Jump to content

Queen Makeda, 9th and U Streets in Little Ethiopia - Closed


Recommended Posts

I swear by Queen Makeda. Last week, my out-of-town cousin and I stopped by, and Mama prepared us a feast. She just kept bringing us more and more dishes to "taste." My cousin was amazed. I like Sodere (far more than most of the Ethiopian restaurants on 9th/U Street), but when I want a soul satisfying meal, I head to Queen Makeda.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I swear by Queen Makeda.  Last week, my out-of-town cousin and I stopped by, and Mama prepared us a feast.  She just kept bringing us more and more dishes to "taste."  My cousin was amazed.  I like Sodere (far more than most of the Ethiopian restaurants on 9th/U Street),  but when I want a soul satisfying meal, I head to Queen Makeda.

Where is Queen Makeda??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished my second half of Queen Makeda goodness tonight. Though I liked the injera at Sodere more, Mama's version of lamb doro wat tasted closer to hearty soul food. It could have been spicier, but was tasty regardless. The berebere was rich and smoky, and the serving, well, was huge. Due to a lack of reading material or dining partner, I elected to get this to go. Everything held up pretty well in a styrofoam container that was a brick.

Couple notes: side salad was boring, eggs were kinda overcooked and just okay, and when asked Mama said she had no vegetarian options to offer. Also, no printed menu. Hey, think of it like omakase, but with Ethiopian. It was a great meal... not my fave Ethiopian, but very good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few friends and I had dinner at Queen Makeda a little while ago prior to a show at the (what I still think of as the new and not nearly as cool) 9:30. People have described this place as third world (accurate) but also as serving some of the best Ethiopian in DC right now (can’t say how accurate that is) so I had to give it a go. We walked into the unlit room and found one other person, an Ethiopian guy who appeared to be having a bad day. Possibly a bad life. He was sitting at a table, watching television and drinking what I presume was one of many beers he had enjoyed prior to our arrival. A woman came out of the kitchen, turned off the tv, ordered him to move and sat us down at the table where he had been sitting. The table was covered with a filthy tablecloth that had sizable chunks of dried crud on it. The crud had made itself at home, it was not fresh crud. The intoxicated man was clearly not happy about something--the seating arrangements, the turned off television, the weather--who knows. The woman got us beers and put a tape of Ethiopian music into the cassette deck. Rock-n-roll.

We settled in and asked what was good. She told us chicken and greens. Ok…but, are there any lentils? No, no lentils. Ok, that’s fine, just feed us. She goes away and after a time, a long time, like an hour or so, heavenly smells begin to waft out of the kitchen. In the meantime, we drink our beers and become surrounded by swarms of aggressive fruit flies. And, interestingly, we watch as intoxicated man morphs into Angry Man. Angry Man occasionally looked our way and stammered “ridiculous” in a tone that could easily be interpreted as hostile. Later, he got up and paced the hallway a few times, muttering that same “ridiculous” mantra each time he passed our table. It was charming.

The woman finally brings our food and God bless her, she has made lentils. She looked at us with jaundiced eyes and smiled sweetly, revealing shockingly gray gums. She spooned out the lentils, ground beef and doro wot onto the injera. But, no greens. I didn’t bother asking. A few minutes later, just as we were digging in, she brings out tripe. I liked everything with the exception of the tripe — it is a texture thing with me - but I did love the carrots that came with the tripe. The sweet woman seemed genuinely happy when we told her how much we were enjoying the food. The doro wot was particularly good, the chicken was very tender and the flavors were big--full, intense and earthy.

Darkness came. Outside and inside. People started filing into the room from upstairs and a spirited discussion at least and a fairly serious argument at most, ensued. Angry Man pointed us out to the newly arrived crowd and once again proclaimed us “ridiculous.” It was the only word he spoke in English the entire evening. The upside of the dark room was that it was suddenly very easy to avoid eye contact with Angry Man. The downside was that it became challenging to swat the fruit flies. I suspect we consumed a few.

