Queen Sheba Bar & Restaurant

First time at Queen Sheba and I thoroughly enjoyed my Birthday dinner. The staff was nice and gave wonderful recommendations on what to try. I had the Sambosa, and Ye-​Beg Tibs spicy. The popcorn and coffee after dinner was great. I’ll be back for sure

As some others have said, the area is pretty sketchy. I was the only one in the restaurant and didn’t feel safe. Feel bad for the lady who worked there as she was courteous and asked me how my food was. I ordered the veggie platter and the chicken. I didn’t like either. The potato dish was good. I ate that and left.

I have enjoyed the food here three times now. Delicious every time. Today, the service was extra good. The man serving us even shook my hand after the meal. He was very friendly and made sure we had everything we needed including being very helpful with the ordering. We’ll be back!

The food was OK but the place looked deserted. I have used a living social coupon, In fact was a very good deal. I have tasted better Ethiopian restaurants than Queen Sheba in Charlotte. We went there on a Friday evening and was surprised to see only 1 table occupied. The complex looked shabby and was really not feeling safe. The food was very mild and lacked spices. The waitress looked as if she hasn’t taken shower for a very long time. I would seriously not recommend anyone going to this place. I have asked for a dessert and it was not available. 2 stars for food. –1 stars for the complex.

As previous reviews said, the restaurant is hidden on a strip mall among Latino shops, on a not very nice area of town — however one can argue that this adds to the whole experience as usually these are the most authentic places you can find.
So yes, if you’re adventurous enough to go off the beaten path, you are in for a treat with this restaurant. The food is great, combo portions are enough for 3. We also ordered sambosas, which is somewhat of a cross between a samosa and an Arabic esfiha. The prices are reasonable, not cheap but not expensive either. One warning, though, the kids selection is limited to none, so unless your children are also willing to try different flavors, you better leave them at home with a babysitter.

If you enjoy Ethiopian food, Queen Sheba should be on your list of places to go! If you haven’t tried Ethiopian food yet — go here to try it!
It’s a small hole in the wall that many might hesitate to go into, but sometimes these are the gems. Once inside, the quaint little abode is bursting with color. There was a traditional coffee seating area as well. It’s fairly small inside with limited seating which is a good thing since I believe the chef was also serving the food and drinks. So this made the service was a little slower than normal, but they still strived to do their best and it wasn’t bad, just a little unhurried — but we could all use a slowdown in this day and age.
The honey wine, Tej, was sweet with a bit of a bite at the end keeping it from being too sweet. It went really well with our meal. The food was scrumptious and we ate everything we could until our bellies could take no more in. We had the Veggie firfir to start. It was spiced nicely and I really enjoyed it. The veggie combo was our main to share and all the components were done well. My only regret was eating it with the injera that came on the side verses scooping it up with the injera it was served on. I missed out on the flavors that injera had absorbed. Note to self for next time.
It may not be fancy or hip, but it’s good and I wouldn’t hesitate to come here again or recommend it.

I really enjoyed our dinner here! The place is simple and easygoing, the server was attentive to refill our glasses and bring us what we needed, the food is amazing. Can’t ask for more, I will be there again soon!

I love this place! The avocado salad is really good and if you haven’t been before I recommend the chicken combo. Some dishes are served raw so if your not into that they taste just as good cooked. As a child I always got in trouble for eating with my hands but here it’s exactly what your supposed to do and in my opinion it taste better that way. For sure worth a try. The staff there is very nice and the service is fast. My daughter cried because she didn’t want to go and the waitress carried her out and put her in the car!

This was my first time trying Ethiopian food and I must say that I was not disappointed. This place is located off Central and it’s easy to miss if your not paying attention the outside looks shabby but the inside is beautifully decorated with Ethiopian art and décor. Our server was very friendly and helpful in explaining the menu! The food is cooked fresh and is phenomenal. I ordered a vegetarian lentil dish with cabbage and green beans the dish is good and the cabbage is amazing. I also treated my self to freshly brewed Ethiopian coffee p. s. This place makes a nice place for a
cozy intimate date !

I didn’t have a great experience here. The area was sketchy and the food was sub par. I got the veggie combo. The injera was thick, and didn’t taste like traditional injera. The food was not spicy. The greens were vinegar-​ey and overcooked. The green beans were flat. The alicha cabbage tasted just like cumin. The denich wat was good. Salad was good as well. Was really looking forward to the misir wat but it was disappointingly flavorless. Kik alicha was decent. The service was okay. Took awhile to get my food but that’s fine. Food made it three stars, and could have made it two alone, but that combined with the area lost a third star. I was nearly hit by a screeching, out of control car in the parking lot as I left and I did not feel safe in general.

Decided to try this place because of their Groupon. The first time we went, the doors were locked and it looked deserted. The hours were listed as open, but they were definitely not.
I gave them a call a few nights later and somebody answered so I knew they were definitely open that time. I’m glad I gave them a second chance because the food was delicious. I definitely recommend the queen Sheba platter and the avocado salad to share. The injeera is also just the right level of sponginess. Would definitely go back.

