Ordered the veggie combo. Food tastes ok but there’s no ventilation and it’s very stuffy inside. Our table and the whole dining area in general seemed unkempt and dirty.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Eva Hernandez
The food is good here. I recommend trying it out.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Pratik Nikte
Food was ok overall. Service was good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Injera, Vegetarian Combo, Sambussa, Shuro Wat
Sylvia Tsang
We used to go to Zeni very often but the service got slower and slower & we started going to other Ethiopian restaurants for the last 6 or 7 years. The others are farther away than the 12 to 15 minutes it takes us to get to Zeni's. Last week when it was pouring rain, we decided to give them a try rather than to drive to San Jose, to see if service had speeded up any. It has. We ordered as we always as we had before. When the food came, there was just the injera & the meat dish for each of us--no LITTLE BIT of salad like THERE USED TO BE . We had not been asked if we wanted the meal a la carte or dinner, not been asked if we wanted a salad. After were served, and we asked for some salad, it was $5 more for each of us for a small side salad!!! Sorry. Not acceptable.(Also, we noticed that everything on the Zeni menu was $3-$5 more than the 3 other Ethiopian restaurants we've been going to -- and those places include some salad on the platters!)
Solomon
We really enjoyed our dinner at Zeni. The food was delicious and the portion was very generous. The honey wine (Teje) was spot on! What we really enjoyed the most was the service and the friendly staff. Helen (our server) was very nice and welcoming. She made sure we were happy and provided quality service! We will definitely come back when we visit SJ again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Injera, Ye Beg TIBS, House Salad
Jo K
Have been going to zeni for more than 10yrs. Always love everything specially sitting in the ethnic chairs table, eating family style meal. Their tea is so refreshing and yet something to relate to.Every time I go love hot injera served with my meal - since pandemic visits n now too miss the hot injera. Everything else still so good n yummy.
pranay agrawal
Best Ethiopian food I've had. Really great vegetarian options. Best miser wot (lentils) and fresh injeeras. Slow service primarily due to low staff. But the food is 200% worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Robert Walker
Always wonderful to eat here. Great restaurant! Good times!
One of the best Ethiopian restaurants in San Jose. The decor of this place gives a warmly vibe and the service is excellent. We ordered the Sambussa which is a puff pastry with a lentil stuffing. For Mains, we ordered the Meat combination which is enough for 3 people. The Chicken Doro Tibbs was excellent. The lamb was succulent. We also ordered Foule with it, which is like mashed fava beans in a gravy sauce. I recommend trying that. For desert, we finished with the Syrupy Baklava. Overall 10/10.
Had Ethiopian food for the first time – tearing up the bread and wrapping the meat with proteins like beef, lamb, chicken, and cheese. feeling healthy. I Personally loved the cool decorations in the restaurant.
I used to be a fan of Zeni and visited frequently. Recently, I brought my parents along and wanted to order 2 main courses for our group of 5, along with 4 sides due to their smaller appetites. They pointed us to the restaurant's rule of a minimum of 2 mains for 3 people when we tried to place our order and said we need to order 3 mains. This rule is very unfriendly to customers and illogical since their large plates make 1 main sufficient for 2 people. It seems unnecessary to order 4 mains for a group of 6 (or 3 for a group of 5). Also no one brought us the bill or came to a water refill. It was very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
차마고도
Many people recommended it, so I went there.Everything just felt spicy to my taste.But other people said it was goodI feel like experiencing a unique taste once is enough.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Arnav Panicker
Amazing food! I recommend the meat combo and the baklava. I’ve come here multiple times and the food quality has been very
Ordered the veggie combo. Food tastes ok but there’s no ventilation and it’s very stuffy inside. Our table and the whole dining area in general seemed unkempt and dirty.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
The food is good here. I recommend trying it out.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Food was ok overall. Service was good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Injera, Vegetarian Combo, Sambussa, Shuro Wat
We used to go to Zeni very often but the service got slower and slower & we started going to other Ethiopian restaurants for the last 6 or 7 years. The others are farther away than the 12 to 15 minutes it takes us to get to Zeni's. Last week when it was pouring rain, we decided to give them a try rather than to drive to San Jose, to see if service had speeded up any. It has. We ordered as we always as we had before. When the food came, there was just the injera & the meat dish for each of us--no LITTLE BIT of salad like THERE USED TO BE . We had not been asked if we wanted the meal a la carte or dinner, not been asked if we wanted a salad. After were served, and we asked for some salad, it was $5 more for each of us for a small side salad!!! Sorry. Not acceptable.(Also, we noticed that everything on the Zeni menu was $3-$5 more than the 3 other Ethiopian restaurants we've been going to -- and those places include some salad on the platters!)
We really enjoyed our dinner at Zeni. The food was delicious and the portion was very generous. The honey wine (Teje) was spot on! What we really enjoyed the most was the service and the friendly staff. Helen (our server) was very nice and welcoming. She made sure we were happy and provided quality service! We will definitely come back when we visit SJ again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Injera, Ye Beg TIBS, House Salad
Have been going to zeni for more than 10yrs. Always love everything specially sitting in the ethnic chairs table, eating family style meal. Their tea is so refreshing and yet something to relate to.Every time I go love hot injera served with my meal - since pandemic visits n now too miss the hot injera. Everything else still so good n yummy.
Best Ethiopian food I've had. Really great vegetarian options. Best miser wot (lentils) and fresh injeeras. Slow service primarily due to low staff. But the food is 200% worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Always wonderful to eat here. Great restaurant! Good times!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Kitfo, Vegetarian Combo, Meat Combination, 2 Stuffed Jalapenos, Gomen Kitfo
One of the best Ethiopian restaurants in San Jose. The decor of this place gives a warmly vibe and the service is excellent. We ordered the Sambussa which is a puff pastry with a lentil stuffing. For Mains, we ordered the Meat combination which is enough for 3 people. The Chicken Doro Tibbs was excellent. The lamb was succulent. We also ordered Foule with it, which is like mashed fava beans in a gravy sauce. I recommend trying that. For desert, we finished with the Syrupy Baklava. Overall 10/10.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Injera, Baklava, Beef Kitfo, Sambussa, Meat Combo
Had Ethiopian food for the first time – tearing up the bread and wrapping the meat with proteins like beef, lamb, chicken, and cheese. feeling healthy. I Personally loved the cool decorations in the restaurant.
Restaurantji Recommends
I used to be a fan of Zeni and visited frequently. Recently, I brought my parents along and wanted to order 2 main courses for our group of 5, along with 4 sides due to their smaller appetites. They pointed us to the restaurant's rule of a minimum of 2 mains for 3 people when we tried to place our order and said we need to order 3 mains. This rule is very unfriendly to customers and illogical since their large plates make 1 main sufficient for 2 people. It seems unnecessary to order 4 mains for a group of 6 (or 3 for a group of 5). Also no one brought us the bill or came to a water refill. It was very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Many people recommended it, so I went there.Everything just felt spicy to my taste.But other people said it was goodI feel like experiencing a unique taste once is enough.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Amazing food! I recommend the meat combo and the baklava. I’ve come here multiple times and the food quality has been very
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Meat Combo
Poor service I'm really
Service: 1
Very good food every
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5