Queen of Sheba Restaurant — Restaurant in Louisville

Fantastic food and fantastic service. I'm an adventurous eater, and Ethiopian food is my favorite. I especially love the raw food, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this restaurant is fantastic if you're like me. With eating raw foods preparation and cleanliness matters. I've eaten at this place many times and never once have I had any concern about the food I was eating. My go to order here is the kitfo and the gored gored. I get it tere, or raw. Trust me, it's adventurous for the casual diner, but it's very much so worth it. The food is so flavorful it will keep you coming back for more as there is no spice palate like that of Ethiopian food. The closest spice palate in my opinion is Indian food, but even that doesn't come close to what Ethiopian food has to offer. For the casual eater there are many cooked options as well, and for the vegetarian my plate is never complete without their beyanatu, or veggie platter. Mostly lentils and split peas, but their collard greens and cabbage are to die for. The topping to everything is the injera, which is the bread that they give to eat your meal. Everything is served family style and you are given a basket of injera that you use to pick up your food. Injera is a type of soft sour dough bread that is fermented and typically made of a grain called teff. Some restaurants use a knock off form of injera made mostly of barley, but this restaurant uses the real thing and you can taste it. Their gored gored is a little more saucy than what I like, but it has grown on me as I've eaten there more. I've not had a chance to try some of the other options, including some of the more popular Ethiopian dishes such as doro wat or shiro, but that's because I love their kitfo and gored gored is so good I just cant bring myself to get anything else. I'm sure the rest of the menu is just as extraordinary. And while the food is great, the service is better. It's a little slower than what's typically expected in the American service industry, but they are very friendly here. They will take the time to talk with you and get to know you and after only a few times eating here the staff has come to recognize me, which is nice. It adds a personal flavor to the entire experience. And if you really love the spices they use they have them for sale if you'd like to try your hand at home. As far as drinks go, my favorites are the tea and coffee. They mix their tea with special spices that make it unlike anything youve had before and it's very good. Ive never had this particular restaurants coffee, but Ethiopian coffee is typically served as a ceremony. They roast their beans for much longer than usual and typically will make the process somewhat of a show with different incense, etc. It is stronger than a typical black coffee, so I would recommend it for the more experienced coffee drinker, but they do provide sugar and what not so even those less experienced can enjoy. While I've never had this particular establishments coffee, the rest of their food is so well prepared I am confident their coffee is as well. It's great for the adventurous eater, the vegetarian and the casual diner looking for something new alike. There's something for everyone and if you're looking for something new to try, or if you're like me and want a great Ethiopian experience this is the...

Louisville has many options in terms of vegan restaurants and Queen of Sheba, although not deliberately intended to be vegan, is an amazing place for great vegan food.

Food: We started off with an Ice Tea and Sheba Te'j - an Ethiopian Honey Wine. The Ice Tea was good and the wine was great. It had a very subtle flavor and probably the only wine apart from the white wines that I enjoyed. We went for Lentil Samboosa, Seneg Karia, Vegetarian combination plate and Berbere Lega Engudai Tips for our meals. Samboosa was great. The outer covering was very crispy and the stuffing was good too. Seneg Karia, which is basically stuffed jalapenos with diced onions and tomatoes, was okay. The "very very spicyness" was purely Jalapeno. The vegetarian combination plate includes Misir Wot (split lentils simmered in diced onions, ginger, and garlic seasoned with turmeric and spices), Atakilt (spiced cabbage, onions and carrots cooked in a mild tomato sauce) and Gomen Wot (collard greens, onions, potatoes, carrots, ginger and garlic cooked in a mild sauce). Of all things, Misir Wot was my favorite. The flavors were just amazing. Atakilt and Gomen Wot - absolutely delicious. Berbere Lega Engudai Tips was quite spicy and flavorful. In all dishes, the perfect acidity enhanced the flavors amazingly well instead of making them just raw spicy. The side salad was something not really required with such delicious vegetables but they were still fine. Injera bread was very well made and was a great combination with all the dishes. The combination dishes are served in servings of one or two. So, if you go for two, you will get this one big plate with servings for two - one vegetable served on either side for each person. It's a great way to share and it - something inherent in Indian culture as well where people who are close enough have food on the same plate itself.

Ambiance: It has a very Ethiopian ambiance with all the interiors. The restaurant is quite quiet. A little more towards upscale but not so much that you will feel odd if you go in just with t-shirt and shorts. They have good seating capacity. There are family tables, tables of two, high chairs and there is also a separate section in the restaurant where they even serve in an Ethiopian way.

Staff: The staff was good. The service was quite good and timely. Although the lady attending us looked a little flustered but was still good at attending the customers.

Overall, it's a great place to be if you have never tried Ethiopian cuisine and definitely to go if you are looking for a...

One of the beautiful things about Louisville is the diversity of cultures present. It is this diversity that allows the luxury of trying various cuisines from around the world without having to board a plane. My wife and I are very excited that we've discovered a place as amazing as "Queen of Sheba." It is without a doubt the best meal we've ever had.

We arrived at sundown and from the moment we entered the front door we were eyeing other people's dishes, wondering what they ordered because it looked absolutely amazing. Then we were greeted by our server Amerie. She was very kind and took the time to explain what we were ordering. Queen of Sheba is authentic to their culture and they have kept the menu items with their Ethiopian names but don't let that scare you because they were gracious enough to include translations in their menu and simple discriptions of each dish. We chose Queen of Sheba because it was listed as one of the healthiest places in Louisville to eat and that's important to us. Queen of Sheba certainly delivers on the healthy and without a doubt delivered on being the most flavorful food experience we've ever had. I ordered a combination which included Doro wot, Alicha Sega wot, Gomen wot and Atakilt. Everything was enchanting to my senses with unique spices I hadn't experienced before. My wife ordered the Engudai Tips and we both shared the Kitfo wrap appetizer. Everything was prepared with prefection and forced us to continuously move forward towards the next amazing item on the plate.

Ladies and Gentlemen you're in for a memorable experience at Queen of Sheba. They are without a doubt one of the top spots to eat in Louisville and we definitely plan on returning. We called on the owner Selam, so we could tell her just how much we enjoyed our first experience at her restaurant. Selam was very kind and grateful that we had enjoyed her food. It's evident that their food is prepared with the intent of pleasing their customers.

Folks, I give you "Queen of Sheba." ...