Why isn't this cuisine more popular?! Seriously, I don't think we would ever have gone if my…read moredaughter hadn't sent me trending TikTok's of people eating Egusi and Fufu. So glad we did! The spices and "soups" (more like stews) are exotic, similar to Indian food in presentation, but very different in how the meats are prepared. Traditionally, you eat the soups with fufu. I would describe fufu like a thick, glutinous, fairly bland, root paste used as the delivery vehicle for the soup to your face instead of a fork or spoon. No utensils! Fingers only and it makes the experience even more fun. The fufu pairs perfectly with the soups and is very filling. One entree easily makes for leftovers. I believe the African goddess that cooked and delivered the food to our table is the owner. She knew it was our first time and you could feel her care in the preparation and her joy in explaining the best way to eat. The dining area has about a dozen standard diner style tables and there is a sink IN the corner of the dining room to conveniently wash your hands, before and after eating. This no frills, locally owned treasure is a must try. If you are intimidated by new cuisines eaten in untraditional ways, look up "Egusi and Fufu" on your favorite social streaming app to learn everything you need to know. You will walk in with confidence. Regardless, the fine folks working here are also kind and eager to help and make recommendations. I'm posting with updated menu photos (Nov 2025). Prices seem to range $20-$25 per soup including the fufu. We had the Egusi and the Cassava Leaf soups. Both fresh, amazing and in my opinion a good value.

Never disappoints! I had a craving and took my friend here for pepper soup. The food is consistent…read morethe service is good. I recently went to Africa for the first time in my life. After the 20 hours of traveling, I came straight to this restaurant I had to keep the moment going by getting my pepper soup with goat meat and my fufu. I love this place!!!!!

If you are looking for vibes, look no further! This Nigerian cuisine inspired gem is located in the…read morePark Central plaza in Midtown Phoenix, and is easy to find. Depending on time of day, parking is ample. You are met by a walk up patio with plenty of varied seating. Modern African theme and decor throughout. As you walk in, you receive a warm welcome. Full service ordering and an overall laid back, take your time atmosphere. Staff is always nice and helpful when explaining menu offerings if you're not sure what you want. Although menu is self explanatory. Vegetarian options available for most main dishes. The Sabolo drink is refreshing and a must try item. Full bar available. Great music and live events

The food is absolutely amazing. Excellent and flavorful. If you can't handle the "spiciness" of…read moreketchup, this might not be for you. But if you put Sriracha on Everything, then this is the place for you. I ordered the spicy goat pepper soup with the fufu and it was heavenly. My only complaint was the portion sizes. All of the portion sizes are very small for the amount money you pay, thus the 3 star rating. The delicious of the food added the additional star which is why ultimately decided on a 4. My friends all got the lunch specials and they weren't happy with the quantity. I ordered my husband the beef "patties" to go, only to discover it was only a singular "patty" for $6. And if you have a party of 5 people and or more, they automatically add a gratuity to your bill. The restaurant is small on the inside but has a nice front patio outside which was shaded. On a nice night, it'd be romantic to sit out there. Overall, I'll be back to this place. But be prepared to order double portions per person, so you'd spend about $40/person before tips and taxes.

I have been obsessed with West African Cuisine for years. My favorite AZ spot is temporarily closed…read morebecause of a kitchen fire so I had to find food elsewhere. I have to say West African Cuisine is hitting all the taste buds and making them dance. I ordered them on DoorDash but I will definitely take a trip to have this food in the restaurant. I ordered the pepper soup with goat meat and the pepper soup with seafood, fufu and jollof rice. The food was soo good! The pepper soup was spicy and delicious. It was my first time trying the seafood pepper soup, I am so glad I ordered it. It was full or shrimp, fish and crab. The broth tasted like gumbo. I have a second favorite African restaurant now.

I stumbled upon this restaurant and just had to try it. I walked in during lunch hours on a…read moreSaturday and I was the only one in there outside of staff. The place was clean, but small with about seven tables. I ordered at the counter and sat and waited for my jollof rice and red snapper. My mouth watered as I thought about the meal. Once i received my meal, I had no regrets on my choices. The rice was filled with veggies and chicken. The red snapper was fried to perfection. And the fried plantains melted in my mouth. The meal was very delicious, hearty, enough for two people. Some would not agree with the price to eat here. My lunch meal was $35. I noticed several people coming and going with pickup orders. This is a hidden gem. I'd definitely return to try other items. Accessible entrance.