Six beers and dinner for three were $42.00. We tipped generously. Despite the less than top drawer conditions and a pesky lingering thought that we should’ve had a vaccination or two prior to our visit, we enjoyed ourselves. Not something I’d be in the mood for too often but I liked the food and loved the strangeness of it all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trying to get this on the intended thread:

According to a highly reliable friend who posted it on Chowhound earlier, Queen Makeda has reopened, with the same people and the same great food, but completely remodeled and now a very pleasant atmosphere (apparently no longer qualifies for hole-in-the-wall status. Worth trying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The kitchen at Solly's U-Street Tavern is closed for renovations right now, but they're still open for business and serving their bad selection of beers - Stella, Yeungling, and Sierra Nevada at the top end. Still, the patio offers sweeping vistas of the sylvan intersection of 11th & U Streets, and in the ever-dwindling number of al fresco days remaining this summer, you could do a lot worse than kicking back with a can of PBR.

After being closed for two years, Queen Makeda reopened a couple months ago, and the space feels loungey, intimate, and comfortable, the kind of place where you lean back while you dine, rather than elbowing up to the table. After being thwarted by Solly's kitchen closure, the night became doubly damned when I found out Queen Makeda is unable to sell beer and wine for a couple more days - apparently some after-hours incident that happened a few nights ago.

But in a marriage of inconvenience, the food-and-drink version of Right and Left, I found myself trekking back down U Street, toting a styrofoam container of about eight different piles of greens, lentils, carrots, onions, potatoes, twice-insulated by the folded-over injera. Heading back into Solly's, I plopped down at a two-top near the front window and feasted, hungrily, washing it all down with a Sierra Nevada. As long as the kitchen at Solly's remains closed, you can bring your own dinner, or even call to have it delivered.

And if this isn't strange enough, I also met The Legend.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We must have been there before the beer ban. When we asked for Ethiopian beer (Actual Ethiopians apparently prefer the Dutch stuff which QM [did you know that Queen Makeda was Solomon's Queen of Sheba?] ) they ran down the street to get it for us.

The revived QM is laying out an excellent spread these days and the front room is quite a cozy place to curl up with a couple of rounds of injera and and a pile of wat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The revived QM is laying out an excellent spread these days and the front room is quite a cozy place to curl up with a couple of rounds of injera and and a pile of wat.

This could be the Ethiopian equivalent of Abbott and Costello:

"What is this?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"That's right."

"What's right?"

"No, wat's on the left."

"What are you talking about?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"That's right."

"WHAT'S right?"

"Wat's on the left."

Busboy's excellent review of Queen Makeda here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was dying for Etheopian takeout on Sunday and found that my normal standard on 9th St (Etete) was closed. So I popped into Queen Makeda and placed an order. I sat in the new lounge-y room at the front and watched tennis while they made my food. I think there is more seating or perhaps a bar upstairs, as several people went up there while I waited. The lounge part was quite charming, with comfy, cushioned rattan chairs and low cocktail tables (plus the aforementioned flat screen tv). And the takeout was a winner too. I ordered the veg combo--the winners were the red lentils, cabbage and greens. The injera was good as well--just slightly sour and appropriately spongey. They had me in and out in 10 min. I'll go back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was dying for Etheopian takeout on Sunday and found that my normal standard on 9th St (Etete) was closed. So I popped into Queen Makeda and placed an order. I sat in the new lounge-y room at the front and watched tennis while they made my food. I think there is more seating or perhaps a bar upstairs, as several people went up there while I waited. The lounge part was quite charming, with comfy, cushioned rattan chairs and low cocktail tables (plus the aforementioned flat screen tv). And the takeout was a winner too. I ordered the veg combo--the winners were the red lentils, cabbage and greens. The injera was good as well--just slightly sour and appropriately spongey. They had me in and out in 10 min. I'll go back.

There is an upstairs room, but I find it less charming, if more spacious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is about two months late, but a more recent Ethiopian experience from this past weekend highlighted what has probably been one of my most enjoyable dining experiences as a whole. A group of friends and I dined at Almaz at 12th and U, just up from Dukem, this past Friday and I left the restaurant feeling completely underwhelmed. Underwhelmed because, two months prior, the same group of friends and I dined at Queen Makeda and we were all beyond thrilled. Whether it was the high-quality, but homey, nature of the food to the endless supply of injera, I have been plotting my return sooner than later.

