Lalibela Restaurant and Bar

Missed this place! Goden tibs were delicious as usual! Swapped injera for their delicious warm French bread. Not a fan of the sauce the comes with it. The spicy one is the little tub is great to really kick up the heat. It feels grainy, as if its a powdered spice cooked down nut its really good.
Also, its a very large meal. As much as I tried to pig out, I got through one French bread and ²⁄₃ of the meat. I really tried to eat all and could have easily stopped after half was gone.
And the best part. I ordered after 11pm on Sunday! Great to know one of my favorite places opens till very late.

so good. I’ve eaten at 2 other ethiopian restaurants and this is def. the best. We always order the same thing-​the chicken tibs and the veggie combo. I think about trying something else but I can’t imagine it being better than the chicken tibs. It comes seved on a giant injera with salad, and a basket of rolled injera strips for eating. But it’s the injera that soaks up all the juices that’s really amazing. We leave with very full bellies AND a big box of leftovers

Ethiopian food that rocks! Vegan and vegetarian as well as carnivore stuff. Spicy and delicious. Cheap and plentiful. Don’t be afraid of the dive bar atmosphere or the area (Whitehell) because it’s totally with it. The real deal.

I LOVE Ethiopian food but moving here from DC I hadn’t even looked any places up. I knew that there was a large population of Somalians so I thought maybe there may not be Ethiopian food. So I decided to look it up on Unilocal today, since I had such a taste for it.
Saw this place had the highest number of reviews I decided to try it out. This has generally not worked out well living in Columbus. I’ve found that people in this area aren’t as Unilocal crazy as they are in the MD/​DC/​VA area (unfortunately).
I pulled up and walked in, heard the music and saw all Ethiopians. I was like… I AM in the right place!!! Yay! I had the lamb dice. It was very good and flavorful, my only problem is that I didn’t know it was going to be covered in the berbere sauce. I must’ve missed that on the menu because I was in a rush. But that’s my only issue. I loved the price and the food and will definitely be back.

Love this place! The food is always great the price is great and the service is friendly. We will be back again and again!

My friend and I decided to go on a mini food adventure and we wanted to try Ethiopian food. It was her first time and my second time! I have to say we both fell in love with the flavors and texture of the food! We came on a Sunday night around 7pm. The place was not packed but there were several groups of diners too. The feel of the place is more of a dive restaurant and the waitress was nice. We did not know what to order and the waitress answered our questions. We decided to order the combo platter which came with a choice of meat (we picked chicken), lentils, spinach/​collards, and a green salad. It also came with injera (a spongy bread which is staple to the meal). My friend and I really enjoyed our food! The flavors were bold and tasty! There was a lot of food to share! The service was kind of slow but it was definitely worth the wait. We both decided that we will come back to try other menu options!

While my friends said their lamb order tasted great, I felt the veggie combo I ordered (2 lentil options, a dish made with cabbage, a dish based on collard greens) was pretty bland.
The ambience could be improved. And it took about 30 min for the food to show up. Not recommended if you are in a hurry. The food was plenty for 2 people.

Ethiopian food for a good price. We ordered a variety and paid about $ 10 a head, and had so much food. The store lacks ambiance and is in a bit sketchy area, but hey, its decent deal.
We had lamb and chicken, I like the «juicy» option for the meat. I’d had better injera before, but at least they give you a lot of it.

We stopped by here after our hike. Wasn’t too sure about Ethiopian food– but goodness griefs– it’s fantastic !!
I don’t eat beef nor lamb, stuck to chicken. Had #30– chicken Tibs and #36– spicy chicken and hands down some of the MOST DELICIOUS dishes I’ve ever had.
And I say this as an Indian with a very high tolerance to spices– the spicy chicken was PROPERLY spicy :) but it was sooooooooooooooooo good :)

We made the mistake of going here for lunch during business hours. We were there an hour and half and we still not receive our food. We were told at one time it would be 5 more minutes, but it actually was 25 more minutes when we had to leave.
We had to leave without even getting our food. If you 3 or 4 hours try it out I guess. If you only have an hour this will not work for you.

This is my first time eating Ethiopian so I really didn’t know what to expect. I walked in with the original intention to eat in. I didn’t feel very welcome there was no one to greet me or to let me know what to do. There could have at least been a sign saying seat yourself. So I sat at the bar and picked up the menu that was lying there. I Decided at that point to order takeout which took about 20 minutes. i had a few other errands to run so when I finally get home to taste it was little bit soggy. I’ve never had this type of food but I’ve always wanted to try it. U
I feel like I should’ve asked what to try first. I’m definitely a trier i love Indian food love spice but this I couldn’t get into this. I found the bread spongy and soggy I hate cottage cheese there are no notations on the menu stating that this had cottage cheeseas far as the lamb can’t say I was too happy with that either The level of spice is good I just found it to be a little bit chewy for me. But for $ 11 you get A lot of food. I don’t think I will try this again not for me.

Neat place with real culture, low key vibe and really unique, delicious food. If you’re looking to try something new, lalibela is it.