LATHA!!! Just an…read moreabsolute VIBE with Mouthwatering flavor packed food!! I was invited to LATHA for a small birthday gathering, and it was so much more. The staff were welcoming and knowledgeable. Our waitress was attentive and helpful with recommendations on what to order according to our palettes. Everything I ordered was amazing from my drink to my food and without the waitress keen input,I might of made the wrong choice. The ambience was a vibe!! Afro centric and chic, with beautiful outdoor dining and decor. They also had some good photo op spaces to take pictures. One last thing the owner was front and center assisting her staff and greeting and engaging with all who came,and that is something you don't always see and I would've never known until someone mentioned she was the owner! Thank you for creating a beautiful place for food,friends,family and CULTURE!! To anyone looking for fantastic food and vibe please go to LATHA!!

I really wanted to like this place in fact, I am willing to give it another try next time I'm in…read morephoenix. But what did it for me was the attitude from the greeter. I walked up the stairs and said "hi can I get a table for two?" he said "first of all how are you?" I said, " oh! I'm sorry I'm fine. How are you?" he looked at me and said "do you have a reservation?" I smiled and said no I just got off the plane from "New jersey and I really wanted to try this place." (I looked around and saw a lot of empty tables so I figured it wouldn't be a problem.) he looked at me and said." Hmm you still should've made a reservation." Then he asked me what I plan on having while I was there. (It seemed like such an odd question).. I looked around and said" dinner and drinks" . He grabbed a couple of menus and said come with me. We were seated immediately. Which was odd because I thought we needed a reservation... anyways I counted about three waiters who said that they would be attending us when they finally settled on one person who was a really nice young lady. However by then,I was already in a bad mood. I didn't even pick the right dish. I had a vegetarian dish that tasted horrible. But my friend really enjoyed her meal I also looked around and everyone else's food looked amazing. (I'm usually good at ordering I just was having an off night. I blame the host lol) On the plus side,they have live music and the owner came out and introduced herself. That was really nice and the reason why I'll give it another try when I'm in town. But i'll make sure to have a reservation to avoid an attitude from homeboy. Lol

I was really excited to try this place out ! I saw all the comments and positive feedback on social…read moremedia and the food itself looked amazing . But, unfortunately for me my experience was the exact opposite . This location is set in the Tempe food court. So automatically I was turned off by the fact it's not personable no interaction with the actual creator or business owner . You have to order through a kiosk ( which I do understand the idea of conveniency culture .) But places like this deserve to be show cased . What I ordered was fried plantains, Ogbono Soup , with two pieces of chicken , poundo fufu, and two sodas . For starters , The plantains were a bit undercooked, the soup was lacking flavor very ( oily , had no other contents but broth and the chicken ) so what was advertised on the menu looked NOTHING like what I got , no fixings such as ( no okra , the peppers etc) . The chicken was dry and it didn't taste fresh at all , it had this peculiar after taste I couldn't quite put my finger on. Overall I wasn't at all satisfied with my food and I'd say this meal in particular wasn't worth the $51.00 whatsoever. I want to say I stand firmly on supporting black businesses, but I won't lie about my experience. I'd say i would give this place a second try and at least come back to try the Jollof rice since that seems to be their top seller as it was sold out .

Nkechis pot is finally in Tempe and the food is amazing! I've been on a Nigerian food hunt for some…read moretime, others have failed to provide the spice and taste we were looking for. When we found her restaurant, we have continued to come back time on end and have never been disappointed with their food and service. My current favorites- jollof rice with turkey and Ponmo Alata. Amazing! Food is full of flavor- from the rice and it's aromas, to the Turkey and it's light sauce. Perfection ! The Ponmo is spicy and as a first timer of the dish, I continue to order it everytime! We have also ordered Egusi soup with fufu, Efo Riro and goat pepper soup. One thing I have noticed is I have not taken pictures of their plates! I will be back with an update to this. The Tempe food court location is nice. Easy to place and order, sit and eat, and or pick up and go! They still take phone orders. Highly recommend you try them out!

Been looking for an Ethiopian spot closer to me for a while, and today I was really craving some…read moreinjera so I made an order off Doordash and I am soooo impressed! First off, the VALUE! Wow! For $17 I got the vegan combo plate and it came with 2 sides -- I opted for the mesir wat (spicy lentils) and gomen (collard greens). The mesir wat and gomen came beautifully wrapped in an injera, with a salad on the top and two very large rolled up injeras. This combo would be more than enough for two people to share. I ordered right as they opened and my order came fairly quickly (~40 mins), so I was really happy with that as well. The mesir wat was seasoned spectacularly! Just enough heat that pairs with the savory flavor. The gomen also was deliciously garlicky, all coming together so harmoniously with the sourness of the injera. I was worried that ordering it for delivery would affect the experience, but everything came nice and warm and it was so great to have this meal at home. I definitely will need to come in next time, with friends for sure, I could not finish this combo on my own.

