Walia Ethiopian Cuisine - San Jose

Best Ethiopian restaurant in Bay Area probably. Here the vegetarian options are as delicious as their non vegetarian ones. Price is reasonable. It’s not a very big place and they only do walk-ins, no reservations. Definitely recommend. Lentil sambusa was good, but I wish they had chicken ones at the time we visited. The platter accommodates all spice levels. You may wanna check with the staff if you want to avoid any spicy ones. Mushroom dish aka ‘ingudai tibs’ stood out. Overall all the items were very flavorful. They keep the bread /injera coming- all you need is ask. Even the Ethiopian spiced tea was great. If you like dessert wines, you may want to try their honey wine. It was good too. It has GF and veg friendly options. Note: You will need to use your hands to eat and they give you wet paper towels in the end.

Excellent and amazing dishes. The service was wonderful. This restaurant is a gem. They also are allergy-friendly.

Used to love this place, always went out of my way to get it since I’m not from town but over the last year or two the quality has really dropped. The food is more oily and the flavors just don’t stand out as much. I was also really disappointed that they changed my favorite dish, the Doro Wot, from having chicken drumsticks that are tender and fully immersed in the flavor of the sauce, to just using super hard, chewy, cubes of chicken. I’ve had it multiple times since they switched over and the texture is super off-putting. I might still go back if I’m in the area but I’m going to be looking for another location to go to on a regular basis. Doing take out is still super prompt and easy.

The food's good! But 20% service charge is CRAZY and unexpected!

The food is quite good! But 20% SERVICE CHARGE is CRAZY (Quite unexpected!