Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant

(212) 397-0610

650 10th Ave (46th Street)
New York, NY 10036 40.762 -73.9936

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Neighborhoods: Clinton, Midtown

Hours:

Daily 11am-12am

Price:

$$

Last updated 6.13.09

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

Visa, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Dine At The Bar, Theater District Dining

Cuisine:

Ethiopian

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – Queen of Sheba is classier than the average 10th Avenue storefront, with a full bar, ochre walls and caring, informed servers. A flamboyant mix of Broadway actor-types and African natives gather at the traditional African tables, which look like giant baskets planted on fireplugs. – – The Food – The flavors of Ethiopian cuisine have no counterpart in American cooking: If you like spongy buckwheat pancakes, you'll flip for injera, the ubiquitous bread used to grab bites. Almost everything else is stewed in or spiked with berbere, a peppery, brick-colored…

Editor's Tips

Where to Sit:
The best seats in the house, especially for a group, are the African basket tables clustered in the front window.
What to Drink:
The wine list features several first-rate South African wines, priced around $20 per bottle.
ambiance
92.30999946594238% positive
  1. “The overall atmosphere is great.”
  2. “The Jazz band on Thursdays is a great touch and the ambiance is very cool as well.”
  3. “perfect place to set the tone for a romantic evening.”
  4. “The service and ambience were very good.”
  5. “It's so fun to eat here with a group of friends so you can sample the most from the delicious menu.”
  6. “Excellent kategna, authentic ingredients, and great atmosphere- it is sleek and romantic, but familial and welcoming as well.”
  7. “Although the chairs were not the most comfortable, it was so much less boring than the standard tables (which looked very nice, too).”
  8. “This is a Quaint little hide away, the lighting, ambience, and very pleasant staff are more than enough to please even the most finicky customer.”
  9. “Good food and nice authetic ambience”
  10. “Cozy little restaurant with nice atmosphere and very friendly service.”
  11. “The food is delicious and fresh and the atmosphere is relaxed.”
  12. “2) It is very Quiet and romantic, no loud obnoxious music.”
  13. “The food was quite delicious, and the ambience was authetic--baskets as table-tops.”
drinks
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. “great food, delicious wine, and lovely service.”
  2. “LOVED the Ethiopian wine (we tried the one from Axum and ended up ordering two bottles).”
  3. “3) there is a full bar and a decent wine list, including ethiopian wines and beers.”
food quality
84.09000396728516% positive
  1. “Excellent kategna, authentic ingredients, and great atmosphere- it is sleek and romantic, but familial and welcoming as well.”
  2. “The food is so delicious.”
  3. “If you want to eat good Ethiopian food, I would try another place.”
  4. “The spongy crepe is a little weird at first but goes great with the meal.”
  5. “love food to be a bit spicy, and they accomodated.”
  6. “Fresh, tasty and well-made.”
  7. “Non Ethiopians may think this is great tasting food, but i speak for several ethiopians when i say that the food is mediocre.”
  8. “The food is excellent.”
  9. “It's so fun to eat here with a group of friends so you can sample the most from the delicious menu.”
  10. “Good food, pleasant wait staff, and a warm and inviting environment all at a reasonable price.”
  11. “My main course was the beef , which was good, but wasn't one of the best dishes I've ever had.”
  12. “great food, delicious wine, and lovely service.”
  13. “We really enjoy the food, but it seemed that they skimped on the portions tonight.”
  14. “loved the vegetarian options, the lentils & pureed chick peas, and my boyfriend liked the lamb.”
  15. “Every bite was wonderful, but the green beans were truly fabulous.”
  16. “The food was fresh, well spiced, and delicious.”
  17. “Delish food to a good price.”
  18. “good bet for Ethiopian food.”
  19. “would not recommend this place to anyone who does not like spicey food.”
  20. “The food was cold and I have eaten better Ethiopian food at another restaurant.”
  21. “love Ethiopian food and I think Queen of Sheba is the best Ethiopian restaurant in the city.”
  22. “The food is truly spectacular (both the cold and hot dishes), the spices are a delight, and well worth the trip to 10th Avenue.”
  23. “The food is delicious and fresh and the atmosphere is relaxed.”
  24. “Still enjoy the food - but maybe they realized that the portions that they were giving previously were too big?”
  25. “The menu is great and, when you look at the amount of food you gett, the value is fantastic.”