Solid place for quality Ethiopian food. Despite a relatively bleak and charmless exterior [not to mention parking lot], Sheba succeeds — for the most part — at making up for disappointing initial impressions. However, there’s not exactly any reason compelling enough to have me over again.
An aside… stay for their coffee! Full-​bodied perfection.
Rating specifics (i.e. 1 – 5, low-​high)…
— Overall recommendation = 3
— Food taste and quality = 4
— Portion size = 3.5
— Price = 4
— Atmosphere = 1.75
— General service = 3.25
— Waitstaff = 3.75
— Location = 1.5

I decided to check out this restaurant after purchasing a $ 40 groupon deal for $ 20. As others said, its located in a sketchy part of town, I don’t advise going after dark. The place was empty on Saturday night.
The food was just ok, kind of bland, nothing really stood out to me. The server wasnt particularly helpful and couldn’t recommend a good dish, so I had to guess and pick out something else.
Overall, service not bad, but not great either.

We drove to Charlotte on a whim yesterday and decided to try Queen Sheba for dinner. So glad we did!
We arrived during the last 20 minutes of the Germany/​Argentina World Cup finals. There was definitely some spirited enthusiasm and competition among the other patrons, which really made it fun (although the owner apologized for how loud it was… we didn’t mind!).The atmosphere is somewhat dark and filled with incense, which was fine by me. I’d rather be somewhere with it’s own character than in a restaurant box that looks like every other restaurant box.
The food was excellent. Now my favorite Ethiopian in Charlotte. We split the Chicken Combo, which was plenty for two, and ate every bit of it. The waitress even joked «were you starving, or was it that good?». It was that good! The honey wine is worth a try… although it tastes like neither honey nor wine, rather an almost malty beer-​like flavor.
Service was friendly, albeit somewhat slow… but we wer not expecting fast food, so we just sat back and enjoyed ourselves. If you’ve never tried Ethiopian food before, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. If you don’t like your food spicy, be sure to mention this to the server
2. You are going to be eating with your hands. No utensils provided. Just grab a hunk of injera (bread) and use it to scoop up your food.
3. This style of eating is great for sharing with others, so bring a group of friends and dig in!
Other reviewers comments on the location are valid. The plaza is a bit run-​down. Don’t let this stop you from stopping by for a great meal.

Queen Sheba has some really authentic well-​made Ethiopian food. My roommate and I went to check it out after purchasing a Groupon for the restaurant. $ 20 for $ 40 worth of food and between the two of us, we couldn’t hit the $ 40 mark but we were certainly not disappointed. The food was delicious and satisfying and my favorite part of the whole experience was the Ethiopian coffee. Oh my gosh it was so good.
The only thing that would turn me off about the place is the location. It’s a little shaddy and the service was pretty spotty as well. If I was a very impatient person, I would had a bad experience but food and drinks were mostly worth the wait.

Yum, yum, yum. You Charlotteans really need to check out this Eritrean /​Ethiopian establishment.
The taste level is above what I’ve experienced at the Meskerem’s of the world, and you’re definitely in for more of an authentic experience, with real teff injera and more varied menu options such as the tartars.
I went with the avocado salad and veggie platter. Taste level was outstanding for both — ⁵⁄₅. Perfectly cooked, fresh vegetables and the injera was perfect for me… not too sour with a touch of sponginess.
The owner is super nice, and really goes out of his way to make sure you’re happy. I get the sense that it’s literally a mom & pop shop. He even offered me an extra helping of my favorite part of the veggie combo (happened to be the spicy chickpeas). All I can say is double yum. :)
Why is this not a 4? Plastic over the tables, a 90″ tv showing football matches, and the hookah bar next door detract from the restaurant experience for me. I’d recommend they go full-​on food, because they’re that good but apparently they’re trying to do the bar thing too which is disappointing but very African-​restaurant-​esque sadly.

Like others, I bought the Living Social deal for Queen Sheba which turned out to be no deal at all. I paid $ 26 for the so-​called deal, but our bill was only $ 31 (sans honey wine). What!!! I indicated up front that we had purchased the deal and asked what items were covered, so it’s not due to improper ordering. I just feel as if I’ve been misled.
Queen Sheba is located in one of the dicier parking lots on Central Avenue. When we entered, we almost left because it took so long for them to acknowledge our presence.
The interior is nothing fancy. There was one server working the entire dining room, so service was expectedly slow. Although, to his credit, our server was helpful and friendly.
We ordered the beef and veggie combos. The beef was served two ways — ground and cubed. The ground version was decidedly the better of the two, but neither were exceptional.
The veggies were standard Ethiopian fare — lentils, cabbage, collards, and green beans. Nothing really stood out as being that flavorful, and I’ve had better at both Red Sea and Meskerem.
Meskerem is still my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Charlotte. We do not plan to return.

