Sandwiched between a random Chinese/Subs/Fried food carry-out and an iron-bar-clad liquor store on Montana Ave NE, this small and non-descript African restaurant is the epitome of a hole-in-the-wall. I could never really tell if it was open for business or not, so I played it safe and stopped in Zion Kitchen recently at 4pm on a weekday to pick up an early dinner. A few locals were gathered around a table holding a rousing debate; about what, I couldn't decipher, since they were all speaking some dialect of West Africa, but one of them graciously summoned the chef from the kitchen to assemble my meal. She greeted me with a bright smile and showed me what she had prepared. Similar to Buka and Akosombo, Zion Kitchen has a steam table with the day's foods. While those who are used to restaurants that boldly display a note about how all their food is made-to-order might hesitate at this fact, know that the dishes of west Africa actually work best when allowed to sit and let the flavors meld. The day I visited I was presented with egusi, spinach, iyan, yams, plantains, and of course pepper soup and jollof rice. The chef also showed me the stewed goat, fish, oxtail, and chicken. She told me she could prepare other items with advanced notice but that these were the most popular and I could expect them to be available most any day. I ultimately settled on a mix of jollof rice, yams, and egusi, with stewed goat spooned over top. Like most African cooking, you should be aware that nearly all the meat is cooked with the bones still in. While this may make eating a bit of work, it is essential in creating the rich flavor of the stewed goat, which was delicious. Nothing beats seeing the marrow slide from within the bone, and then plucking it out of the stew and letting it melt in your mouth. The yams at Zion were interesting, as they were prepared in a manner I had never tried before: not quite whole, but not mashed, and flavored with what I detected to be a touch of onion, red pepper, and tomato. I enjoyed them a lot--a bit of sweet and a bit of spice. The jollof rice was pretty typical, no complaints but nothing exciting. The egusi seemed more bitter than most versions I have had and I didn't enjoy it so much. The only thing that struck me was that it seemed a bit expensive at almost $12 for my dinner. Nonetheless, it was filling, tasty, and convenient. I imagine I'll be returning when I have a craving for something different. read more

If not having printed menus to know the price of what are you ordering isn't bad enough once you get your food which I chose egusi $15.00 Jollof rice $5.00 a piece of tilapia $5.00 REALLY possibly the worst tasting African cuisine I've ever had and the DMV NO FLAVOR and it's not because I came late during the day I came at 12 noon sad sad sad read more

Amazing, authentic West-African food. The food is full-flavored, delicious, and a bit spicy. It's all prepared in advance, although this is the kind of food that benefits from slow-cooking. The fried plantains are amazing. read more

Ordered 2 large designer soups and 1 small as well as the jollaf rice. Did not get the plantains as ordered and did not receive the 2 large designer soups. Instead we received 4 small soups. I called and the restaurant told me they were "too busy" put me on hold then hung up on me. Called back and they refused to answer. Horrible considering we paid an extra $15 each for the large portion ! read more

I live in Waldorf, Md, which is about an hour from Zion, but for years, ive made the trip there every so often because the food is delicious!!! Service is always awesome! I always have a smile when i leave and look forward to my trips there! read more

Food is great, when they have it. They run out of the staples...fish, fried rice, puff puff by 7pm so get there early. The lounge portion of the establishment is very lack luster and service is SLOW. It's like they want to make you feel nostalgic and make you feel like you're in Nigeria, but the food should be what makes you feel like Naija not the service. Been here a couple of times and every time I think about bringing some of my American friends, the service reminds me of why I haven't. read more

Awesome food so addictive there's nothing like it. Lifesaver during COVID when I didn't want to make meals

The food is pretty good but I would not recommend doing delivery from here. 2 days in a row my order was messed up. The first day I ordered chicken and jollof rice instead they gave me assorted meats. The second day I ordered meat pie and was given chicken pies instead. If you don't have the item ordered available you should find a way to contact the customer and let them know instead of substituting it for something else. In both instances I had to trash the substituted items because I didn't care for either of them. If you order from here I suggest doing pickup and checking your food before you leave. read more

