LeYou Ethiopian — Restaurant in San Jose

When I first had LeYou, I thought the food was good but a bit bland with smaller portion size than what I was used to from Walia / Gojo. As I started to eat out almost all the time during the quarantine and sought out more sustainable takeout places though, I kept on coming back to LeYou precisely due to what I initially complained about: the food grew on me a lot as tasting way healthier and less oily than other places, and the portion size was still reasonable and prevented me from overeating which was nice (obviously I could just eat less and have leftovers at the other places but eh...). My stomach's never been happier after eating at an ethiopian place.

This place is now one of the 8 staple places on my Coronavirus takeout diet - would happily recommend it to people specifically looking for a more healthier ethiopian option compared to the other places, and don't mind their food being milder. The other ethiopian places might be a better fit for you if you are mainly looking for stronger / saltier flavors though.

Ethiopian places around here generally have the same 4 sides for their vegetarian combo (shiro, miser, atakilt, gomen) so I initially started with those get those as my choices for the combo (Their chownow page has a more accurate description of their menu). I've since tried out most of the veggie sides, and here are my recs roughly in order of how much I like them.

Shiro (Powdered Chickpea) / Miser (Lentils) / Kik (Split pea) - These are all goopy legumes that had great earthy flavors, while having a lot less oil than the other restaurants I've been to, and are my favorite things to get here. I love how they stick to the injera, and if you are the type of person that likes dipping naan into curries, this is a similar idea.

Atakilt (Cabbage) - A stewed cabbage/carrot/potato side that tastes mildly sweet. The one here had a lot more cabbage compared to the other ones I've had, though recently they seemed to include more of the other vegetables. Pretty good as always, and hard to go wrong with it.

Gomen / Collard Greens - This was very minimalist and had almost no seasoning so you're getting mostly the natural flavors of the collard greens, which was brought out well I liked it since the natural flavors were strong enough for me, but not for everyone.

Bolok'ey/Tofu - I tried this once and thought it was a bit plain though still decent. I personally prefer the legumes, but my friend liked this.

Injera - Every meal comes with injera (this is a standard across ethiopian places). The injera here is flatter, less spongey, and more springy than other injera I've had. No idea if I prefer this type or the ones I've had elsewhere, but this was something different and pretty good.

Ordering Tip: If you're picking up, order from their website directly (through Chownow) rather than on Yelp through Grubhub. I believe Chownow is a monthly fee for the owners and has no commissions, whereas grubhub takes some % from each order, so Chownow should be better for...

Best Ethiopian I have EVER had, at least for me, and I have tried a LOT of Ethiopian in the states (Philly area, San Francisco, Orlando, Atlanta, Houston). The flavor profiles here are PERFECT!

This is comfort food for me. My Italian side came to America after living in Ethiopia for around 20 years, so I'm very used to this and crave it on the regular (even more so when my stomach is acting up). My husband has never really cared for it and would just humor me when I would request it. I think that's about to change after discovering this place!

I had the Misir Wot, which I was surprised to see when it wasn't that red color that I'm used to, but the flavor was the best I've ever had. Most of the time they add so much spice that after about 1/2 is gone I stop being able to taste the food... Spice doesn't bother me, but I don't like when it coats my tongue so that I can't taste anything. This had the perfect balance of spice that added flavor without doing that. I had the zikuni side, which I've never even seen at an Ethiopian restaurant and that was delicious as well.

My husband asked if they could do Gored Gored which they were able to do special order without issue. He said it was the best he's ever had. In fact, he doesn't even normally like injera and he couldn't stop eating theirs! The injera is smoother here and doesn't make you feel bloated and overly full....which we found out is because she makes it gluten free (while I'm not on a gluten free diet, my tummy definitely appreciated the break). He had the Gommen side which was incredible... I've never really liked collared greens and even I loved these.

Our server was actually the owner, she was lovely to chat with and very sweet.

We will...

LeYou was added to the Michelin guide in 2023. Love myself some Ethiopian food. I was not familiar with LeYou tho... Da Wahini suggested LeYou after noticing it on Social Media somewhere. I'm not going to argue with that. I liked the interior decor, it's one of the nicest Ethiopian restaurants I visited. We chose to try one appetizer and then opted to share everything family style. Our main course was the Meat Combination & Vegetarian combination served family style.

#EthiopianEats:

~ Kitfo Bites (Ahi Tuna) - 5/5 Medium Spicy I wasn't aware of an Ethiopian dish with seafood, let alone raw fish until I tried this. Very tasty. Packed with flavor. I haven't had a raw Tuna dish like this before, best way I can describe it is ground Poké with an extra flavor burst.

(A.) Keywot: Two Meat Stew Items: ~ Sega (Beef) - Keywot - 4/5 Your standard Keywot. Tasty and not too spicy. ~ Asa (Fish) - Alicha - 5/5 The Fish was on point! Cooked to perfection with flavor galore. I'm guessing some kind of light fish with white meat. Deliciousness...

(B.) Four Vegetarian Sampler: ~ Okra - 4/5 ~ Miser/ Lentil Stew - 4/5 ~ Shiro / Chickpea Stew - 4/5 ~ Kay Sir - Cold Beets, Carrots, Potatoes, Peas - 4/5 Everything was delish! Although we did enjoy the meat dishes here better than the Vegetarian options. We thought they were tastier.

No issues with the service. Staff were brilliant; helpful, patient and friendly. Will return and try other...