DO NOT BUY THE LIVING SOCIAL FOR THIS RESTAURANT!
The short story. Service was AWFUL, the living social that I paid $ 27 for was valued at $ 53, but only got us $ 30 of food and 2 glasses of dubious wine, food was decent but not what I expected for such high ratings (after having had awesome Ethiopian food in other cities). Want more details, read below…
I was VERY excited about trying out this restaurant. I love Ethiopian food and have been looking for a great experience here in Charlotte. After reading all of the rave reviews on Unilocal,my husband and I purchased the Living Social deal, expecting a somewhat sketchy environment, but awesome food and service. We knew from the reviews that the atmosphere would not be incredible.
Our service was AWFUL (even though it was not crowded):
— our waiter, a middle aged gentleman in glasses, barely spoke to us (I wonder if there was a lack of English)
— we had NO refills on our glasses of water
— despite being OBVIOUSLY pregnant, he still insisted on dropping off 2 glasses of honeywine
— the honeywine came out of plastic bottles and wasn’t listed on the menu (homemade without a permit?)
— our waiter NEVER asked us how our food was
— when we needed a pen to fill out info for the Living Social voucher, he proceeded to help out the drunk behind us and two other couples before retreating behind the bar with his back turned to us (my husband had to go up to the bar to retrieve a pen)
— our waiter waited on EVERY other table and the random drunk guy that sat behind us WAY more than he ever bothered to pay attention to us. Truthfully, as an Asian minority, it almost felt like racism/​discrimination, but it wasn’t overt.
As far as our Living Social, our deal read that we could expect 2 glasses of honey wine, an appetizer, one meat or veggie combo, and one veggie combo for $ 27, valued at $ 53. Our waiter indicated that we could get one appetizer and ONE combo. When you look at the menu, there are appetizers around $ 7, veggie courses around $ 10, meat courses around $ 13, and combo courses on the far right listed at $ 23. So based on the waiter, our $ 27 Living Social could buy us a $ 7 appetizer + a $ 23 combo + 2 glasses of wine (that I doubt costed $ 10 a piece). We will be filing a complaint with Living Social momentarily.
So why 2 stars? The food was decent. Better than the other Ethiopian I’ve had in Charlotte. Decent injera, pretty good doro wot and doro tibbs as well. The beef sambosas were good, nicely spiced, but the beef overcooked and chewy. I also wonder if maybe you go on a different day, you get a different waiter with a different experience. Unilocal has always steered us in a great direction, so I’m surprised at how awful our experience was.

The food here is some of the best Ethiopian I have tried — compared to other Ethiopian in Charlotte that I know, I much prefer it to Meskerem. I highly recommend the Queen Sheba combo, it easily feeds two people and has lamb, chicken and about three lentil and two veg dishes.
I cannot really recommend the Tej (honey wine). It had a very strong fermenty flavor, and our friends who had had it before elsewhere said it usually tasted better. But I enjoyed trying it just for the experience.
Now as for the service: That was rather an awkward experience. The waitress kept trying to dissuade us from the combo we were trying to order, and in the end said that we should order that combo, a different combo AND another individual dish, so that we could try the most popular dishes. Combos, she said would feed one to two people depending on their appetite. Once again, there were two of us eating one combo and we had another large portion left to take home. The waitress kept being a little pushy about ordering other things throughout the meal and even after we had paid. But apart from that, she was very nice. Update: Service during a subsequent visit was very nice more… quietly helpful!
I highly recommend ordering coffee — it is 5 dollars a person, but one of the owners roasted previously unroasted coffee beans (which I hadn’t actually seen before) for us right there in the restaurant, ground them, and brewed coffee over a little camp stove in traditional Ethiopian/​Eritrean clay pots while we sat on little stools watching and chatting with the owner about how she came to the US and how her family adapted to the life there. What a fun experience!

I’ve never had ethiopian before, but my man has, and said, «hey! you’ll like it! let’s go!»…and so we did. i’m all about expanding my cultural horizons and thinking outside of the applebee’s box. :)
I must say i was impressed. We had all 3 of the appetizers, Timatim Firfir, which is a mix of tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, olive oil and lemon juice, and injera diced up and all mixed together… you can also request this without the injera in it, which i liked better!
We had the avocado salad, which comes looking like a giant injera burrito. It was excellent, and triangle pastries filled with a spice beef mixture and a side of spice green stuff to dip it in. It was a little more spice than i can handle, but i will admit, i am a spice WEENIE! However all the food is made to order, so they were very willing to make things more or less spicy for us, upon request, which is SUPER helpful.
For the entrée we had the Queen Sheeba Special, which was cubed bits of beef in a very nice, tasty sauce, with jalapenos (which were not overly spicy) tomatoes and onions. You have the choice of having it with injera or rice and we opted for rice since we had plenty of injera with our salad burrito looking things.
We ended our meal with ethiopian coffee, which reminded both of us of the flavor of trukish coffee, which we find to be very good.
This place is not only a restaurant but also a bar. We were here on a sunday afternoon, but you could tell they had a dance floor and a stage for bands, and a big screen to play videos on. i’m sure this place is a jammin’ when it’s party night.
The guy working was very nice and helpful, and was very accomodating. The only «downside» is the location. It’s not in the best part of town, however i never felt unsafe, but just always be mindful of where you are. :)