Address: | 357A Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94610, USA |
Phone: | +1 510-238-9050 |
Site: | enssaro.com |
Rating: | 4.5 |
Working: | 11:30AM–10PM Closed 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–11PM 11:30AM–11PM 11:30AM–10PM |
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Stanley Chan
"Owner is a little man" So I was with some birthday girls tonight. We decided to settle in on this restaurant because we heard good things and this place actually serves one of the birthday girls hometown food. While ordering... One of the girls claimed theyre a regular customer and the restaurant doesnt serve fresh vegetables in their dishes. The waitress clarified that they do serve fresh made vegetables that are prepared every morning. Waitress seemed slightly upset. Okay, a strike on our part. When eating... It took about 30-40 minutes for the food to be served. Our crowd really liked the family style dishes. Food was indeed delicious. This was going to be a five star review. Then we saw a bunch of waitresses and the owner, Telamune singing "Happy Birthday Wishes" to another table. So we were thinking, we should have that too since we have two birthday girls on our table right? Telamune... I happened to called the owner over (which I didnt realize at the time) and asked if we could have the same thing on our table. I asked if we could have some kind of dessert with the same blessings. He wanted to check the IDs of the birthday girls. I was thinking, "Ok... we have a social owner here playing hard to get". He verified the IDs and said precisely, "Birthdays means BIRTHDAYS. Its TODAY." So I waited a little bit thinking he was going to say something like, "I was just kidding. Well have the cakes over in a bit." No, he went on with the definition of "Birthdays". Also mentioned we only do this if the birthday was today. We had an awkward pause. Then I snapped on him and said, "Enough, its too late now. Were not coming back." Two Star Review... So I was thinking Im going to leave two star at least because the food was geniunely very good. Up until I saw my check which I used my credit card on. Telamune HAD THE AUDACITY TO WRITE HIS OWN TIPS ON THE RECEIPT. Tip came out to be 20% which was something I was about to give anyways. Nope, that took the 1 star away. Telamune, you need to check the definition of "tips". Hope youre reading this. Just FYI staff were all very professional. Were sorry about the fresh vegetable comment. Perhaps Telamune heard about that one and wanted to "exercise" his authority as the owner of the restaurant.
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Kara B. Potts
This is one of my favorite Ethiopian places ever, and Ive been to many (all over the East Bay, DC, Boston, and L.A. areas). Ive tried just about everything here, and they are all perfectly cooked, extremely flavorful, and are consistently delicious. The food comes out family style on top of a large platter on injera, which is a semi sour Ethiopian spongey flatbread. The food is laid out on top and the injera soaks up the juices from the food. They give you extra injera, which you tear into little pieces to pick up your food with your hands. You can also ask for a fork if youre not adventurous, but what fun is that? When the food is gone, you eat the gooey slimy injera on the bottom and its deliciously flavored in the juices. My husband and I always order a vegetarian platter to share, with the vegetarian sambusos, but I have ordered the meat platter and other a la carte items to share with family when they visit. There is plenty of food, and you can always ask for extra injera, which is no extra charge. The honey wine is worth trying once. It is sweet but a true experience if you want something authentic. The service is attentive, but slow, which Ive found is typical of many Ethiopian places. Perhaps due to the time the food cooks, or the culture which values slowpaced and enjoyable dining experiences? In any case, its not too bad, and I never felt Ive had to wait too long. We often order takeout once a week, since the wait to eat is usually long. But with their larger location, it may not be a big of an issue. Overall, totally worth eating here. Come check it out, you wont be disappointed!
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Bianca Hartfelder
Nightmare all around. Would not recommend anyone to come here alone. I was in line to be seated and the hostess walked right past me to seat the couple behind me. They told her I was in line before them. She asked me if I wanted to sit at a table. When I said yes, she told me I could only sit at the bar since I was alone. Why ask if I want to sit at a table then? This was odd because there were open tables all night. After about 15 minutes of waiting at the bar I grabbed a server and told them I had not been helped yet. A waitress came to take my order *note that there is apparently a language barrier here. I ordered a build your own sampler, but I misunderstood that you could not pick any meat to have a sampler combo with. The waitress brought me THREE ENTREES. Why would one person order three entrees!? It didnt stop there because she lied to her boss in front of me saying thats what I ordered, putting me in a very awkward and uncomfortable position. They ended up taking the food back and making me a sampler plate. I tipped about 35% becuase I felt bad, but their service needs some serious work.
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A Private User
This is by far the best Ethiopian restaurant I have ever been to. It is not just for those who like Ethiopian already, but if you like Ethiopian then you will LOVE this restaurant. It is the purest and best food I have had for years and it is the kind of place you leave feeling your belly full for hours. The prices are perfect too. My suggestion is the veggie combo for beginners with the veggie sambusa for an appetizer. This combo is ridiculously filling!! It is family style, so share with your friends! To drink, try the Hakim Stout, if you like stout beers; Try the Ethiopian Honey Wine if you are more a wine drinker. Both are cheap and some of my favorite alcoholic beverages of all time. If you are not an alcohol drinker, then the tea is amazing. I dont even put the bag of specially imported Ethiopian black tea in mine because the spiced hot water is so good. Also, dont forget that coffee comes from Ethiopia and Enssaro has a coffee social from 3 to 4 P.M. every Sunday! This is simply one of the best restaurants I have been to in a long time, and not just the best for Ethiopian!
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Teresa Davis
Service was really lacking on my first and likely final visit to this restaurant. When I asked the server if the Ethiopian salad was very large, she was adamant that it wasnt, so i felt ok ordering it along with a main dish. I was shocked when it arrived to see that it was actually quite big enough for three or four people as an appetizer, so I was glad my boyfriend was willing to dig in. We had ordered our entrees family style, and were dismayed to see that the huge Ethiopian salad we already couldnt finish also featured prominently on the entree platter. WTF?! Would have been nice if shed bothered to mention this in the first place, but she didnt seem interested in providing service. We had to ask for napkins, never got a refill on our water, she didnt explain what the foods on the platter actually were once she dropped it off, and never came back to check on us. I really hate having to track down a server to get the check, but thats what we were forced to do just to get out of there. This was a big disappointment given the many good reviews we read before choosing to come here.