All three stars go to food quality, the food is great here. We eat vegan with gluten free injera…read moreand it's fantastic food. If you have 2 hours to spare on a dinner, consider coming. But don't come thirsty or hungry lol Jeez . I've been here 2 times. They are incapable of even bringing a glass of water. The first time I ordered a drink from the bar and over the course of 50 minutes we asked about it 3 times. It came after the food. The second time tit was an empty restaurant. We got no water, no silverware. The food shows up after an hour and we have nothing. Something is VERY wrong with the service here and unfortunately we won't be back.

For some reason, we enjoyed this visit even more than the last because we ordered properly! No…read moremeat. We are both "meated out". The Deluxe Vegetarian Platter was massive, enough for 3 people, served with fluffy teff bread (injera). They provide a small fresh (uncooked) vegetable salad on the round plate of cooked lentils, together with excellent greens which was a much needed reprieve. I had my collard greens (gomen) so I was happy! The diners were of diverse backgrounds and it was nice to see people from all backgrounds and ethnicities enjoying the taste of African spices and unique Ethiopian food preparation. Till next time, Lalibela! Highly recommended this business. We met the lady who does the cooking! Lalibela, long may you thrive!

Hearty ethiopian food in a casual atmosphere…read more We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and it was busier than we've seen before; they had their monthly Sunday vegan buffet going ($25) that offered some items not on their usual menu and looked tasty. We ended up getting platters off the menu instead, mostly ordering vegetarian. (But if you're hungry or want more food, the buffet is a good option.) The green beans and the collards are a solid combination because of the difference in texture and spice. Cabbage, fish and beef were also good. Everything came either on a bed of injeera (soft) or rice, or a combination. On weekdays they have lunch specials which are the best deals and very good and inevitably you'll have leftovers to enjoy later. Service has been better and more attentive in the past but it was busier than usual too. The actual decor and location is a bit dated but you probably wouldn't come here for the atmosphere. They also sell their coffee and other small things to go. I don't have ethiopian that often so this was a treat. Shared parking lot with other businesses.

This place is medicine for the body and the soul! I loved their food, their service, their people,…read moretheir coffee, their space. I honestly never understood how in the world it was even empty. It is one of the best plates of food I've had since I've been in Phoenix. Totally worth it!!!

Last time I checked this place had an infestation problem. Roaches were scurrying across the floor…read moreand I just can't trust this place no matter how good the food looks

Great Somali/east African food at a good price. Seems like they've been here for a while, for good…read morereason. Shares private parking in a strip mall; we had no issue finding a spot. Place was kind of empty on a weekday night but that didn't bother me. Lamb Shank - came with giant piece of lamb, bone in, rice, and a side salad. Everything was delicious and seasoned well. I was recommended to order this and now I'm recommending other people to order it lol. Beef Sukhaar - Well seasoned beef sukhaar with a salad on rice. This/the chicken sukhaar is perfect for a rice plate that you might want to have as lunch the next day. Sambusa - Comes with 2 nice and crispy large sambusas. Wish the filling was seasoned more but still good Portions are generous and food is delicious. This was a first time trying Somali food for us. They didn't have their special hilib (goat meat) when we visited - I'd love to be back to try that :)

Amazing food. Ambience leaves a bit to be desired but the chicken kabob is too good not to come…read moreback. The rice is addicting. Pretty reasonably priced too

Was eager to try this place since last time I tried to order delivery DoorDash screwed it up and I…read morenever got my food. However this is not the restaurant's fault that falls absolutely on DoorDash and their poor service. Having said that this is a family run restaurant. When you walk in may not be aesthetically pleasing to the eye on the outside but what you're about to experience inside is absolutely so much more. I ordered the mushroom wat which was very reasonably priced at nine dollars and an iced tea. The owner of the restaurant is very friendly very warm when I also taking my order promptly. The dining area itself is smaller, but very quaint and its ability to maintain its coziness. The decor of the restaurant is pretty modest in a culturally based atmosphere which improves the atmosphere of this wonderful experience. My food was very promptly made and arrived on the table quickly and experience was about to get all that much better. The mushroom wat was absolutely amazing and absolutely what I have been craving for the 20 years. I've been waiting for in my return cravings for Ethiopian food. The bread they used for dipping with absolutely perfect as it is always one of my favorites to indulge when eating this food. In the end this place left me sitting at the table absolutely stuffed, which is fantastic especially with the price what I paid for it all. I will be returning to restaurant for sure as I now found the exact right place, for this kind of food.

Great, authentic, tasty, Ethiopian food. Always prepared fresh. Prices are reasonable and it tastes…read morebetter than some restaurants in the valley offering the same food. I always get a veggie combo plate so I can taste a little of everything.