gets busy and people drive very fast and scary here. I was not sure how safe the car would be as we had to park a block down the restaurant. Food is good!

#1. Meat combo.
Nami N.

We decided to stop for lunch while driving down Ranier Ave. I found this restaurant on Yelp and decided to give it a try. We were able to park in front of the restaurant. Only street parking is available. We arrived at the restaurant at 12:30 pm with 3 people, but there were no customers, probably because it was a weekday. A woman in the store greeted us with a smile. We looked menu and chosen #1 meat combo and 3 of ginger tea. We always eat one plate of Ethiopian food for two people. This time, the meat combo was large, so we ordered one for 3 people. A meat platter with a mix of meat entries are perfect to try. Ginger tea tastes different depending on the restaurant. I usually like sweet ginger tea with honey. But there is no sweetness here, and sugar comes. So adjust sweetness by yourselves. Meat combo comes with 8 kinds of ingredients on the injera. The taste was good and made us full. I would like to try other menus next time.

Veg combo with Shiro

Back again and again and it literally just hits so good. Have had a ton of Ethiopian food all over the west coast and even compared to the Bay Area this is my favorite hands down. Veg combo and shiro for the win. Injera is perfect level of sour and good amount of teff.

Yes, yes yes.   Holy Ethiopia goodness.

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2 years ago

The service is great, very nice people. We had delicious Ethiopian foods and the whole experience was amazing.

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2 years ago

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5 years ago

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3 years ago

They seem to be closed. We drove by during posted business hours and the sign said closed. They did not answer the phone when we called.

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

Delicious. Friendly staff. Excellent shiro wat. Most definitely recommend Alem restaurant.

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4 years ago

quality food excellent service and inviting place, We had a group dinner and we were accommodated very well.

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4 years ago

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Cafe Selam - Meat combo and veggie combo (both orders on the same plate)

Cafe Selam

4.4(401 reviews)
3.1 mi•Central District
•$$

Hats off to the chef. The food here has the flavors I like. Appropriate portions for the price. Not…read moregonna lie, the injera was extra pickled/sour flavored, and I loved it. Its not everyday I run across places with such sour injera, but it just mixes so well with all the juices it soaks up. I would show you my food, but we devoured it too fast. Be ware of parking, its just bad with only 1 or 2 spots out front. Which means your gonna have to walk about 1 to 2 blocks. When you get there you might walk right past it and end uo snooping around the club next door like it did. When you do find it, you feel like Harry Potter did when he found that hidden alley. The fenced off entrance take you through their outdoor dining space before you make your way into the storefront. The exterior decor is set up in a way that shields the customers from the madness on the street. I almost felt like I left seattle for a bit while I was in their domain. I also wish I took photos but, its too small and there were too many customers. I didnt want to invade anyone's intimate dinning privacy. Unfortunately for me I ordered my food ahead of time. I absolutely would like to come back soon while the weather is nice, especially to enjoy some amazing food in their hip outdoor dining area. Feel free to use this info when choosing your next location to dine out.

Excellent Ethiopian food. The vegetarian combo was delicious! Make sure to get a glass of their…read morehouse-made spiced tea, too. Great for vegans, and there's plenty of outdoor seating with umbrellas.

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Cafe Selam
Cafe Selam - Ful and mango juice

Ful and mango juice

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Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant - BBQ Special, $28.50 - 4.5 Stars

Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant

4.1(218 reviews)
3.1 mi•Central District
•$$

My girlfriend and I had a fantastic experience here today. It was her first time trying Ethiopian…read moreand my second time, first time in years. The food was fantastic. It's such a unique eating experience both with the flavors and physically eating with your hands. The owner does it all here, from waiting to cooking to serving. And she is a gem of a person. So kind and attentive and her cooking of course is top-notch. We had a long conversation with her after our meal about the state of the world. She mentioned she is looking to sell the building soon, so Meskel may not be around for much longer. What a shame that would be. If you've been on the fence about trying it, let this be your sign to go and support this phenomenal business.

Was craving some Ethiopian food in Seattle, and Meskel popped up as an interesting place to try -…read morerecommended by the local community as the restaurant has been around for a long time, like 30+ years long. We went on a Saturday around 7pm and were able to get a table quickly. The parking situation is a bit tricky as from our visit, we were only able to find neighborhood streetside parking on a narrow street that made maneuvering difficult. As for the restaurant, it wasn't too busy when we went - maybe about 2 other parties at the time. The restaurant itself felt very cozy and homey, as you could see from the other interior photos. Service is alright - we seated ourselves and called for the auntie who owned the restaurant to get our order in. We got our food in about 10 minutes, pretty fast considering it was basically only people manning the restaurant. We got the vegetable platter with Yegee Tibs in the middle, which came to about $50. This platter is generous in terms of food, with excellent variety, which I love about Ethiopian food. This was more than enough food to fill us up with leftovers for about one more meal. As for the ingredients on the platter, I thought the injera was delicious - yeasty and robust enough to hold any of the entrees. All of the vegetables on the platter were soft, but had good integrity - it wasn't mushy and was seasoned nicely. The Yegee Tibs was scrumptious, nicely seasoned lamb with a savory aftertaste. This, combined with the vegetable sides was divine. Unfortunately, we wanted to order the Quanta Firfir, but they were out when we went - we definitely will pay Meskel another visit to give that dish a try! (4.5 stars)

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Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant
Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant - Vegetable Combination (with extras), $25 - 4 Stars

Vegetable Combination (with extras), $25 - 4 Stars

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Agelgil Ethiopian Restaurant Seattle - Meat Agelgil Special - rolled up

Agelgil Ethiopian Restaurant Seattle

4.4(109 reviews)
3.1 mi•Madrona
•$$

As soon as we walked in, I knew the food was going to be extraordinary. The smell of the spices was…read morepotent, even over the incense and coffee. My husband and I had never had Ethiopian food before, which we were upfront about, and our server was very polite about giving us etiquette tips! They didn't rush us at all, even though we were there close to closing.

My Cousins friend recommended this Ethiopian Restaurant so we decided to give it a try…read more Parking is not so good, very small lot right in front of the Restaurant. You can park along Cherry street. The Waitress asked us to seat ourselves. After seating ourselves we waited about 10 minutes before she made eye contact with my Cousin and brought is Water and or Menus. The Waitress seemed to be involved with the Customers who were seated in the Bar Area. Right when we were getting ready to leave the Owner and Chef Daniel came and greeted us and took our orders. I ordered the Chiken Stew/ Doro Wot 10/10 My Cousin ordered the Cubed Chicken with Spinach 10/10 I asked Daniel if my meal was Spicy and he stated it wasn't. It was to me and he actually came back to check on me and asked if it were Spicy to me and when I said yes he offered to bring me something to cut the Spice. He brought me a plate of mashed Chickpeas with Cubes Chicken and Spinach and to my surprise it helped and it was Delicious. It comes with the Teff Injera Daniel was very Gracious and took over where the Waitress failed. The Restaurant is very inviting and I believe they play live music there was a small stage. I will Definitely return to this Diamond in the Ruff

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Agelgil Ethiopian Restaurant Seattle - Ethiopian honey wine

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Alem Restaurant - ethiopian - Updated October 2026

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