Addis Restaurant — Restaurant in Clinton Township

Hooked on this place after my first experience with it, or Ethiopian food in general. Food is served swiftly, sizzling hot, on a huge round platter. Four very hungry people descended like locusts on the fare and we still brought home several boxes of leftovers, which we are guarding nervously from each other. These are flavors like I've never tasted in my life. There is no cutlery, just an enchanting spongy bread called injera. It looks like it's been poured out on a very hot griddle, like a thick crepe. It's made from spelt flour and it has an elasticity and springiness that has to be bitten to be believed. We tore off small pieces and used it like waxed pastry paper to pick up the lentils, peppers, onions, roast chicken and beef (tibs) which come in piles, fajita style. Then there are small bowls filled with a deeply delicious greenish beef stew; chicken, cabbage (?) and carrot stew; ground beef swimming in homemade butter and seasoned with corrima or black cardamom. It tastes like green cardamom but is another species, Aframomum corrorima. (We figured all this out with the help of owner Niman!) Both green and black cardamom are in the ginger family. Black cardamom is an absolutely bewitching spice--sweet, pungent, peppery and heady. Niman imports this tiny toasted seed by the hundred-pound sack because it is the essential flavor of his homeland.

There was one particularly hot and spicy dish made with serranos. Niman warned us ahead...it was sneakily hot as hades but seductively delicious. We brought most of it home to dole out in small portions. There were collards, lentils, beets, various colorful purees, and a refreshing green salad with tomatoes all arranged around bowls of the stews, piles of roast chicken and beef tips, and the minced butter-drowned beef described above. It was all beautifully arranged on a colorful platter, delighting every sense. Niman brought us extra rolls of injera when we mowed through what was on the platter. What a magical bread! We finished with an icy glass of fresh guava juice: the perfect, sweet and soothing cooler for excited tongues.

Four of us ate like kings for $68.

Dining at Addis is like taking a mini-vacation to Ethiopia. Almost everyone else in the restaurant was Ethiopian, dressed in the flowing clothing of their homeland. Lively talk and loud laughter, beats from traditional music videos playing on corner TV's, and the most heavenly food combined for a take-us-away experience. I could only imagine what an oasis this is for Africans, weary of and doubtless repulsed by the hamburger, fries and pizza landscape in which they've landed. We feel incredibly lucky to have found the best Ethiopian restaurant possible in big, friendly Columbus Ohio. Many thanks to Niman and Addis for a wildly delicious...

Addis is a vibrant Ethiopian restaurant owned by a lovely couple. Great food, delicious and well-prepared, and excellent smoothies. Start with #1 Mahbarawi and a smoothie. It's easily enough food to split with someone. Now go wash your hands because you're going to be eating with them. When your food arrives, flip the bowl of meat and sauce upside down in the center of the giant plate it arrives on and spread it out, it's hot and needs to cool. Using your right hand (we only eat with the one hand), grab a piece of injera, stretchy flat bread with an interesting texture made from teff, and tear off a 3 or 4 inch piece. Use that as an oven mitt, grab a piece of meat and sauce, and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. So good! Now dig into all the foods on your platter, the yellow and red lentils, the potatoes and cabbage, the cooked beets, the spicy injera salad, and the fresh green salad. Once you get the hang of eating with a piece of injera, you can move on to eating barehanded. Just grab that potato with your fingers and pop it in your mouth, it's fun! Scoop the lentils with your hand and lick your fingers clean, it's delicious fun! The flavors of the foods are comfort-based, no unpleasant, fiery, or sharp spices, but probably a few new ones for you. I promise you that something on that giant platter will tickle your palate just the right way. And don't forget the smoothie, cold and fruity with a ribbon of sweet syrup. The pricing is more than fair, the experience just adds value, so tip these hard-working people well. And, if you're lucky, the table next to you will be speaking one of the many African languages and you can enjoy new sounds and speech patterns too. The parking can be tricky during busy times, but be patient and forgiving, we're all friends here, and you'll jostle your way into the mix just fine. Approachable flavors, nothing too alien, and a very approachable staff to help you decide. Great for adventurous dates, great for a food experience, kids love eating with their hands (I do too)...to be honest, everyone can love this place! Yes, your grandmother can use a fork if it's easier. But I can be a foodie AND still eat with my hands? Win-win! I recommend your first visit be earlier in the day on Monday to Thursday, their slower times, to make parking easier and to give the staff time to dote on you a...

This was the best Ethiopian food that I've ever eaten here in Columbus, outside of Ethiopia. The young owners themselves provide great service, the inside of the restaurant is really neat and the ambience reflects a true Ethiopian culture. I took a guest who has some experience in eating Ethiopian food in some other parts of the US, but not in Columbus. My guest also said that the food was excellent, and the portions were very generous. We ordered the vegetarian Mahberawi and the Beef ZilZil Tibs with Rice, and both dishes were very delicious!!! I will highly recommend this restaurant for anyone who wants to experience the delicious Ethiopian dishes, and I will definitely plan to take more of my friends and family members to this restaurant. Owners, please do keep up with cooking these delicious foods, and with your great service!!! That being said, I think the location of the restaurant doesn't do justice to this Ethiopian Jewel. On the surface, it appears the restaurant is located not in a great neighborhood of the city. However, as the saying goes, "don't judge a book by it's cover" :) ... go and experience it :). I even saw a lot of Somalis enjoying the Ethiopian food, yeahhh :) If this restaurant is located, let's say, in downtown close to OSU, Easton, Polaris, or in one of the nice looking plazas, I'm sure it'll be the busiest restaurant! Just my two cents...Thanks for the great...