Lalibela is responsible for two of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. There’s not a whole lot as far as bar options, the seating isn’t anything special and the service is slow, but goodness, it is worth it. We tried the lamb & vegetables, chicken tibs, and then the ribs.
Holy. Moly.
We ate all the sweet, wet injera that was soaking in the rib bits. It was barbaric what we did to that platter.
Speaking of injera, go easy on it. You might find yourself couch-​bound for hours after if you fill up on that yummy, flat, spongey, sourdough bread.
The food is cheap!, amazing!, and plentiful. We got two entrees on a platter with vegetables and it was more than enough for three… though they make for pretty killer leftovers!

Best Ethiopian food we’ve found in Columbus so far. We just moved here so can’t compare to the now closed Blue Nile, but we can compare to a lot of Ethiopian we’ve had over the years in NYC, Philly and DC.
The flavors are full and delicious here. The veggie platter is fantastic and all three vegetarians at the table enjoyed it. I got the Mahberoch which was a choice of lamb or beef with a veggie platter. I got the lamb and it was terrific. They serve alcohol and with three drinks and two platters it was an amazing deal and one of the reasons why this place will go on our regular rotation list! It’s worth the drive out to Whitehall.
Can’t wait to go back!

Was searching for a good Ethiopian restaurant after moving here from Maryland and this seemed to hit the spot.
I took one star off just because I found the area to be a bit sketch. When you get to this restaurant, there is limited parking and you walk right through the bar and pick your own table. The service was pretty efficient and we waited about 10mins for the food to come out. There was plenty of injera bread and the portions seemed to balance out with the meat/​vegetables. One platter was enough for my date and I. Also, the restaurant was family friendly; there were 3 parties there when I arrived.
will be back!

Got take out last night and everything was amazing! Would definitely recommend the vegetarian platter (Beyaynetu) and the spicy chicken.
The restaurant itself is a bit sketch, going through what I hope is a temporary construction phase.

I just tried Lalibela for the first time, and it was fantastic. I can’t say that I’ve had Ethiopian food before, but just like the reviewers below me have pointed out, good food is good food no matter what background. I ordered the Marinated Hot Beef to go, and it came with two huge pieces of Injera bread, which I’d never had before. When the lady handed me the bag, I thought she had given me extra food, it was so heavy. For $ 9.99, it was a great deal, and on top of that, it also came with a side salad (their dressing was so tasty).
The beef was nice and spicy, but not too the point where it was unbearable to eat. It may be different for other folks, since I enjoy spicy food, but to me, it was just enough spice. There were some hot peppers thrown in as well. I ordered mine ‘juicy’, so expect it to be a bit messy. It’s not like a curry, where it’s immersed in the sauce, but it is covered in a thin hot marinade. The injera bread sops it up quite nicely. The taste of the beef on the Ethiopian bread was crazy good. I convinced a hesitant co-​worker to try some of my meal, and she thought it was great too.
I can’t judge the service here, since I didn’t eat, and I’m only reviewing based off the taste and price of the food. They were doing a lot of renovation to the bar area, and there was a guy actually working there when I went in, so I’d let all of that slide. The food took a little longer than was told to me over the phone (probably a half hour total), but other than that, I’ll be heading back and bringing friends with me.

Let me start by saying the star I removed is mainly because this place is kind of a dive on the interior and had nowhere to change my baby, which is a drag. They did have high chairs, so I’m wondering if they think babies eat but dont poop??? That is my only complaint however!
My husband and I came here with an adult friend and our two kids and had a great meal. My husband had never had Ethiopian food and I knew he would love it, so when I saw the Columbus alive review we made a date. We had the combo platter (basically you choose your meat plus a little of all the veggie options) with lamb and scarfed it down. It probably would have fed the three of us, but my husband got a second platter of just lamb and injera. I got the kids the chicken sandwich and it was good too, nice bread, kind of shawarma/​gyro style meat. I also liked that they served it to us without utensils. I hate going to get Japanese food and being given a fork and no chopsticks, so I appreciated that they assumed we knew what to do. Our server answered all of our questions and was reasonably attentive.
My husband liked that the owner seemed to know many of the customers and that despite the dive bar ness, it seemed to have a family atmosphere.

I’ve been to Lalibela a number of times and really enjoy their food. This last visit I had the chicken rice juicy and while it was good, I felt that Dukem’s sauce and amount of heat is more to my liking. I highly recommend the Beyaynetu, that’s a vegetarian combination of collard greens, lentils, cabbage and yellow split peas served on bread. It’s top notch, and you won’t miss meat, even if you’re not a vegetarian.

In my opinion they are serving up the best East African food (Eritrea/​Ethiopia) in town. I love this place. It’s ethnic and it’s welcoming. The food is just amazing and consistent each and every time I come to dine in. They do have a full bar and one pool table.
I usually get the golden Tibs (beef cubes well done African style over injera) or I get the chicken Tibs. I have tried quite a few things here and I’m never disappointed.
If you in the mood to try something outside the box than I would recommend Lelibela’s. Support your local ethnic restaurant. It’s a world outside your world but it’s just the experience and food that takes you to another culture. So give it a shot. Be open and cultural sensitive. And word of advice if your sharing please wash your hands first. Because you do use your hands technical to eat. No forks or spoons set on the table unless requested.