Desta Ethiopian Restaurant

My family’s favorite Ethiopian food in DFW. Been going there since before the tragedy happened. (They were wonderful to us every time!) New family is just as great. Desta is always clean and lively. The food is absolutely amazing! It’s mouth watering in every way. We always get the same things when we go but still tastes as heavenly as the first time. Because of Desta, Ethiopian is actually our favorite food.
I always order the lamb and veggie platter. The flavors are out of this world! Plus I get leftovers to eat for lunch the next day with some extra injera that they always give me to take home.
Injera is the spongy type bread that you use instead of silverware to pick up your food and eat it with. (In case you’re a new person to Ethiopian.)
My daughter always gets Doro Wat, which is very spicy! So very spicy, but it’s absolutely delectable. It’s a roasted egg and drumstick in spicy sauce that is laid out on a piece of injera, and then you use more injera to eat with and rip off your pieces of meat.
Service is never fast, but no Ethiopian place we’ve ever eaten at has ever been fast. So do not go here if you’re in a hurry. And don’t get frustrated if you have to wait. The culture is laid back and the food will be worth it. Trust me!
Also try the hot spiced tea with a little tiny bit of honey in it. It’s absolutely wonderful.

I had the vegetarian platter and it was SO good. It was awesome to get to try all the different veggie options. There were some on the platter that were a little scary to me. I didn’t end up finishing the platter, and I brought it home with extra «Ethiopian tortillas». (I forgot the authentic name of it and don’t feel like googling, sorry!!) the only bad part was the environment. It is kind of grungy feeling and the inside is weirdly arranged. They could do better!

Slow service. But worth the wait. Food is amazing! Simply cooked. Served hot. The server had good understanding of ‘gluten free’ meal. Switched injera for rice and injera-​curry for cabbage. Impressive.
Alcohol is also very reasonable priced. Glass of wine is $ 5, black butte was $ 4.
Will definitely go back!

Food here is superb! Vegetarian friendly and doesn’t take any taste away!
A must try! Before going to any other Ethiopian food, GO here!

Very good service and very different food. I thought it was very good and will definitely come back. Got the vegetable dish with meat and definitely enough for 2 or 3 people. Cheapest meal I’ve had, when eating out, in a long time.

I haven’t had the chance to really go through and check out a lot of Ethiopian places in Dallas but this place certainly has me excited to check more out. I stopped by here for lunch during a Monday with a coworker and checked out their lunch specials. Everything was very reasonably priced and I don’t remember seeing anything over $ 10.
I ordered the meat & veggie combo for $ 9.99 with the doro wot while my co-​worker got the kitfo. It took quite a while for the dishes to come out (around 30 minutes) which was a little weird given the number of patrons in the place but I forgot about that once the food came. The meat and veggie combo was huge and I could only finish it by overeating. The meat and veggies came on a giant injera and quite a few rolled up injera came as a side dish as well. There was a good mix of flavors among the veggies and meat though I wish it was a little more spice to everything but I’m sure they probably don’t want to overdo it for those that can’t take the heat. I ended up taking some of my coworker’s crushed cayenne pepper and sprinkling it over my food which made it even more enjoyable.
I would definitely come here for lunch again as I don’t think you can beat what you get especially for the price. That being said, I would reconsider coming here if you are pressed for time (you might want to just call in your order if you are).

I’ve only been here for the (very affordable) vegetarian lunch combo. They certainly don’t skimp on the injera — I’m fairly sure I could have stitched it all together into a serviceable blanket — but the veggie dishes are of varying quality. They should just miss out the salad, for example, with its sad veggies and Walmart Italian dressing. But the slow-​cooked lentil dish is incredible. Collard greens had a nice tang that went well with the sour bread. The other veggies, such as cabbage, are just reasonable. Still, at 6.99 (and served quickly) it’s by no means a bad deal.

I thought I knew how Ethiopian tasted until I came here.
Food: So dang tasty. I shared the meat and veggie platter with a friend and we chose the doro wat. Flavors and spices married well together and the injera… the injera was perfect. Fluffy, light, and best of all, neutral. I had injera from another ethiopian restaurant that had the right texture, but was way too sour and overpowered the food. I chalked it up that I would just not be a fan of this Ethiopian staple, but Desta restored my hope. The beef sambusa appetizer was just ok, however. I think it was a bit overcooked and the chickpea dip that came with it was a bit bland. Thankfully the main course was not a reflection of the appetizer. Loved that the bottles of wine weren’t marked up to the gawds. $ 20 for a bottle? Yes please.
Service: At the beginning it was a miss because there were a few items we asked for that they didn’t have or ran out of. We started out with a couple of waitresses who had to defer some of our questions to the manager so eventually, the manager just became our server for the entire meal and she was beyond awesome – knowledgeable, personable, and cracked jokes the entire time. She vibed with all of us. I wish I thought to ask her for her name. They also applied the 10% Unilocal discount toward the bill without question.
Overall, this place gets my highest recommendation for this type of cuisine.

What an incredible restaurant. Service was lovely and friendly. Décor is outstanding — what a beautiful restaurant. And the food is perfection.
This was our first time trying Ethiopian food, and our waitress patiently explained the menu and helped us choose entrees.
The tea is similar to Indian chai — black tea brewed with fresh spices. Delicious.
We got the vegetarian combo and the firfir with lamb. The injera was incredibly moist and flavorful. The firfir was packed with flavor. Be aware that it is quite spicy. The portions were generous, and each entrée is enough for two people, plus leftovers.
I highly, highly recommend Desta.

