The food is amazing!The decor is non-existent.The service is as good as you might expect from one woman who barely speaks English doing absolutely everything.The restaurant is in back, just walk thru the market.Bring your own fork if you don't want to get your fingers messy.
This was our first experience with Ethiopian food and it definitely won’t be our last. Abay is great. It’s such an inviting place. We ordered the dry prepared beef t’ibs and veggie combo. The food was so flavorful and beautiful. The injera was great as well and they bring out as much as you want. It’s amazing it’s such a great value too because of the amount of food you get. The service was nice and really accommodating. Gave great suggestions for food. It was just such a cool vibe. Go visit.
This food is made with love. You can tell! The portions are huge, the food is delicious, and prices are reasonable…but the biggest reason this place stands out to me is the comfort I felt eating here. It’s a simple place where I’d imagine the owner’s friends and family would gather, eat, and just lounge around…and yet I somehow felt like I belonged there and was a part of that atmosphere. The owner is warm and seemed genuinely interested in knowing if my friend and I were enjoying the food (and offered us generous samples of his homemade honey wine). Imagine a mini market, home, and restaurant combined into 1 place…that’s Abay’s!
This is easily the best Ethiopian food that I have ever had. The food here is consistently great. It is evident that the owner cares about the food that he is serving. He goes out of his way to make sure that his customers are happy and well fed.
This place is spartan but what it lacks in aesthetics it more than makes up in great tasting East African dishes.It has some outdoor seating and some indoor, way in the back.The market, with the Horn of Africa products, is what you first come across when you enter the narrow building that, unfortunately, doesn't offer its own parking. Me and my fellow guest quickly found street parking though, even on a Saturday afternoon!They offered us a sample of honey wine, i don't drink wine so I haven't a clue as to whether it's above or below average.The chicken plate and veggie combination plate with great stuff like lentils, collared greens and cheese was scrumptious!
Very tasty food. You wouldn't expect this kind of quality from what looks like a small sketchy looking grocery store. The made to order breads and gravys were extremely tasty. Be aware of the massive portion sizes. Most items are more than sufficient to serve 2 hungry people.
Dining here was a wonderful experience. Not only was the food outstanding, miles above any other of the many Ethiopian restaurants I have tried, but the owner was incredibly kind and an intriguing conversationalist. Over some of his delicious homemade Tej, we discussed many things late into the night. Couldn’t recommend this spot enough!
Just discovered Abay and it's my new favorite Ethiopian restaurant in SD! The food is so flavorful and such high quality. Unlike other places, the food is not oily or salty. I especially love the vegetarian platter and the specialty tibs. And the homemade honey wine is sooo good. I also loved dining in! The staff is really friendly and the service was so quick! We were sat and served within 20 minutes of arriving - this is the main reason why I'd eat here for dine in over Awash down the street (where last time, my wait was 60 minutes). The restaurant and market is also very clean and the staff had great covid precautions!
Went there on a Wednesday, can't really say it was a great experience. Ordered the veggie combo, it was obviously microwaved left-overs (saw the server same as the chef, used the microwave oven and heard the beeps from the kitchen multiple times). Also on the menu it said the combo comes with 6 items but there was only 4 when dishes came out (no carrots/ cabbage/ potatoes), server didn't mention it when ordering either. There are very limited vegetarian options beyond the veg combo so beware if you are a vegetarian. The meat combo was slightly better, reasonably flavorful. However given the large number of much better Ethiopian restaurants nearby, there is very little reason for me to come back for mediocre microwaved food. Prices here aren't that different from the others either.
We were just visiting San Diego Zoo and decided to stop by for Ethiopian food. Probably the best decision we made. The food is awesome and staff is very friendly!!! Enjoyed every bite of the food. Highly recommended. The spice level can be adjusted based on your taste for most dishes.