Queen of Sheba

EDIT: They changed their name to Merhaba, same location.
Best Ethiopian food in St. Louis! Part of me wonders why more people don’t come, but the other part is super happy that the place is never crowded. The owner is super friendly and funny. I usually just go with whatever he recommends, and it ends up tasting great! So much love for this place.

This place has exceptional food! The injera bread is simply heavenly and we were told that it was made from scratch at the restaurant. We ordered the vegetarian combo and the shiro wot (mashed chickpea in gravy) for two people and the quantity was perfect. Also, the place is fairly priced. Highly recommended!!!
(PS: the management changed two weeks back, but the food is still delicious)

Food was great! Lots of flavor but not overly spicy. We ordered vegetarian and it came with several options. I have to say that the location and facility were terrible. It’s located in what seems like a rough neighborhood. As for the facility, the toilet was backed up, tables were a little sticky and used dishes were sitting at the bar. If you’re willing to overlook this, the food and experience of eating Ethiopian food in a communal style is worth it.

Great, authentic Ethiopian food. All the meats I tried are very tender and the sauces very flavorful. Overall delicious.

I took my parents for dinner here and everyone loved it. We had tried to go earlier in the week, but the restaurant was closed due to plumbing issues. When we did go, the place was large and nicely decorated but completely empty, even during peak dining hours. The owner was really nice, and seemed to be doing all the cooking in the back. Service was a little slow because he was waiting on the other table and cooking at the same time. But when the food came, it was some of the best Ethiopian we’ve ever tried. Very flavorful and tons of wonderful spices, but not overly spicy. Also reasonably priced! Minus one star for a sketchy bathroom.

My friends and I have been frequenting Queen of Sheba and we have all been extremely impressed!
The vegetarian platter and lentil sambosas are our favorites in particular, though everything we’ve tried has been wonderful!
The owner is very nice and the service has been superb.
It takes a bit longer for the food to arrive after ordering compared to other restaurants, but I’ve come to see this as a good quality. Reason being, everything at QoS is made fresh to order!
I love the other Ethiopian restaurants in STL as well, but I have come to prefer QoS over the others.
The atmosphere is very simplistic and humble, one of the most cozy and ‘organic’ restaurants in the area in terms of aesthetics.
I Highly recommend checking out Queen of Sheba!

I can’t give these guys a bad review, because they were so nice to us. We were the only people in the restaurant.
The six of us ordered 3 things on our platter… it wasn’t enough, so we ended up having to order another one. Overall, we got samboosas (lentil and beef), and for the platter, beef, chicken, and some vegetables. I have no idea, it wasn’t clear how to order from the menu, so we just spoke with our server. The vegetables were green beans and cabbage and… chick peas?
Anyway you can see from the picture how it comes. The bread really falls apart in your hand, especially if its been soggy from sitting under the food. I mean, it was food. I just don’t like Ethiopian that much. If you like Ethiopian, I think it was pretty good, and I would definitely patronize this business again because of the way we were treated. I just might try something else.

Ethiopian food in stl! Yes please! Always confused why this place isn’t packed. Give this place a try, you won’t be sorry

A surprising hidden gem. Great, authentic Ethiopian food. The prices are modest. The owner went out of his way to help us with our order. We really had a lovely time.
This is a very unpretentious restaurant. I am sort of surprised that it is not packed. However it is about a half-​mile north of the Delmar Loop. Not really out of the way, but not a prime area. He deserves way more business.