I only write this review now because I am utterly fed up with Zion Kitchen. The place is completely unreliable in terms of quality and accuracy. I've ordered from them repeatedly over the last 2 years and I can honestly say that they have a terrible habit of sending whatever food they want instead of what you ordered! This has happened both with catered large orders and individual orders. We all know options for West African food restaurants can be limited so we kept trying but at this point, the consistent mishaps are too much. You can order fufu and they'll send rice, you order goat meat and they'll send various meats, you can order scotch egg and get puff puff instead. Worse yet, please be aware that if you order from a delivery partner, they will not adjust the order price if they do not send what you ordered at all. So in my case, you could be overcharged $20. This is in addition to the fact that they have literally doubled their prices on the delivery apps ONLY (putting meat options separate from the choice of stew/plassas) as if anyone is ordering meatless/empty egusi OR wants to pay $30 for the same $15 portion. It is not okay to take money without providing ordered items or just send random food that is on-hand instead of fulfilling an order. Once in a while, the order is correct and most of the times the food is good when it is, but in these times, no one wants to play russian roulette with their meals. It's unacceptable. read more

The flavors of the food left a lot to be desired. It didn't seem fresh. Jollof rice, 'fresh' fish with peanut stew and cassava leaf stew with pounded yam (no meat) was ordered. Both stews were heated using a microwave. I'm not entirely convinced the price charged was aligned with the posted prices....so do the math before handing over payment should you choose to give this place a try. It was busy. Maybe others are aware of the secret to getting a decent meal here? read more

I had hollow rice yesterday it was nasty,I will make mines myself,I was very disappointed . Yeah I'm American this was the worst experience I every had eating out of there read more

Hey guys! I'll like to recommend my favourite African restaurant in the DMV. My family and friends I've been eating from Zion Kitchen for years, and are more than happy with the service in general. The spicy pepper soup is strongly recommended especially in Winter which warms down to the toes. And of course, it's healthy. There's also a bar to catch Happy Hours, and watch your favourite sports. The environment is neatly kept, and the menu's are available for your choice of meal. I will now leave it up to you to check it for yourself. And if pleased with your experience, might as well drop your own reviews. Cheers! read more

I just went to this restaurant and well all I can say is that this place has a terrible smell, the chairs are dirty, the food was cold, but good. read more

Walked here for dinner from Atlas Brewery, which was closing early on MLK day. Had a really fantastic experience. The restaurant is not fancy but very comfortable and the staff is warm, courteous, and welcoming. We felt at home immediately. Our bartender, Chin, was the ambassador and teacher about the menu and he could not have done a better job.I was very excited to try Palm wine, which I have read about for years but never experienced...I found it to be good. The Nigerian beer, Gulder, was excellent! The menu allows the customer to build an authentic West African meal using the cultural staples in different configurations. The staff was happy and excited to describe each component and give recommendations based on our preferences. We settled on two appetizers, the puff puff buns and the moi moi. The puff puff buns were fried dough, simple and delicious. The moi moi is a soft cake made of legumes, onions, and fresh peppers...Very tasty. For our main courses we each tried one of the three course offerings (engineered with the help of the staff). I had the oat fu fu with egusi spinach and tilapia as the protein (they were out of goat, which would have been my first choice) and my girlfriend had the yam porridge with cows foot, tendon, kidney. Both dishes were served with the same two spicy sauces on the side, a hot and mild selection which seemed to be pepper based and a had a delicious, complimentary flavor without overpowering heat. The food was delicious...Never thought I would say that about cow's foot...And the portions were huge. The fu fu is initially daunting but is actually much lighter on the stomach than it appears on the plate. The staff took great care to teach us how to eat it in the traditional way with our hands and made us feel at ease. Our final assessment is that this is an excellent restaurant for anyone wanting an authentic culinary adventure. The staff could not be any more welcoming, kind, and helpful and the food was a delicious and exciting change from the East African cuisine that is more prevalent in the city. We will be going back to try more and can't wait to take our friends. Also...For whoever may care, this restaurant has perhaps the cleanest men's room that I have yet encountered in all of DC... Including way fancier establishments. read more

Its all about the food in Zion Kitchen. Zion scores full marks on the consistency of the food quality and creativity. The food is authentically West African with roots in Nigeria. I have had the privilege to try a couple of the dishes, including jollof rice, egusi, okra, goat and fresh fish stews, the freshness and tastefulness is unsurpassed. You must stop by, give it a look see. You are assured complete satisfaction read more

Zion Kitchen use to be one of my favorite African restaurants in the DMV, but this is no longer the case. Customer service is terrible. The lady that sits at the front has an unfriendly demeanor... I ordered bitter leaf soup, which turned out to be as bitter as quinine...When I complained, the lady came off with an attitude...The pounded yam and rice flour were as soft as if it was made for a toddler's consumption. I was a loyal customer, but never again!!! Not coming back here any time soon. The Management needs to learn that customer service is everything...The customer is always right! read more