  26. “The food was quite delicious, and the ambience was authetic--baskets as table-tops.”
  27. “Vegetarian dishes are always good, but if you're a meat eater try the Tibs.”
  28. “We already knew we loved Ethiopian cuisine and were delighted with everything about this restaurant.”
  29. “Great Ethiopian food”
  30. “The hostess and waitress were extremely polite and helped us make our food selections.”
  31. “Good food and nice authetic ambience”
  32. “can honestly say that I love all kinds of food, thai, italian, different african cuisines etc, however Queen of Sheba had to have the worst food I have ever tasted.”
  33. “For good Ethiopian food in NYC, Queen of Sheba can't be beat.”
  34. “did really enjoy my meal here and do recommend it.”
  35. “The food was excellent, I sampled a bit of everything since it was my first time there.”
  36. “Plan to order a lot of food because the portions are slightly below average size.”
  37. “But really I wanted to leave a review because I feel the need to comment on an earlier one: it's one thing to complain about bad service, etc, but if you've never had Ethiopian before, make sure you know what your talking about before you complain about t”
  38. “The buckwheat bread is wonderful and they give you plenty.”
  39. “Great food & Great value”
  40. “The lamb was tasty, but all the vinegary stuff going on around it was.”
  41. “For you meat lovers, I recommend the Doro Tips (chicken) and the Gomen Besiga (beef).”
  42. “My best friend and I had the Dodo wat heres was the less spicy and because I love spicy food mine was the hot, the food was tasteless, lacked flavor and the chicken that was in the entrees seemed like scrap.”
  43. “The spices they use are savory and tasty.”
  44. “loved everything about this place-- food, service and presentation.”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “The hostess and waitress were extremely polite and helped us make our food selections.”
  2. “It's so fun to eat here with a group of friends so you can sample the most from the delicious menu.”
  3. “loved the vegetarian options, the lentils & pureed chick peas, and my boyfriend liked the lamb.”
  4. “The menu is great and, when you look at the amount of food you gett, the value is fantastic.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “Queen of Sheba has earned its spot as my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in the city, on the merit of it's consistant excellence.”
  2. “love Ethiopian food and I think Queen of Sheba is the best Ethiopian restaurant in the city.”
  3. “If you want to eat good Ethiopian food, I would try another place.”
service
76.91999912261963% positive
  1. “However when I am trying something completely foreign to me, it is essential that my server be at least remotely friendly and helpful.”
  2. “But really I wanted to leave a review because I feel the need to comment on an earlier one: it's one thing to complain about bad service, etc, but if you've never had Ethiopian before, make sure you know what your talking about before you complain about t”
  3. “Cozy little restaurant with nice atmosphere and very friendly service.”
  4. “can't say that the waitress was overly attentive, but she wasn't horrible either.”
  5. “great food, delicious wine, and lovely service.”
  6. “loved everything about this place-- food, service and presentation.”
  7. “The hostess and waitress were extremely polite and helped us make our food selections.”
  8. “Good food, pleasant wait staff, and a warm and inviting environment all at a reasonable price.”
  9. “The owner is very friendly and an Ethiopian native who is happy to make the rounds to make sure that everyone isi doing well.”
  10. “The servers were very friendly and dressed in beautiful white cotton costumes (native to Ethiopia I assume).”
  11. “The service and ambience were very good.”
  12. “This is a Quaint little hide away, the lighting, ambience, and very pleasant staff are more than enough to please even the most finicky customer.”
  13. “We left and are never going back to a place with such rude service.”
value
88.88999938964844% positive
  1. “Delish food to a good price.”
  2. “Good food, pleasant wait staff, and a warm and inviting environment all at a reasonable price.”
  3. “The food is truly spectacular (both the cold and hot dishes), the spices are a delight, and well worth the trip to 10th Avenue.”
  4. “We really enjoy the food, but it seemed that they skimped on the portions tonight.”
  5. “The menu is great and, when you look at the amount of food you gett, the value is fantastic.”
  6. “Great food & Great value”
  7. “Their platter is the best value.”
  8. “Still enjoy the food - but maybe they realized that the portions that they were giving previously were too big?”
  9. “Plan to order a lot of food because the portions are slightly below average size.”
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/14/11

