Ras Kassa's Ethiopian Restaurant — Restaurant in Lafayette

Ras Kassa's is one of our family's favorite restaurants of all time. I am rather fond of saying that they not only have the best Ethiopian food I've ever had, but the best food I've ever eaten, period.

There is something almost spiritual, yet earthy about eating there. The owners believe strongly in imparting traditional values of sharing a meal. As others have surely mentioned, food is served in a communal fashion, with everyone reaching in with bits of injera bread to take mouthfuls of lentils, or stew, or cheese, or any of many amazing delicacies.

When eating there, I feel less like a customer in a restaurant, and more like a guest at a quiet party in someone's home. The owners are always present to see that everything is running smoothly, and everyone is well-fed. They take incredible pride in their work, and when they see people happy and fulfilled, they positively beam with happiness. You don't just get food, you get a philosophy of sharing, community, and hospitality.

Don't expect silverware here. And for heaven's sake, don't ask for separate plates when eating in a group - your hosts will be mortified!

The food itself is amazing. I have tried literally every food item on the menu, and every single one is perfection. They have both spicy and mild dishes, a great vegetarian selection - nearly good enough to convert a carnivore like myself - and you can even get gluten-free items (including gluten-free injera bread).

My recommendation is to go with combination dishes, so you can try a little of everything. It's hard to choose stand-out items from the menu for recommendation, because everything is so good.

If you love fish, you'll love it even more after you try Ras Kassa's fish dishes.

Those familiar with soul food and southern cooking may be happily surprised to see many familiar ingredients - sweet potatoes, collard greens, and more. But here, you're getting it from the source. And it will feed your soul.

Dinner can be a little pricey (about twenty dollars per person), though their lunch buffet is extremely reasonable (ten dollars or so per person, and the same great food). If you can manage a group of ten or more for dinner, you can take advantage of their incredible "Passport to Africa" special where, for eleven dollars per person, you can all try nearly everything on the menu, plus beverages (try their superb honey wine, african wines and beers, or teas and coffees). The passport and combination meals for two or more come with dessert as well, and the desserts are as phenomenal as the rest of the menu. Last night, there was a rich chocolate mousse-style confection, topped with raspberries, that had us scraping the dish.

I would put Ras Kassa's food up against any Michelin-rated restaurant, and expect Ras Kassa's to come out on top.

I can't recommend this...

I’ve been eating at Ras Kassas since I moved to Boulder in 1999. Unfortunately, they closed a few years ago and I haven’t been able to have this great food for a while. I saw they opened a new restaurant in Lafayette and decided to take my girlfriend to give it a try.

The menu has changed a little bit. I was extremely disappointed to see that they took beets off the vegetarian platter— the beets and potatoes were my favorite part!! We only got one small tiny cube of potato today with our vegetarian platter, I should’ve complained but I didn’t... we still had plenty of food. The Addis beef was a little tougher and slightly less flavorful than I remember— but maybe next time it will be better. What I love about the beef here is that they cut it perfectly— I have never found a piece of fat or gristle in it. The Ras Kassas honey mead was as tasty as ever. The hummus had some weird oniony flavor in it that I don’t remember— we didn’t like the hummus at all.

The restaurant looks somewhat updated. I prefer to eat at the little round tables made of straw, but most of these are gone now in favor of standard tables / chairs. The bathroom was clean and the wait staff was very friendly.

I give 3 stars because: no beets, only 1 tiny small potato, and slightly tough meat. Also, the last time I ate here, two menus had food on them and two tables were also dirty with food on the...

Ras Kassa’s has the best Ethiopian food! The entire staff is extremely friendly, hard-working, and caring... we always look forward to our weekly visit!

Now during COVID times, the restaurant has done an amazing job with covid procedures. They have closed dine in for the foreseeable future (to protect staff and guests), but still offer takeaway. Everything is done curbside, which is a nice extra safety precaution... and they always wear masks.

As vegans, they have tons of awesome, healthy, delicious options! We usually get the Vegetarian Combo with some extra injera, and it always delivers! Highly recommend non-vegans to also give the veggie combo a try or at least the Yellow Split Pea dish! Everyone we’ve shared the restaurant with loves it!

We also appreciate that they do their best to use eco friendly takeaway containers and bags. Sometimes they do use styrofoam and plastic bags, which is not as great, but they often use recyclable aluminum tins and recyclable/reusable canvas bags. We love the effort to be eco friendly and hope to see more of the recyclable containers 😊

During non covid times, they have an awesome dine in experience and a pleasant patio. They treat you like family and make you feel welcome.

To the restaurant - thanks for making such awesome vegan food and for always being so kind. We’re very grateful for the...