Sheger Spring Ethiopian Cafe — Restaurant in Silver Spring

I have been a regular customer at Sheger Spring Cafe since 2021, and for years, it was a place that provided exceptional service and quality food. The crew in 2023 was particularly outstanding—professional, attentive, and dedicated to customer satisfaction. Many of my friends enjoyed dining here, and it used to be a go-to spot for a pleasant experience.

Unfortunately, since 2024, the service has deteriorated drastically. The current staff—both waiters and waitresses—lack professionalism, focus, and attentiveness. Worse, some incidents suggest an alarming level of discriminatory treatment.

On one occasion, I arrived at the restaurant at the same time as a white customer and was seated first. However, despite my presence, a female server immediately went to his table to take his order, completely ignoring me. A second waiter, Bamlak, later approached him to check on his order, further reinforcing the neglect towards me. After waiting for about 10 minutes without being acknowledged, I politely called Bamlak over to inform him of the situation. Instead of apologizing, he simply asked for my order without any concern for the delay. When I expressed my frustration and asked, "Don't you even say sorry?" his dismissive response was, "For what?"—a deeply disappointing reaction from someone in customer service.

To make matters worse, my order was never relayed to the kitchen, leading to another 40-minute delay while the same white customer had already finished his meal and moved on to drinks. When I finally approached a young waiter, Azaria, to check on my food, he confirmed that my order hadn't even been placed. Frustrated and hungry, I decided not to wait any longer, and as I left, the same waiter who had taken my order sarcastically told me, "Please don’t come again."

This experience was deeply disheartening, especially considering the high standards that Sheger Spring Cafe once upheld. I know the owner, Selam, to be an experienced and customer-focused professional, which makes it even more puzzling how such unqualified and disrespectful staff could be hired.

The decline in service and customer treatment is unacceptable, and unless significant improvements are made, I can no longer recommend Sheger Spring Cafe to anyone looking for a welcoming and professional...

I go to this place whenever I want to meet friends. I can say it is a good one but it is not to the standard of very good or excellent. The reason I am forced to write this comment is one incident which is happened on April 1, 2021 afternoon. We went there with a friend and ordered "Special Kittfo" and Whole fish. My friend wasn't like the fish, in any way we start digging. The "Special Kittfo" didn't have one of the sides which is " Kocho" but the waiter told me that in advance, so I have no complaint about it. On contrary, the fish is not good. Half way through my friend frustrated about his order. This is not the first time we order whole fish. This one nothing like before, he only managed to scavenge I can say half of it. We called the waiter and we told her our compliant and we ask to correct the order. The head waiter came to us and tried to shame us for our request. We request for the Manager and the Manager also has the same stand. I understand what is at stake here price wise. After going there to have a chat and good time we end up into altercation. Finally, I told to the manager that we are not going to pay the bill. The manager called to the police and we wait until the police showed up. After listening both sides the police gave us Trespass Notification and we request for Incident Report so we can sue in a Consumer Court for refund. The situation handled badly. My question to the Restaurant Manager is this, does the cost of the "Whole fish" worth all the dust and smoke you rise up? I may be biased, but I believed our day was ruined by the situation. Some customers shrug and let go bad...

I am disappointed to say the least. A friend and I ordered two dishes and were happy with one dish but didn't like the second dish of fish, my friend said it didn't taste right and asked for the waitress to take it back. Customarily they were supposed to offer to replace it with another dish or ask us what we would like to do, instead the owner brought "another" fish dish and told us the fish she serves is the best and there was nothing wrong with the food and so on. My friend offered to taste it and if we like it we will keep it, unsurprisingly the taste was the same. Instead of offering us another dish or act with any professionalism we were ignored for almost 30 minutes after that. There was attitude from the waitresses and open hostility. I mean we didn't come to a restaurant at this time especially, to be treated like we...