Excellent Ethiopian food even for vegetarians

by LisaMur at Citysearch

This is an excellent restaurant for Ethiopian food. I ordered the tim tim salad which is tomatoes onions, etc with injera bread, and sambosa (lentil) and the vegetarian sampler. Loved all three dishes. I also go to Maskerem down the street sometimes and enjoy both places. Queen of Sheba can get crowded at times and the tables in the corner are a little tight on space but the food is very flavorful.

3 Star Rating: Average

08/23/11

Somewhat decent

by JulieM101 at Citysearch

The first red flag should have been that we were the only ones in the place for almost the entire duration of our meal.

The appetizers were kind of a joke, we got the lentil sambousas. They were two TINY little pockets for $5!

We asked the waitress if a sampler platter was big enough for 2 people to split, and she said something like yes or we'll make it work (we could have asked her to clarify now that I look back on it), but she brings a platter out and we were charged for TWO platters. They charge you $5 to share a dish (which is kind of ridiculous) & we haven't eaten at enough Ethiopian place to know when we're getting two servings as opposed to a shared serving size.

Our bill was nearly $50 dollars for a shared platter or platters (couldn't tell), an appetizer & 2 sodas.

Another bothersome aspect of the place was that the servers kept turning the music off and on so that they could watch a show on the tv hanging above the bar. They would turn the restaurant music on during the commercials & turn it off during the show.

To make a long story short, the food was okay. But I think they are a bit overpriced & the ambiance needs some help.

4 Star Rating: Recommended

03/12/10

Dark but tasty

by Joanne Z at Citysearch

Their platter is the best value.

The food was sour and my friends ordered a platter and we shared it with 2 meat dishes which seemed to be like curry dished and we had this with this sour thin crepe like bread

  • Pros: Very dark
  • Cons: Nice seating arrangement
2 Star Rating: Below Average

08/10/09

Not that great. Disappointed

Contributor at Citysearch

I've been to several ethiopian restaurants in NYC and this is one that i was not happy about. The food itself is a little below average. Service is also Disappointing. Non Ethiopians may think this is great tasting food, but i speak for several ethiopians when i say that the food is mediocre. The place is soo small, the tables are placed soo close. Music is good .

4 Star Rating: Recommended

12/06/08

This place is not to be missed..

by brucegoss at Citysearch

This is one of the best finds in New York. It's so fun to eat here with a group of friends so you can sample the most from the delicious menu. They really know how to bring out the flavor of the food in season. I had the dabo my appetizer, which was really good. My main course was the beef , which was good, but wasn't one of the best dishes I've ever had. This place is not to be missed!

  • Pros: food,ambiance

The Details on Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant

Place Categories:

  • great ethiopian food
  • best ethiopian restaurant
  • mediocre spicey food
  • savory many spices
  • great overall atmosphere
  • delicious lovely service
  • fantastic value
  • nice experience
  • rude service
  • liked lamb
  • not recommend place
  • hot dishes
  • highly recommend queen
  • pleasant wait staff
  • inviting environment
  • great menu
  • well-made fresh
  • cozy little restaurant
  • nice authetic ambience
  • loved ethiopian wine
  • not overly attentive waitress
  • good price
  • remotely friendly server
  • cool live music
  • always good vegetarian dishes
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