Queen Makeda has the advantage of being in small rowhouse, and the quality of the food makes one think (it could be true), that someone's grandmother is manning the kitchen and we are her grandchildren, being fed until exhaustion. Best of all, the food comes with free refills, as does the injera. Seriously, what more do you want??

I have yet to try Etete, but so far, I can't think of a more enjoyable Ethiopian meal than the one I had at Queen Makeda. Ease up on the frankincense though, guys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've eaten at Queen Makeda twice in the last month and am starting to lean away from Etete and toward it as my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in the area these days. Etete is Ethiopian food by a master chef, clean and pure. Queen Makeda is Ethiopian food made by a your grandmother, incredibly flavorful but a bit rustic. Considering the other variables of dining at the two I think Queen Makeda comes out a bit ahead. First, the price is ridiculously cheap. Every time I come here the check always seems to average out to about $12-$15 a person and that is with a beer or two. I think the menu is more of a suggestion and I always seem to get charged less than what I think I should pay. Second, there is never a line here and the table next to you isn't spilling over into your space and there aren't always people hovering in the aisle waiting for your table. The space upstairs at Queen Makeda is at least twice the space of Etete. Third, the food is really really good. I always order the raw kitfo and tell the waitress to bring out whatever else is good. This usually results in a large mound of kitfo and some other assorted meats and vegetables. The kitfo here is so good that twice I've had kitfo virgins tell me they wouldn't have known it was raw unless they had been told. I think Queen Makeda stands on its own but next time you go to Etete and the crowd is out the door consider crossing the street.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was dying for Etheopian takeout on Sunday and found that my normal standard on 9th St (Etete) was closed. So I popped into Queen Makeda and placed an order. I sat in the new lounge-y room at the front and watched tennis while they made my food. I think there is more seating or perhaps a bar upstairs, as several people went up there while I waited. The lounge part was quite charming, with comfy, cushioned rattan chairs and low cocktail tables (plus the aforementioned flat screen tv). And the takeout was a winner too. I ordered the veg combo--the winners were the red lentils, cabbage and greens. The injera was good as well--just slightly sour and appropriately spongey. They had me in and out in 10 min. I'll go back.

Just wanted to add to this. Went in search of Ethiopian with a pal who'd never really tried it, thought I'd take him to Etete since I know it is consistent, but it was jam-packed Sunday night. So we trotted right across the street to Queen Makeda, were seated promptly upstairs and ended up having a fantastic meal. Again, I have to say how much I dug the greens and red lentils. They were heavenly. And this time we tried the beef tibs and Ohmygoodness. The tibs were fantastic--better than Etete and WAY better than Dukem! We sat upstairs and honestly I thought the decor was charming. Less trendy/chic than Etete, but pleasant. More rustic, but not shabby. Another telling detail--there were plenty of folks in QM, and they were *all* Ethiopian. I take that as a good sign! Exactly the opposite crowd at Etete...

The service was a little bit slow, but very friendly. We stuffed ourselves silly and still had leftovers--all for $25 including tip.

Needless to say, my friend is now an Ethiopian junkie like me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Queen Makeda has the advantage of being in small rowhouse, and the quality of the food makes one think (it could be true), that someone's grandmother is manning the kitchen and we are her grandchildren, being fed until exhaustion.

We might be her grandchildren. 10 kids? No wonder she can crank it out!

And we were thrilled with our meal tonight. Her menu isn't the most comprehensive, but the usual favorites are there, and they're all excellent...I think only Etete has been as consistent. The buttery, intricately spiced kitfo is the best I've had, period, full stop. Gubeen, who used to have a twice-a-week kitfo habit in NYC, seemed delighted as well. Even though we hadn't ordered one, they offered us a generous taste of the fully cooked kitfo as well, and it's both very different and very delicious in its own right - rather like the filling of a really good lamb hand pie.