I don't know if the food was any good couldn't get pass the awful smell of the place no menus to take out prices seemed very high and did i mention the HORRIBLE smell will never go in there again i might not even go the street its on because of the smell read more

I went there with my friend. Personally, it was my first time experiencing African cuisine. I was not very pleased with the rice. The chicken was good. It was a local environment, nothing exotic. Food was overall average. read more

The food at Zion is ok, certainly nothing special. What they charge you for it on the other hand is just plain ridiculous!!!. Talk about 419. Zion is NOT remotely close to a 4 star restaurant, hell, the surroudings, utensils and the like feels like you're eating at a Buka in Idumota, Lagos. Yet, they charge fancy restaurant prices. A plate of white rice with fish and stew for $14.00? Come on now, Zion. A bowl of pepper soup for $16.00???? I mean come on, Ordinary pepper soup? Convert that money to Naira and see how much you get. They have no set price list so everytime you go in there, you get a different price for the same thing you ordered the day before.. umm....really? The girl just blurts out anything from the top of her head. They charge you more than the staple DC tax. Service sucks, the girl at the desk is the slowest server I've ever met. You would think she'd be more efficient with a line of people at the door, instead she drags around like a snail. They advertise food on their business card that they don't have in stock. Why would you put fishroll, moin-moin and meatpie on your card/poster when you know it's not something you offer everyday, if at all. Why not have an asterisk on the card stating that fact. Instead you purposely try to mislead people. This place needs to revise their tactics. Your horrible business practices is not fair to your customers. You shouldn't extort money out of people just because their choice of Nigerian restaurants in the area is limited. It's bad Karma read more

BEWARE! I came to this establishment after hours during an event and was overwhelmingly disgusted by the pungent odor that filled the air, filth, and various sized ROACHES crawling all over the inside of the food handling glass. The compartment of water that is used to keep trays of food that are heated with burners were filled with swimming roaches. Me and my friends were beyond disgusted! When I attempted to take pictures of the roaches a male whom I assume was the owner continuously blocked my camera and told me "I can't let you do that" I was then asked to leave the establishment in which I had no problem doing so. I've already filed a complaint with the DC food and health department and I hope that this place gets closed down until they can get an exterminator and give their facility a full extensive cleaning. Until then eat at your own risk because you may get an extra ingredient! read more

Zion Kitchen is a hidden treasure... They have been around for many years; well over 10 years. The food is authentic and VERY GOOD! From their fufu, to okra soup, to moi-moi, to jollof rice, to egusi stew... By far the most flavorful and filling, too! The location isn't ideal(located near NY Ave & Montana Are NE) but it's worth the effort, trust me! If you're in the mood for authentic, delicious, well proportioned Nigerian food, look no further. Mt. Zion is where it's at!:) You will thank me, later! They also cater, too! read more

Order ogbonno soup and it was horrible I couldn't even eat it, it had no salt or pepper.

The lowest mark is for customer service. Every phone call is a potential sale and when a call goes unanswered that is a loss in sale. On the 28th of August 2017, I called Zion Kitchen twice, both times, the call went to voicemail. The voicemail box should be set up in a professional manner such as informing the customer that you are either on another line and that you will be with them shortly, or (b ) would they like to call back. Not answering the phone at all does not speak well of the employees. It lets me know that they cannot multi task which in an environment such as this, multitasking is an essential skill. Theresa read more

Ordered delivery and really liked everything. Got peanut stew and LOVED it- spinach with kidney and beef, great! Everything was good, new (to us) and delicious. read more

This is a great place to eat Nigerian food! From the meat pie to the Amala to the okro soup to the jollof rice! The asorted meat and goat meat! Loke something straight out of naija! Thanks so much for the authentic African food! And the lady that served me was so polite, considering the rush and many customers waiting in line. They offered free fruits as we waited to order. I hope it stays this good and gets better! I will certainly be back and tell others too! Keep up the good service! read more

I used Zion Kitchen as a caterer for my wedding, and their food/service was excellent. I got great feedbacks from several guests about how wonderful the food was. Many of the guests (especially non-Africns) were asking for the recipe for the Jollof Rice and Moi-moi. The Jollof Rice and Moi-moi ran out so quickly, and so was the beef stew, plantain, and fish. We had two different caterers for the wedding, and while there were a lot of left-overs from the other caterer, food from Zion Kitchen was all gone in a short time. The food is not only tasty, you also don't need to worry about it being spicy. It's very very mild. The delivery guy was on time, courteous, and very helpful. I intend to use Zion Kitchen for future event catering, and would recommend them to others as well. read more

