I could start the post with an ignorant joke about Ethiopian food, but I have become such a fan that the idea frankly offends me. If you haven’t eaten at Cleveland’s sole Ethiopian restaurant you have been missing out. I have eaten at Empress Taytu quite a few times in the last year, and it has quickly become one of my favorite 
restaurants. Not to mention the fact that it is truly unique!
To quote Wikipedia, “Ethiopian cuisine and Eritrean cuisine characteristically consists of spicy vegetable and meat dishes, usually in the form of wat (or wot), a thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. Ethiopians eat with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes. No utensils are used.” Guests are encouraged to share, and the combination platters easily accommodate several people.
Located in a rather dicey part of town, Empress Taytu offers ample parking in a gated area or in front of the restaurant, so there is really no need to be afraid to dine here. Once you walk inside you feel like you’ve entered another world. Empress Taytu features several thatched huts and comfortable carved wooden chairs sets around a mesob, which is a traditional table that is curved to accommodate the tray containing the food. Before the food is served you are given a warm towel to wash your hands. As I said earlier, the food is ladled on top of the injera (and additional injera is served on a separate plate). You then tear off pieces of injera and wrap it around a mouthful of your food.
To be honest, the first time I ate here I wasn’t a fan, but from the second time on I was hooked. You just have to know what to order. You can’t go wrong with the sambusas or any of the other appetizers. My favorite entree at Empress Taytu is by far the tibs, which is sauteed meat or vegetables (see photo above). I prefer the chicken or shrimp tibs, which is shrimp or chicken sauteed with peppers, onions and various seasonings. It is served on the bread with a small, lightly dressed salad and one of the vegetarian entrees. I always order the tikil gomen (a stew featuring cabbage and carrots). This entree is so good I usually can’t stop eating it – even after I am full.
One of Empress Taytu’s most popular dishes is Dorowat, a spicy stew made of chicken and sometimes hard-boiled eggs. Ethiopian food can be very spicy, and Dorowat is one of the spicier dishes. Those of you new to Ethiopian food may want to order a combination platter to try the various entrees that are available. Empress Taytu offers meat (right) and vegetarian (above left) platters.
One thing you should be aware of – it is very easy to get full. The portions may not look very large when the food comes out, but you will be very surprised how quickly you become full. I used to split the vegetarian combination platter with my boyfriend, and we wouldn’t finish it.
If you have a lot of time (and can handle strong coffee in the evening), the coffee service is also a must. It is designed to slow things down and provide time for you and your fellow guests to talk. 
The server pan-roasts green Ethiopian coffee beans over a low fire until they browned and began to ooze oil. After the beans begin to smoke, she passes them around (or places them close to you) so that everyone can enjoy the aroma. Incense is also lit and carried around the room. The beans are then ground with a mortar and pestle and placed in a tall clay pot (see photo – and you can see some smoking incense in the background). We had ordered it as a group for a recent annual meeting of my translators group (we had the place to ourselves), so those of us who wanted coffee were asked to
sit in a circle of low wooden chairs once the coffee was brewed and elaborately poured the coffee into cups.
Just don’t go here if you are in a hurry. You are definitely in a different world. Service is very slow, so consider yourselves forewarned. Just plan accordingly, allowing for several hours to dine before embarking on any other evening plans.
Contact info:
Empress Taytu
6125 Saint Clair Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44103-1627
(216) 391-9400
involved. I know I used a knife and a fork for mine and I only had 4 toppings.
But I stopped at 
She sells lots of baked goods there, including chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats, fudge and homemade pies (I saw pumpkin, apple walnut, mixed berry and blueberry when I was there), as well as apple cider, apples, homemade jelly and preserves, pumpkins, and several kinds of candy for the kids. Not to mention the homemade wreaths, crafts, decorative corn stalks, and gourds. The pumpkins are gorgeous and are available in all sizes and colors (I’d never heard or seen cotton candy white pumpkins before). The variety is amazing.
The 
ere recently, and we enjoyed a lovely meal together. There were lots of different sized tables, ranging from dinner for one to a large family gathering that took up two whole tables, which seat 6-7 each.
salad and fresh baked rolls, breaded chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, seasonal vegetables (we enjoyed corn), and dessert (which can be anything Jo Ann chooses, but this night we had the date & nut pudding). The dinner includes coffee and iced tea. No alcoholic beverages were served, but honestly we didn’t miss them.
The food is served family style, which means the food is served in bowls at the table which you then pass around the table. The meal was absolutely delicious. The baked chicken was moist, the roast beef was tender, the rolls were soft and fresh, and the mashed potatoes were smooth, creamy and delicious. But the big hit at our table was the stuffing. Fresh stuffing studded with chunks of celery, so you could tell it was homemade. We couldn’t get enough of it!
After dinner we were served coffee (both decaf and regular) and the aforementioned date & nut pudding. As you can see, the pudding was the consistency of a British pudding rather than the creamy pudding we usually associate with the word ‘pudding.’ The vanilla sauce was almost too sweet and I found myself working around it and just eating the pudding and the whipped cream. But it was delicious, just like everything we were served that night. Simple, yet delicious.
Clam bakes (or as we in Cleveland spell it – “clambakes”) originated in New England, but Cleveland has taken the clambake and embraced it as its own fall tradition. Many restaurants advertise their clambakes in the Plain Dealer and online, but if you ask me the best clambakes are the ones thrown in someone’s backyard. A clambake is a traditional method of cooking seafood over an open fire pit on the beach. The seafood is often supplemented by sausages, chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, corn on the cob, etc. The food is layered, with lots of vegetables like celery, parsnips, onions, peppers, corn husks, etc. and herbs as flavoring.
My best friend and her family have a clambake every year, and my parents and I really look forward to it. Invitations go out in early September, and payment is due about a week ahead of the clambake (so that they can order the right amount from one of the many Cleveland catering companies that sell clambakes). The company they use is 
They also offer a “chicken bake” alternative, because several people don’t like the taste of clams and two of the attendees are extremely allergic to shellfish. Since everything is boiled together in a pot, that means everything might be potentially life-threatening. As a result, they grill chicken breasts and make separate corn and sweet potatoes for the “chicken bakes.” It’s a lot more work, but it does work out in the end. They also try hard to keep the chicken bakes and clambakes separate.
Once it was determined that the pot contents were ready, the pot was removed from the burner and deconstructed. First, the seasoning vegetables were removed and set aside. Then the chickens were removed and browned in a large skillet over the same burner. In the meantime, the sweet potatoes and corn were transferred to serving platters and the clams were kept in the pot to stay warm. Everyone was encouraged to line up and help themselves.
There is always a bonfire roaring in the backyard, and folks congregate around the fire. There are also rousing games of corn hole and baseball in the backyard – and some years they blow off a cannon.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 