$
under $15.00
Blue Nile Cafe
933 E. University Dr (east of S Rural Rd)
Tempe • (480) 377-1113

Blue Nile Café has style and substance. The food is as homey and satisfying as any meat-and-potatoes meal, with way better seasonings. And thanks to moist injera (a kind of thin, spongy sourdough bread), you don't even need to eat with utensils. The above-mentioned beef dish is cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and ginger, while tender yedor watt, a chicken entree, dazzles with spicy berbere sauce. Hearty vegetarian dishes get the same slow-simmered treatment, and appetizers are just as intriguing; we're partial to the kay seer salad (a tangy mix of beets, potatoes, chilies and lime juice) and the addicting, deep-fried sambussas (crisp golden pockets of meat or vegetables). If you can, snag a table in the back room, where colorful woven basket-tables add to the authentic experience.
“Blue Nile shows that food is one of the finest things about Ethiopia."
Best Of 2007: Best Ethiopian Restaurant
Best Of 2002: Best Place To Go In De-Nile
- Phoenix New Times
$
under $15.00
Cafe Lalibela
849 W University Dr (at S Hardy Dr)
Tempe • (480) 829-1939

We serve both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Delightfully different, we have received several awards for our unique and great tasting cuisine. We have been voted Best Vegetarian Restaurant of Phoenix by New Times and Best of Phoenix One of a Kind Exotic Ethnic Restaurant by Arizona Republic.
Traditional Ethiopian cuisine consists of Injera and wat. Injera (pronounced in-jeer-ah) is a crepe like sourdough tasting bread. It is made from Teff, a grain indigenous to Ethiopia. Wat (pronounced what) is a stew like sauce, which can be made from vegetables or meat or both. The meal is eaten by tearing off a piece of injera with your hands, scooping up some wat with it and then enjoying.
Best Ethiopain Restaurant – Phoenix New Times
Best Restaurant for a First Date – azcentral.com
- Juba Restaurant • 5050 E McDowell Rd • Phoenix • (602) 244-1206

