Horn of Africa Restaurant — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

I have been coming here for years, and the food was great. But recently (last year or two) the quality and the quantity of the food have been decreasing. Today I called and ordered chicken soukar with saltato (spaghetti), beef soukar with rice, and two sombusa (meat filled triangular pastry).

When I arrived to the store, they had a table blocking people from entering the store. It had a sign up asking customers to call and order for covid precaution, which I already did. There were several customers inside the store waiting for their order to get ready. One of the guys asked me if I already ordered. As I already did, he directed me to the front to pick up my order and pay. The guy confirmed my order and brought it out. Assuming my order was correct, I gave my credit card to pay. He just swiped and handed my card back, without telling me how much it was. I asked him for green sauce, and he went to the back to get some. I used this time to check my order in the bag, and told him he didn’t add the sombusa. He went back and brought out the sombusa. Then he told me he didn’t charge me for it, so I gave him my credit card again.

At that point, the elderly lady came out and said something inaudibly about it’s a minimum of $5 and that they charge tax. I left the store and my app prompted me on how much they charged. There were two separate transactions of $28.02 and $5.39! Two entrees and two sombusas for that much, that doesn’t make sense. I recall looking over the menu in the store, and the chicken entree was about $11, $12 for the beef, and the max item on the menu was the lamb at $13. Even the sombusa was expensive at $2 each. But it seems like they charged me $13 for both entrees plus tax. Also the separate transaction of the sombusas, that they forgot to initially include was somehow $5.39.

I’m not complaining about the increased prices, as everything goes up due to inflation. But you have to understand that this is a hole in the wall place, that had entrees for $10 flat, and the sombusa was $1. The place wasn’t remodeled, and the quality and quantity of the food decreased. They don’t even have an updated menu. It’s the same menu I’ve seen for years now. Just the old price crossed out with a permanent marker, and a new increased price on top. It’s misleading because you can see the old price and not know what’s the current price. Their meat isn’t that great, the only thing that masks the flavor is their green sauce. They decreased their portion, by barely adding meat, and filling the tray with salad (which is basically lettuce, two slices of cucumber, and a dried up piece of lime).

Nevertheless, they’re not what they used to be. This used to be the place to go for the best bang for your buck. But with their new unscrupulous business practices, I won’t be...

We wandered in on a cold night, hoping to find some hot food with good spices. Our expectations weren't high from the very low-maintenance look of the place and the somewhat industrial neighborhood. We admit to being nervous over the wait on the food considering our lack of knowledge of the area and the relative creepiness of the neighborhood at night, but we were super happy we waited. The Samusas I ordered were some of the best crispy, savory stuffed-pastry pockets I've ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth.

The Goat Kati-Kati was an intriguing dish not dissimilar to really thick tortilla soup, though the spicing was unique and indescribably awesome. The goat had the essential goatiness we were hoping for, and the overall meal was a really stick-to-the-ribs, and make you feel full, warm, and cared-for from the inside experience.

Regardless of how leery we were of the neighborhood, this is the first place we're headed next time we have cause to travel...

We came later in the day and they were out of a bunch of stuff, but the samosas and rice dishes were good, although my wife had lots of whole... (what were those? Allspice berries?) in her rice that were rather overpowering. Other than that, we both thought the rice was flavored very nicely. The included salad was about as minimalistic as it could be. Portions were large but not unreasonable. Staff was courteous. We were the only people who ate on premise - the 2 or 3 other orders that came in while we were there all had their food to go. I was a little disappointed that even though they asked and we ordered "for here" (as opposed to "to go"), they still gave us our food in Styrofoam boxes and gave us a plastic water bottle. Everything was 1 use plastic/foam; nothing is washed and reused. If I come here again, I'll have to remember to bring my own container and ask if they can use...