Service is, well, to call it relaxed would be putting it very kindly. It took a while to get their attention to ask for the check, and then a while longer to come up with one. And then a while to get change made. But it was very, very friendly. We'll definitely be back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say this is the best Kitfo I have had in DC. There was a nice amount of ground corriander which gave it a lovely aroma. It was buttery in flavor but not dripping with oil. The real sensations here are the sides. The red lentils and shiro were amazing. I also really liked her gomen, not too bitter and a good foil to the kitfo. For a vegetarian combo, I don't think I have ever had better.

Also, I liked that her son knew the owner / chef of my favorite place in NYC. Made me feel quite at home.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND QM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the bar at queen makeda needed some serious replenishing on saturday evening: no ethiopian beer, no tej. although no one at the bar knew how to make a martini, mine was, as the server commented, "a serious drink": almost straight warm gin served in a glass splashed with coffee.

i would go back for the carrots and collards in the vegetable platter, the latter steamed and then sauteed in olive oil and scant garlic, bracing and coming in on the delicious side of bitter. for the squeamish, kitfo served slightly sauteed so there was still something raw about it had an exotic spicy flavor (similar to the tikul at etete across the street), i'm assuming from mitmita, but with low heat.

upstairs, where the iron and rattan chairs provide back support, the ceiling is decorated with three caravan canopies with some photo transfers from the old country, and a perch by the window provides newcomers to this area with interesting views of life on the street below, although we were shooed away from the first window table to the second, because it was too wobbly. downstairs looks more for huddling.

no sambusas on this menu, and a far narrower selection than etete's, so unless we are up for a ramble, i know that it is going to be difficult to return despite encouragement from our friendly and down-to-earth server to do just that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wandered in here with a friend in December. Our server was excellent - an older woman who fed us like we were her nephews or grandsons. It was an amazing meal... one of my all-time favorites. Everything was excellent, but the cabbage may have been the best. I had cravings for it all week long and had to go back the next weekend with two different friends. Unfortunately, the experience didn't come close. We had a different waitress who was ok, but the food seemed like it was prepared by another chef. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't spectacular. Maybe a little above average. I'd still go back at some point, but for now, Zenebach Injera a few blocks away is my favorite Ethiopian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stepping in at 7:30pm, we were heading in as 1 other family was getting ready to step out and there was literally 1 other person otherwise. Despite the so-called empty restaurant, the place was beautifully colored, brightened by family photographs that entertained gebaby as he pointed out the "older sisters" on the wall; it helped that we were by the window, as he pointed out all the "ka-ers" zooming by. The waitress was very warm but service was, um, leisurely.

My friend enjoyed her super-raw butter kitfo, which needed to be slightly warmed, as the butter ended up congealing a tad, while the vegetable platter and doriwat was "comforting." It was a nice place for comfort food -- not fancy or spiced up as some other Ethiopian places might be -- but the faint taste of cinnamon to all the Doriwat, lentils, split peas, collard greens, and carrots & cabbage gave it a very homey touch.

Gebaby surprised me by enjoying the enjera, along with some cabbage and greens and asking for more "bread."

All-in-all, a nice dinner to satisfy my friend's cravings.

*Note: it was pointed out that there is only 1 high chair in the entire restaurant. Gebaby actually had to wait a little bit for it while the other family was wrapping up. also, most of the seating is upstairs, which I didn't know at first... Another note is that if you have a little one and go to the bar, they might play some Ethiopian MTV for you so that your little one can dance to it as gebaby did. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should probably post this on the Queen Makeda thread, but they seem to no longer be serving Ethiopian food. They've converted to bar/nightclub that serves chicken wings it appears. The bartender told me he hadn't seen the Ethiopian chefs in 2-3 weeks.

Is it still called Queen Makeda? This is one of the more bizarre things I've read here in months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it still called Queen Makeda? This is one of the more bizarre things I've read here in months.

The signage still says Queen Makeda Ethiopian Restaurant. It was a very bizarre experience to walk upstairs and see someone DJing with their laptop in the corner. It wasn't clear to me if the bar was some separate operation and the downstairs was supposed to be the restaurant.

I noticed something funny when I looked them up on Yelp, and thought maybe it was a mistake. But going in, confirmed that it's definitely not operating in its usual capacity. The about tab says the management changed in July 2010, and mentions the "option" of Ethiopian...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...