Katar River Restaurant and Bakery

First time here and it was okay. the services was good. The food was decent nothing special.

We had an excellent meal here today. I was a little unsure about choosing this place because of prior reviews, but can honestly say this was some of the best Ethiopian food we’ve had outside of Ethiopia. The wait staff spoke little English, so I carefully ordered the combination platter with meat and 3 veggies. They were out of my favorite beet recipe. What we ended up with was a large selection of at least 3 meats and many veggies– far more than we expected. All delicious and not too spicy as requested. We’ll definitely cbe back!

good food, good service and the best coffe

Another update, only because I gave this place another shot since a rating shouldn’t just be based on their service. I came for a second round of the Katar’s combination, and not only were the meats just as tough as before, but the items on the plate weren’t the same. This time around everything else still on the plate was also less flavorful and only hinted to Ethiopian food, and definitely not the freshest.
It may be a «deal» for this amount of food, but I would for sure go to another one of Minneapolis’ great Ethiopian restaurants than to come back here. Ethiopian cuisine isn’t known for a lack of flavor, and this was truly disappointing. The inconsistencies of what to expect when you order something also adds to the disappointment.

Really tasty, healthy and cheap (except the fish, which I didn’t like).

Katar River is an easy-​to-​miss small Ethiopian café/​bakery that serves excellent, fresh food. Located in the warehouse/​office park area around Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue, Katar is in an unusual location, but it’s also easy to get to, being right off the Midtown Greenway, and only a short walk from the Lake Street light rail station.
I had the vegetarian combo plate ($ 8) which consists of two pieces of injera, a berbere lentil dish, a tomato-​jalepeno salad, and another lentil dish (though the menu claims it’s a «chickpea» stew/​curry) and collard greens. All of the items were great — fresh, flavorful and well-​prepared and presented. For example, the tomato salad, which is covered in olive oil and lemon juice, was made into a colorful dish with the addition of orange bell peppers and green jalepenos. The portion size was large and definitely a great value at only $ 8.
The service is friendly and fast and Katar also has a lovely, covered patio that is a great place to sit, eat, and drink a cup of tea.
I only wish Katar had more variety in its vegetarian/​vegan dishes: with only three options, it’ll be easy to get bored of this place.
Still, as far as Ethiopian food is concerned, Katar is the only Minneapolis joint on par with St. Paul’s superb Fasika.