Queen of Sheba is celebrating their 4th Anniversary, November 11th and 12th. They are putting a full spread out each day, I would definitely suggest trying to visit during that time.

Before coming to Queen of Sheba I had never had Ethiopian food. Due to my friend Jacob’s, and my brother’s enthusiasm for Ethiopian cuisine we wound up hearing from a young lady about Queen of Sheba; in particular their beef tartar. I’m always up for trying something new (except for Balut… unless I am REALLY hungry), so off we went to try Queen of Sheba for lunch.

Normally I write my reviews immediately after, or shortly after eating at the restaurant. In this case, I had eaten at Queen of Sheba and taken some notes on my phone… and then promptly became a lazy shit and didn’t write anything for months. I’ve since eaten there several times (most recently went for dinner with my roommates and one of my friends, Jamie, when she was in town this previous weekend). I’ve lost some steam from my original notes, so I’ll post what I had noted and let you suss out my experience from that (lazy, I know):

*2nd time here, had the buffet the first time, it was excellent. Costs around $10.

*Note the hand sanitizer, traditional Ethiopian eats with hands using “injera” as your fork, amd it’s a little plate basically.

*Harar beer is basic lager but good. The Hakim stout is delicious, recommend.

*Music is really laid back, and the setting as you can see is very casual. Fresh butcher paper goes down for each table and the proprietress, Seble Gizaw, works everything with a good word for all customers. She explains how to go about eating Ethiopian for any first timers.

*Ordered Queens Special (cook’s choice of items), Beef Tartar, and the Chefs Choice Veggie Combo Platter.

*Jake and Dan talking “shop”, discussing boring work nonsense.

*Food came out and impressive. Each time we come we enjoy the food thoroughly. The tartar was tender, spiced without a lot of heat in it. All of us thoroughly impressed but we all agreed that the veggie dishes are our favorite. Rich flavors, satisfying cravings for curry flavor. With the tartar you get an assortment of sauces and spices to add heat and we added those in providing an additional kick. Definitely advise coming back.

Synopsis: Definitely try something new and go to Queen of Sheba. Every trip has left me feeling contented and with a smile on my face. I give it a consistent Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

-Matt in Tampa

2900 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 332-9700

It has been a while since I’ve written anything for the site.  I’ve been working on the theme and some backend stuff for the website.  This is a bit of a throw back (aka I should have written this thing months ago), which is a nice reminder of summer.  I ended up running errands with my father in Ann Arbor and we were going to stop by the University of Michigan admissions while we were there.  My Dad asked me to find somewhere to eat while he opened a bank account or something for his business.  Anyways, I ended up wandering around looking for places to eat nearby.  I was a little leery of this place because I thought the prices might be too high.  My options were Cottage Inn or Mediterrano, and there is no way I was going to chowzer down on some pizza before meeting with admissions.

I decided to order some coffee while waiting for my Dad.  I opted for dining outside.  Nothing beats eating outdoors on a beautiful day.

The coffee was pretty decent, I’m not really sure what the stuff on the plate was.  I think it was some spread for the bread, ya know… olive oil poured over it then smash it all over your bread.  I was starting to get a little antsy, 10 minutes turned into 20 or 25 minutes, while waiting so I gave my Dad a ring and decided to order for the both of us.  I went for the Greek Style Baked Summer Vegetables; It had Semolina orza pasta, tomatoes, feta cheese and Kalamata olives on top.  I ordered the Grilled Chicken Kebabs for my Dad.  The Summer Vegetables were absolutely fantastic.  They were perfectly baked, and the melted feta added a nice little punch.  It was full of textures, the soft artichokes, the green beans still had some snap.  The tomatoes didn’t seem to be overly acidic nor over seasoned.  The chicken kebabs looked pretty delicious too.

While eating I spoke with my Father about how I feel that good Vegetarian dishes are the hallmark of good restaurants.  Even when I’m not eating purely vegetarian, I like the option for a vegetarian dish just to try new things that I wouldn’t cook for myself.  I can make a damn fine steak or an amazing hamburger, however making something like these tomato baked vegetables?  It just wouldn’t cross my mind to put those things together since I grew up with meat as the protein for most of our meals.

While you do pay for the dishes your wallet won’t be too much lighter;  my Greek Veggies cost $11 and the Chicken Kebab was $12.99.  Not terribly expensive considering how much food you get and a great atmosphere for a dining experience.  Most of the dishes were between the $10-$20 range, with the majority around $15.  If you’re looking for a casual dining spot, with some great Mediterranean inspired foods, give Mediterrano a shot.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars  Decor and atmosphere were great and really fit the mood of the food.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Price of everything was reasonable.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Food was perfectly cooked and all of the flavors really went well together.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Overall.  Definitely deserving of 4.5 stars, if you’re in Ann Arbor give it a shot.

The next day we went to the UofM football game.  It was one they actually won too!