Traditional Ethiopian Favorites Abound at Yenat Guada

Since opening in 2016, Yenat Guada has quietly forged a reputation for serving up some of the finest Ethiopian fare in Dallas. If you stop by just once, odds are you’ll find yourself returning.

“Ingredients, consistency and the ability to listen to your customers,” is how Kassahun Kebede, owner of Yenat Guada, explains the restaurant's success. “Being able to listen and provide to your customers’ wants is essential.”
Kebede, or Kass as he’s known to his regulars, estimates that more than half of his first-time customers become repeat customers. His inspiration for Yenat Guada (meaning “Mom’s Kitchen”) was his mother’s restaurant of the same name in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he spent his teenage years learning the craft and inner workings of an Ethiopian kitchen. Many of the dishes at Yenat Guada are cooked for anywhere from four to nine hours.

Yenat Guada, which is just north of Loop 12 along Greenville Avenue, is easy to overlook from the street. The dining room is below street level, and the building’s exterior isn’t showy. But inside, the atmosphere is romantic and cozy. There’s also a full bar and a stage for live music.
You can’t talk about Ethiopian cuisine without first starting with injera. If you’re unfamiliar, you’ll be well acquainted after a visit to Yenat Guada. Injera is a light, spongy sourdough bread central to the Ethiopian dining experience, served with virtually every meal. It also doubles as a customary dining utensil. Just tear off a manageable piece and then use it to pluck your food (make sure to use your right hand, as it’s not proper Ethiopian etiquette to eat with your left).

Silverware is available upon request, but we went the traditional route. Unfortunately, we worked over the restaurant’s napkin supply in the process. The tart, flexible flatbread has an airy texture that doesn’t weigh you down as other bread would. That’s important because if you’re eating the traditional way, injera will accompany every bite of your meal.

For the table, served family-style with everything on one plate, we went with the vegetable combo platter for two ($28), siga tibs ($16) and fish goulash ($16). The veg platter is a stacked lineup of classic Ethiopian vegetable dishes and sides: red lentil stew, yellow split pea stew, spice-buttered roasted chickpeas, string beans, carrots, sautéed collard greens and tossed salad in a zesty Ethiopian dressing.

The centerpiece of our dish was Ethiopian fish goulash in a heat-packed tomato base sauce with jalapenos, onion and garlic. Flanking each side of the goulash were the siga tibs, two fistfuls of juicy beef tenderloin bites seasoned in a peppery Ethiopian chile blend known as berbere, a cornerstone ingredient of Ethiopian cooking. The contrasts of the many different flavors and textures combined for an epic meal.

Yenat Guada also offers braised and simmered lamb dishes, a popular rib dish (goden tibs), a wide selection of vegetarian options and a solid wine list.

Yenat Guada, 7015 Greenville Ave., 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Wednesday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. – midnight Saturday, noon – 10 p.m. Sunday