10/11/09

Pretty normal food, not great interiors

by srkkreddy

This was quite ordinary ethiopian food. I definitely tasted much better ethiopian food. The much smaller Ethiopian restaurant in Hillsboro (Lalibela) is much better.

I somehow did not feel good about the place - don't know whether it's the interiors/decors or the atmospher, it did not feel right.

• Pros: I like ethiopian :-)
• Cons: Normal food, looked a little shady

09/20/09

Best Ethiopian in the Northwest

by Glucose

I travel for my job and I have made it a tradition to always eat at a local Ethiopian restaurant in EVERY city I visit. I've been doing this for 6 years now and have had Ethiopian in Norway, Germany, Spain, South Africa, and every major city in the US.

Queen of Sheba is the best in the NW, including Seattle, no question.

Suggestions: Have the Zilzil Tibs and Atakilt Alicha. It's a nice combo of meat and veggies and is great for folks who are new to Ethiopion as well as old timers.

The owner's name is Alem, and if he's in the day you eat, be sure to chat with him. He's 90% of the ambiance, and if he's not around the service can be a smidge spotty, but it's Portland, so expect that everything is on its own time. :)

• Pros: Absolutely Authentic, made by the owner's family.
• Cons: Slowish cooking process, don't be in a hurry.

02/03/09

Yummy, but a bit of a weird atmosphere.

by northwestshopper

I took my boyfriend here last fall and although the food was good and the smell of Ethiopian coffee roasting was nice, I doubt if we'll go back. It had a very weird vibe. The decor was old and outdated and looked as if it was an old bookstore that someone threw a few cafeteria tables and chairs into, and then added a few paintings and artifacts to give it an authentic look. No music was playing at all, which was sort of weird too and the service wasn't so great. All in all, if I exhaust all other choices in this category, I might come back, but I doubt it.

• Pros: Good Food, Good Value
• Cons: Virtually no Ambience

02/02/09

Check your bill carefully - shady...

by VeggieGirl98

Went with some friends to the Queen of Sheba one night, because another Ethiopian restaurant we wanted to go to was closed. We chose the 3-veggie combo and two meat dishes. When we placed our order, the waitress abruptly said "you need more food!" We awkwardly looked at each other and one of us said, "ok, then double the 3-veggie combo." (One 3-veggie combo costs $10.00, by the way.) The food came and it was very good. We laughed, and decided that since the portions were comparitively small that sure, we were glad we had more to eat. When we finished eating, we looked at the bill and it was more expensive than we thought it would be. After finally deciphering the waitress's chicken scratch, we see that she charged us for three 2-veggie combos, which are 8.95 each. What we asked for were two 3-veggie combos, which are 10.00 each. So we should have only been charged 20.00 for the vegetable dishes, but instead we were charged almost 27.00. One of us went to her to correct the mistake. She proceeded to argue and yell. The manager came out, apologized and fixed the bill for us, so it was fine. But, what really gets me is that the woman said a lot of people don't know what to order, and so she orders for them. We didn't ask for any help ordering. We have eaten Ethiopian food before, and knew what we were ordering. The waitress basically admitted that she overcharges people without their knowledge, which is exactly what happened to us. We felt like we were taken advantage of. It was very shady and unfair, especially how the waitress reacted. She made an obvious attempt to charge us for the most expensive option possible, which was absolutely not what we asked for. The amount of money in question was not a lot, but that definitely was not the issue. I liked the food, but I would certainly warn customers to check the bill and make sure it matches what you order.

• Pros: Good food
• Cons: Smaller portions, overcharged, bad service

09/21/08

best ethiopian in portland!

by breezyl

I have been coming here for almost a decade, and have been a life long ethiopian food lover and this is the place to go! vegetarian and vegan friendly, the veggie sampler is to die for! yummy mushrooms, excellent collard greens, the potato/carrot/cabbage stew will make your mouth water and there is ALWAYS leftovers. I would highly recommend this place if you are a lover of good food!

