Category: Ethiopian

Leave the cold Chicago winter behind and take your friends to Demera for excellent Ethiopian food and drinks! This Uptown restaurant is on the corner of Broadway and Lawrence, right by the Lawrence Red Line stop and the Aragon Theater, Riviera and Green Mill.

Demera is warm, from the spiciness of the berbere sauce to the paintings of Ethiopian temples and musicians on the walls and ceiling. The sunny colors of the curtains and African tablecloths and the actual warm temperature of the spacious dining rooms melts away the cold outside. Ethiopian music plays softly in the background. Service is fast and friendly and drinks are available from the full bar at the back of the restaurant .

Ethiopian cuisine lends itself to eating with a group of friends because all meals arrive on 20 inch pieces of spongy injera bread. The manner of eating is to tear off pieces of injera bread with your right hand and use the bread, rather than utensils, to eat the meat and vegetables. It’s easy to share meals or get a combo plate of four different dishes on one piece of injera. Combo meals are $14.50 -$15.50 and large enough for two or more to share, including a small house salad with lettuce, onions and bell peppers.

Demera offers a variety of vegetable, chicken, lamb and seafood dishes and a buffet lunch from noon to 4pm on Monday - Friday. About a third of the menu is vegetarian with dishes like gomen (collard greens), garbanzo beans and lentils. Coffee is presented with incense and Ethiopian honey wine ($5) nicely compliments the spicy items. I enjoyed the shiro, ($14) mixed beans with rue seed, bishop’s weed and spicy berbere sauce. The traditional, tasty doro wat ($12) features chicken drumsticks and a hard-boiled egg in berbere sauce with a side of mild homemade cottage cheese. The menu helpfully labels dishes as spicy or mild and by spicy, it means “four stars.” A nice milder meat dish is the yebug alicha ($11.50), lamb with garlic, ginger and turmeric. If you have any room for dessert after the generous portions of lunch or dinner, you can order the Missionary’s Delight - ice cream with chocolate sauce or mango juice for $2.50.

Whether Ethiopian cuisine is new to you or you are already hooked on injera bread (as I admit I am) you will enjoy the food and drinks at Demera. As the menu explains, the name demera comes from a bundle of twigs that are lit on fire on the Ethiopian September holiday of Meskal celebrating the finding of the true Cross. Meskal has been celebrated in Ethiopia for 1600 years. The delicious menu and bar here give you and your friends reason to celebrate.

Back in the day, people once joked an Ethiopian restaurant was an oxymoron, but those poor souls who thought that were very sadly mistaken! The vibrant dishes served at Addis Abeba, Chicago's finest African communal dining establishment, can quite honestly stir the soul while sampling fare unlike any other in the world. For those folks who truly want to share a dining experience completely out of the ordinary, this is definitely the place to go.

Upon entering, guests will notice how casually classy the atmosphere is (another oxymoron perhaps?). The atmosphere is relaxed and somewhat funny, with gentle wait staff donning images of cartoonish "don't" signs over silverware. Those who have been enjoying their fare at their old Clark Street address will be pleasantly surprised how the menu has remained the same, yet the service and d?cor has changed for the better. Those who have never experienced this cuisine will be amazed how it seems to hearken a fusion of Indian and Middle Eastern flavors, especially the curry dishes.

Since "finger food" is naturally engaging, Addis Abeba serves as an ideal choice for new couples. The only rule of thumb is to remember to dig in a little at a time, not unlike chowing down on hefty nachos, so as not to lose a single bit! Novices are encouraged to try one of the patron's popular recommendations like the Combination Platters, which are served with spongy bread known as Injera, instead of silverware, to sop up the delicious meats and stews. This communal style of eating is not only fun and comforting, but it allows guests to try a little bit of everything and is a great way to figure out what they enjoy the most.

Popular "safe" selections are the lentils and the seasoned tibs (bite sized pieces of meat), as well as the various curry and kabob dishes, each one an adventurous safari in and of itself. Everything errs to the side of healthy, so those watching their diets can feast and relax! Honey wine and African brews are available and compliment the food well and also add to the fun of trying new things.