Sodere Ethio-American Cuisine

This place is wonderful. The wife and I had a taste for Ethiopian food. We normally run down to N Druid Hills area to get our fix but we decide to try something more local and we were not disappointed. I had the lamb tibs and my wife had the veggie platter. Both meals were very fresh and the service was quick. The folks working there are very friendly and accommodating. It’s great to see good Ethiopian food come to Lawrenceville.

My wife and I ate at Sodere Ethio — American Cuisine and the food was AMAZING. I had an Italian Beef Sandwich that was just like home (i’m from Chicago) and my wife tried the Chicken Tibs. They were TERRIFIC!!! If you have never tasted ETHIOPIAN food you must go and experience it for yourself!!!

Living in an increasingly multicultural area has many advantages, one of which is being able to sample foods of the world within a five mile radius. Today I tried Ethiopian food for the first time literally two minutes from my doorstep. Sodere is in a strip center, the people there are helpful and eager to explain their cuisine, and just walking in to smell the aroma of the food is intoxicating. I dove right in with marinated lamb tibs, sautéed with onions, garlic and pepper, served with veggies and ayeb cheese. I can best describe ayeb as Ethiopian cottage cheese, made from cow’s milk. Now the fun part — the whole shebang sits on a bed of injera with more injera rolled up on the side. Injera looks like bread but isn’t. It looks like maybe a tortilla or flatbread — it isn’t those either. I will call it a light puffy slightly sour foodstuff, full of holes from fermentation. The injera becomes a mini sandwich to hold a bite sized portion so everything in front of you becomes finger food. The holes in the injera soak up all the wonderful juices. I only know this because I watched other patrons using injera while my food was being prepared. I also had a side of tikel gomen (sautéed cabbage) which was tasty and reminded me of Polish halushki without the noodles. The lamb tibs are spicy, which I dearly love, but may be a bit much for the non-​pepper-​lovers out there. But there’s good news — Sodere also has American food such as wings, hamburgers and hotdogs if you are too nervous to expand your palatal range. I will be back and you should check out Sodere. Alert: They are closed on Mondays.

We went for the grand opening. We tried the beef and chicken tibs — awesome! A subtle spiciness that tingled the lips without creating an inferno. Also tried the chicken wings and fries — go for the lemon pepper! Everything was terrific! Next time we will try some of the Taste of Chicago side of the menu. Even my 16 year old wants to go back.

I am so glad Sodere is open. Delicious Ethiopian food here cooked to order with premium ingredients. The lamb tibs dish is my favorite and I can eat this every single day. The tofu tibs dish is so good too, it’s all vegetarian. I also enjoyed the salad which went really well with the Ethiopian dish. I will come back for the lamb tibs — the best I’ve ever had!