Worst food in the area. Honestly the health department should come check this place out. Food seems like it sat out for hours until it was served. The place felt ( and smelled) unclean. Three plates of food cost me over 40$. Honestly if you want to burn your money this is the perfect place for you. If you want good African cuisine please I beg you go elsewhere. read more

$3.50 for a 10 oz bottled soda before tax. I am not from around here, but I am not happy as a customer.

i have Known about Zion Kitchen for about two years, I don't really go there that often but why am giving them a 1 star is because , I have gone there on two different occasions and they gave me bad/spoil meat , I guess the guy fully well knew it was bad but he still gave it to me from the expression on his face ,the day after the second incident I said let me give them another trial , and wow and behold when I was eating I saw a very big ass rat in there bar section , I won't recommend this place for anyone read more

Great food. The Egusi was fresh, the fish was nicely flavored and hot, and the jollof rice was perfect. My family and I enjoyed so much that we ate here three times during our 4 day vacation. Thank you all so much. read more

Ordered today via Eat24. The food took a while to get to me (2 hours from start to finish) but it was delicious. I ordered the goat, cassava leaves, and fufu. I absolutely loved it! Great job. But next time I will order well in advance given the delivery timing. read more

I was not happy with my experience at Zion Kitchen and am doubtful I will ever return. To begin, the staff does not know their own menu. The prepared food is visible in serving trays and I asked which dish was chicken. The staff person said there is no chicken. Then, someone behind me in line said yes, there is. Only then did the staff person acknowledge there was chicken. I ordered the chicken platter ($12.99) and they piled a huge amount of rice on my plate. Classic restaurant trick to fill you up on starch. I dined there and the whole time, we had to listen to one staff person having a very loud fight with (presumably) her boyfriend on the phone. "Why you trying to play me?", "I a'int gon let you treat me like that", "I texted you and you ignored me". Now what I want to hear while having a meal. The chicken was friend wings (not very authentic) and my chicken platter had a huge chunk of beef in it. When I pointed it out to the staff person she asked if I wanted another piece but she said it like she was doing me a favor. No thanks. And let's not forget they charged me for a glass of water. Who charges for a glass of water? The very young staff is completely unprofessional and the food platters are nothing but rice. I hope they can improve their offerings and staff. The restaurant appears to be minority women owned and I would support that if they can get their act together. read more

Having just moved here from California where I had the pleasure of enjoying home cooked West African food, I have been searching for a place that would satisfy my taste. Zion has done it! I've only been there once but I will be back. I had the Egusi with Iyan and I could have slept outside their door until they opened for the next day. As an American, that has tried various kinds of cuisine, it wasn't until I'd eaten West African dishes that I felt as if I'd discovered my roots in food. Thank you Zion for making me feel as if I am at home even in Washington, DC. The flavors are superb and everything tasted fresh. I'll be back and will do my best to gather up a few friends to bring with me. read more

I ate at Zion Kitchen a couple of years ago, prior to their renovation. Though it was a bit of a hole in the wall to be so pricey. However, I don't mind a hole in the wall if the food is good. I had red stew and jallof rice with mixed meat. It was not warm enough, and not worth it. I returned during summer 2016, just in case my previous visit was on a bad day. I ordered the same thing. It was, again, pricey considering the cafeteria-style nature that they serve. I believe we paid about $40 for two take-away meals. We decided to eat on site because I like my food hot. Shortly after eating the food, we were both sick and had regurgitated the food. Needless to say, the remainder of the food went into the garbage. I will never return and beg you to either just avoid this place all together or if you have no other choice, proceed with caution. read more

Had their number for years and was passing it around to friends when they needed catered jobs, without actually ordering. Ordered for a party. Food was delivered on time and tasted great. Guests loved the food and took to go packs home. Have not been to the restaurant but I have been to events were the food was catered by Zions Kitchen. Food always comes out tasting great. Would use their services again read more

Bad Food.. They store their food for days. I happened to go there bout 2 years ago and I have never had a case of food poison in my entire life. I thought i was going to die , to confirm my suspicion that they store their food overnight i went there on September 30 2010, i really did not go there to eat but to meet a friend of mine, he convinced me to try their pounded yam which i did and my for two days i have been visiting the rest room read more

I love the food at Zion Kitchen! I work in Dupont Circle but will go all the way across town just to get great Nigerian food. The staff is wonderful too. Keep up the good work. No Wahala!! read more

Great African food. Their service was great and their customer service was on point. I recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great African food read more