• Pros: excellent food, nice staff
• Cons: not the best location

07/02/08

Great food ok location

by exerrex

First time eating ethiopian food and i have to say the food was excellent. We ordered the platter for the whole table and it worked out fine with 2 of them for 12 people with lots of extra's. The round tables were tough for a group over 5 some square tables would be a good investment. Besides that everything was great.

• Pros: Good Food
• Cons: Service was so so and the round tables was hard for a big group

04/27/08

Grand rip off, Totally Overrated...

by rima101

Went there with my wife and kid. Each of us ordered a dish and a salad combo. The dishes were $14.50 each and the salad was $8.00. The food tasted really bad, and we got 2 spits of salads ($8) and few cubes of meat as main dish. I am not joking when I say that sizzling meat in oil at home tastes much better. And to top it off we were served the checks few minutes after we were served the food. so, bad food, small portions, and you look at a $40 check while you are still forcing yourself to eat the bad food. That was my frustrating experience. For those who write good review, I really doubt that you are really customers and not the owners.

• Pros: Maybe the location...
• Cons: Food, service, smell of the place, condition of the building inside and out....

01/19/08

Great Food! Don't be scared by the bad service reviews - we live in Portland after all...

by Aven

I was wary of eating here due to the bad reviews regarding service, but my husband and I wanted to try it out anyway.

We're glad that we did. The Queen of Sheba was well lit, clean and the food was great. The service we received was good - though we did see others waiting a while for their orders to be taken.

The portions are smaller than out previous Ethiopian haunt, so order several dishes without the worry of being stuffed.

The lamb was fantastic - the lentils were out of this world!!

As far as crappy service -- one doesn't have to live in Portland long to understand that service all around is pretty lackadaisical. High end restaurants, bars, tapas - it doesn't matter. If you're in Portland, be prepared to have a server who comes by...whenever... So why are people surprised?

Those at the Queen of Sheba who were waiting kept their server headed back to the kitchen with questions about meat products and vegan alternatives. While I support all types of lifestyles, no one has to be a pain in the a** regarding their diet. If it's such a problem for you finding the gluten-free, non-dairy, mushroom protein chicken substitute, then don't go out. Just - don't go out.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Portland "service"

12/12/07

Terrible service coming from a seasoned Ethiopian patron

by imnewatthis

Used to go to Queen of Sheba all the time as a kid and grew up in an Ethiopian family. Recently I took some friends who had never tried this kind of cuisine to Queen of Sheba and was shocked to find that the experience I had as a child would now only be a nostalgic one. When we arrived we were not greeted, I wasn't sure if we were to seat ourselves or wait. I sought out a worker and found one on the computer in a back room whom seemed agitated that I had disrupted her. She gave us the menus and rudely told us to find a table. The place was pretty empty with the exception of a large group near the bar. We were the only brown people there and saw little service compared to the mostly white patrons. This was appalling to me as an Ethiopian because the culture on a general level is very hospitable and welcoming. The food was good but it came out way too quick to be fresh; with the exception of the chicken tibs that only needs to be spiced and sauteed, the veggie dishes take much longer to prepare. About a minute after our food arrived, we were given the bill. This made me feel unwelcome because I had asked them to leave a menu so we could order more food, wine, and coffee after the meal. They had little regard for us as customers and hurried us out even though the place was empty and we had over 45min till closing. It wasn't until I broke out some Amharic that I got a smile but it was too late because my friends and I felt jaded and prejudged.

• Pros: Food was good but not as good as some other places
• Cons: Service was terrible as was the ambience

11/22/07

Our Favorite

by bingonis

Can't say enough good things about this restaurant! The food is incredible and the service is friendly and personable. Often smaller restaurants have a difficult time accommodating large group, but was have had a group of 20 and received the same great service. I have been to other Ethiopian restaurants, but always come back to Queen of Sheba. I will say that it took us a couple visits to Queen of Sheba before we truly understood what to order and what our favorites are. I highly recommend the spicy lamb.

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Nothing