Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
Closer to 4.5 stars. Haven't had a ton of Ethiopian food, but based on the few locations I've had it, pretty good idea of value and taste.
So my 5-star review goes to Addis Abeba in Chicago, which is pricier, but more flavorful than here. There was no spicy heat on the dishes here (to our taste at least), compared to Chicago. But definitely 4 stars for the food here with the .5 bump for super friendly staff and value.
For two people, we go the #26 combination dinner with both meat and veggie options. Comes out with nine different wats and vegetable dishes on a base of injera, along with extra baskets of injera for each person. Injera is spongey and slightly sour. It is normal. Don't knock the place because you "don't like the bread," that's what traditional Ethiopian bread is.
Alicha sega wat - mild beef, very good curry sauce base, tender
Doro wat - classic chicken dish, good spice but could use a little more
Key sega wat - spicy beef, one of the best dishes, could afford some more heat, but also tender
Yebeg alicha - lamb, I love lamb and I loved this dish, spice balanced the slight gaminess of the lamb
Fosolia - green beans and carrots, weakest of the dishes, overly tomatoed
Gomen - collards, the best veggie, well seasoned and great texture
Misir wat - red lentils, the better of the two lentils, was good, nothing spectacular
Tikil gomen - cabbage, potato, adn carrots; quite good, reminscent of Japanese curry
Yekik alicha - yellow split peas, second weakest dish, slightly "muddy" flavor
My wife was an Ethiopian food skeptic but she now says she will come back, which is a big thing for her. I like this place a lot and am glad we have access to very good Ethiopian on the same side of the Valley as us.