Meaza Restaurant

Ethiopian owner Meaza Zemedu’s Meaza Restaurant, Cafe and Gourmet Grocery Store have been featured in such press outlets as the Washingtonian and the Washington Post, was born of humble roots. Meaza Zemedu started her business by supplying local Ethiopian stores with her home-baked injera bread, a crepelike staple of Ethiopian cuisine. Demand for the tangy bread grew, allowing her to open her maje

stic restaurant, which welcomes guests to dine on traditional Ethiopian fare. Northern Virginia Magazine heaped praise upon the menu, including the doro wat stew—the national dish of Ethiopia—which includes chicken, red pepper, garlic, and hard-boiled eggs. Many of Meaza’s dishes are flavored with purified, spiced Ethiopian butter, from the ye beg kikil—lamb stew in spicy sauce—to the kifto—ground beef traditionally served raw or rare and mixed with cardamom and a mitmita spice blend. The chefs still bake Zemedu’s injera from teff grain as an ubiquitous side and utensil alongside the fare. Our complex Ethiopian spice blends enchant guests throughout our 7,000-square-foot space—which comprises a dining room, gourmet grocery store, and banquet hall—as they admire portraits of Ethiopian emperors painted on lambskins. Throughout three elevated tiers, white and red cloths coat each table and patrons recline into patterned cushioned chairs. Sweeping bands of color swirl and draw eyes toward the ceiling, enhancing the dining room’s air of spaciousness.