Great food. Everything was great. We shared a veggie combo and a meat combo. I think we had beef tibs and chicken wot for the meat, if I recall correctly. It was delicious. The red lentil dish was spectacular.
The ambiance is a mix between casual and trendy. I did not feel awkward in jeans and a t-​shirt, but a lot of the other patrons were dressed more smart casual than I, so your mileage may vary.
I really wish they had Yebeg Wot (lamb stew), as that is hands down my favorite Ethiopian dish, with Gomen Wat as a close second.
Man, we are so lucky to have to many Ethiopian places in the Dallas area.

The vegetarian platter was huge and very tasty.

I frequent Desta several times a month and it remains hands down the best Ethiopian restaurant when it comes to atmosphere AND authenticity AND quality of the cuisine. This is my THIRD review of Desta and my third time giving them 5 stars over the past several years. The service, the food, the ambiance, everything is consistent and still top notch!
Take it from this Ethiopian girl, if you’re looking to introduce your friends to real Ethiopian food (accompanied by standard good service), this is really your place in Dallas.

So I’ve never had Ethiopian food before, so I am by no means an expert!
We ordered the beef with the vegetable plate and got the doro wot (the chicken). The beef was extremely tender and delicious! Well marinated and cooked!
I was not a huge fan of the doro wot, it was sour and the flavor got overwhelming over time.
The injera is also sour and many of the vegetables were as well. Overall I did enjoy my meal, but I wish it was served with a side of rice. By the end of the meal, I didn’t want to eat the food with the injera, the sour on the sour gets to much over time.
It does take a little bit of time for your food to come out but it is def worth a trip if you’ve never had the food before! It is a little pricey, our bill was about $ 40 and for the amount of food, I wasn’t if its worth the bill… I will def be back though!
More like 3.5 stars but I rounded up!

Let me start off by saying I have never had ethiopian food so I can’t say if its authentic or compare it. It was a friday night at about 930 when we arrived. The place is located in a strip mall. There were a few tables inside but it wasn’t super busy. The décor was simple but nice with some cool pictures and baskets and stuff.
We ordered the veggie combo with the doro wot and the kitfo slightly cooked. Everything came out on a large family style dish and looked beautiful. There were a large variety of veggies and lentils. Beets, chickpeas, various green and red lentils, cabbage, mixed stewed veggies, collard greens, and a salad that appeared to have Italian dressing on it (which I thought to be a little odd). All the veggies were good and flavorful. The doro wot wasn’t very spicy but did have a kick to it. I really enjoyed it. The kitfo was good but I don’t know how I feel about raw beef yet. The inerja was light, airy, and spongy with a sourdough flavor. They definitely gave more than enough inerja with the meal. In fact, the portions were pretty good for everything. We even had leftovers.
Overall, everything was really good and the service was fine. No complaints. Definitely will come back to try more things.

I’ve had Ethiopian cuisine several times, and I really enjoyed the food here. The food was well spiced and had an attractive presentation. They also gave us a good amount of injera bread, which at other Ethiopian places I have been was an issue.
If you’re not familiar with the food, however, the menu descriptions might not be specific enough for you.

This was my first experience with Ethiopian food. The tilapia dulet was absolutely tasty! With a texture reminiscent of a ceviche (without the line component), it was very satisfying. Strong flavors, but the tilapia mellowed it a bit. I’d eat it again.

This was my first time at an Ethiopian restaurant and I loved it! I’ve little bits of pieces from co-worker’s lunch before but never got to experience the whole thing. I ordered the Misto, after speaking with the waitress. She suggested it since I like fish. I loved the injera and didn’t expect it to have almost a sourdough kind of taste. It was also served slightly cold which was surprising, but in a good way. See, this is why I like trying new foods! Because now I’m super curious about the other dishes and want to eat everything! I wanted to walk to other tables and say, «Holy crap! The Pope is behind you!» and steal food from them as they look away from my clever hoax.
My misto had a lot of the vegetables, including collard greens (YUMMO) and chunks of pan fried tilapia on top. The fish was very meaty and fresh and just had that perfect crispy outside that went so well with the veggies under it. nom nom! For 10 bucks, it was more than plenty and I had lots of left overs.

Delicious Ethiopian food with great ambiance!
Please don’t ask for forks and knifes :)

Thanks to my Ethiopian friend we ate well. This wasn’t my first time eating Ethiopian food but it was my first time here at Desta. My friend ordered a vegetable plate and a beef plate. I personally liked the vegetable place, it was a large plate with various kinds of vegetables and sauce. The beef was a bit jerky and they don’t give you a lot. When the plates came out I thought it wouldn’t be enough for four people. That is before I ate it with injera. Injera fills you up because it is made with a special kind of flour, found only in Ethiopia. The injera was unlimited but we didn’t ask for a lot. What I also noticed was the price. It’s a bit more than I expected but if you split into four it’s not that much.
Desta is a larger restaurant compared to Lalibela but there wasn’t a huge difference in taste.

I love trying out different ethnic foods and Ethiopian doesn’t too different from what I’ve already tried before.
BF and I went during the rainy Sunday after church. It was just us and one other table. Service was straight forward but not bad. We tried the doro wot and the vegetarian combo.
Doro wot was extremely flavorful! It only came with one piece of chicken and an egg though. But the sauce was awesome. I loved all the offerings on the vegetarian combo. Ethiopian food is extremely flavorful and anyone would be crazy to say something was bland. But my least favorite thing was the injera. It was just way too sour for me… and it wasn’t a great contrast with the extremely flavorful food. Be prepared to eat with your hands and don’t ask for utensils! Just go with it and do it for the experience.
I appreciate the chef coming to our table and asking how we liked everything. She said next time we come back to try one of her favorite dishes, which was something with tuna.
Unfortunately the BF had a horrific stomachache that same night… It was the only food he had that day and I guess Ethiopian food was just too foreign. There were no complaints while we were there though. It’s going to be awhile until we come back.