Cafe Desta — Restaurant in Tucson

Desta is the one place we would never miss going to whenever we are in Tucson. We always get the Vegan Signature Plate, which is a sampler of all the vegan items on their menu, served atop traditional injira bread. (Nos that many dishes feature meat).

All the various dishes are just SO DELICIOUS.

The Vegan Signature Plate is enough food for 4 people, so since we are 2, we either get it to go and put aside half before we start, OR if we are eating in, we ask for to go boxes right at the start and put half aside. Do this otherwise once you start diving in, this soon turns into a "dog's breakfast". We also like to get the desert which is not on the menu but always sits on the counter. It's an almond cake with raspberries, or something like that. It goes well with their coffee.

Our Vegan Signature Plate plus two slices of the almond cake cost us $52 with tax. Unlike a regular American restaurant, when you pay on their Square terminal there is no suggestion to add a tip! So bring some cash for a tip. They deserve it!

The owners are hardworking family members who have built a devoted following. We are from the LA area, but as yet have not found anything in LA's Ethiopia Town...

Firstly, I must admit that I love Ethiopian food; I enjoy eating it. It's unique and there are vegetarian options which is a win for me because I love vegetables.

The Ethio Latte and almond berry tart are delicious! The Ethiopian food is so, so good and enjoyable.

The kaye doro and misir are very good . Ayeb cheese is tasty and reminds me of mexican crumbled cheese. Gomen and kosta are good. I wasnt a big fan of the Alicha doro. I love that mitmita spice! I want it in my home. The teff was a little dry and stiff this second time which is bad presentation, but I can forgive them because I really like the food and coffee here.

I've been to Zemams which I also like. The kaye doro and misir are delicious there and spicier, which I prefer honestly, but one reason why I really like this location is the coffee. They also have dessert, which they dont at zemams. I like both locations. This one has such a clean and ordered layout and its...

I've never had Ethiopian food before but Pete, one of 3 of us was a big fan of the Cafe Desta and he suggested "The Works", a tray with 15-16 different entrees.

Pete was right. Each entree was very fresh, interesting and delicious. The tray served 4 and we could not finish. As much as we tried. The soft, moist flat bread, I think called something like"Irgoro" was delicious too. I've never had anything like it.

Service was friendly, and helpful. Very inexpensive too. They don't serve alcohol but gladly furnished us wine glasses at on charge without our asking ad Pete had brought a bottle of a good test which was the perfect choice. 4-5 of the entrees were meat. Several were grains based sauces, each quite different. Several more were cooked vegetables such chard and spinach. 2 we're fresh, uncooked vegetables.

I really liked this place. It's a hike from where we live but we will be coming...