The food. Good… Indians will. like it as its mostly cooked thebindian way… goats are well done and stewed for 4 hrs… the ambience is okay but the price is a little high for the quantity they serve… for us they served Goat and Chicken in a bed of Dosa… The platter also had rolled dosas… All the entrees came in a big platter together. … The man insisted to eat with hands and not with spoons to enjoy the African feel… lastly they spiked the drinks too :) I would go again for the food

Solid.
We had the lega tibs (lamb) ($ 11.95) and the vegetarian combo ($ 12.95). At first, when it came out, I thought it wasn’t going to be enough food for the two of us. It looks a lot less than what some of the posted pictures show. There was the lamb in the middle, and five different kinds of vegetable sides: collard greens, green beans, cabbage and carrots, split peas, and lentils. It was all accompanied by a full sheet of injera and then four rolled up smaller pieces. The injera was perfect, slightly sour. The best was the cabbage and carrots. The meal had some kick to it; we had ordered mild. The collard greens and the green beans tasted a little sour; I’m thinking they came out of a can. The lamb was a little more fatty than what I had expected. In the end, the spicy kick was enough that we needed more injera, so we got two more rolled up pieces. I’m thinking that each rolled up piece ends up being ¼ of an entire piece. It was pretty good despite all of this.
There was one other table there while we were there. The owner was the only person there, so he was bussing, waiting, cooking, and cleaning. It took awhile to get our food, and then we dawdled a little too while he was cleaning the kitchen. We were there for about two hours. But usually with Ethiopian food and the like, it’s an entire experience that shouldn’t be rushed so we were both okay with this.
I totally forgot to order the samboosas that everyone else is raving about! Sad!

Every time we have been here we have had a great experience. The food is delicious and it’s fun to eat.
The owner is gracious and humble. It’s a joy to go.

To say the food here is delicious is an understatement. The kee wot is just the right amount of spiciness. The split peas goes very nicely with laga a tibs.
We love the food so much, we try to get here evwry Sunday evening.
They have soul food during the day, but I have not tried that yet.
Thankfully, they are back open after a car crashed into the building a couple months ago.

As the Unilocal caption says, this is as good as it gets. It sincerely knocked the socks off of my expectations. I’ve been eyeing it on Olive for a while now, and finally had a chance to visit on Sunday.
Abraham made us a special meal, which was a sampling of many different dishes, all on Ethiopian flat bread. The tastes where great, but what made the meal delicious was its distinctive flavor. This was like nothing I have had before, and i’ve never been to Ethiopia, and it felt authentic.
Price for 2 people, after 2 beers, was $ 34.00. So worth it.
Go to Queen of Sheba, you’ll be delighted.

Hidden gem. I have been here twice. First visit was a couple years back and everything was good about it (food and music). The second time I went there was a recent visit on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. It was a very interesting visit. We were a group of 7 and were the only people in the restaurant. The owners/​chefs (hosts) were very warm and nice there was nice music playing and we had a good conversation with the hosts about the Ethiopian culture and eating style. all of our food was delicious !! I loved the warm chocolate bakhlawa with chocolate syrup and fruit (this was suggested by the host).

They actually offer Ethiopian cuisine. Ok, despite having not many options the food is good. It’s expensive though. Around one and half times expensive than typical places like this.
After 10 minutes of placing our Order the guy came with food in single platter for two people, which is fine but after I asked for a spoon he started giving me excuses and insisting he got me a spoon.
the quantity of good was not worth how much they were asking.

I really enjoy the flavors, textures and overall experience of eating Ethiopian food. This place was really good even though they were deserted when I arrived and nobody else showed up while I was there for lunch. I don’t hold that against them but it does concern me because it is hard for a restaurant to survive if they only really serve one meal per day.
About the meal… I had something from the chicken food group that wasn’t really on the menu. Why you might ask… mainly because Abraham (the owner) clearly wanted to make me chicken for lunch. What he whipped up in the kitchen was really delicious! Very savory, loaded with flavor and pleasantly spicy. I generally shy away from chicken breast dishes because that part of the bird can be so flavorless in the US. It may well have entered the kitchen bland but it left for my table something just shy of phenomenal.
I also had a small portion of salad that was nicely sprinkled with a large crystal salt. Also delicious. Finally, it all showed up on that porous bread that is typical in Ethiopian restaurants. Loved the whole experience!

I was glad to find this place to satisfy my Ethiopian cravings.
The food is simply delicious! If you like Indian food, you’ll like Ethiopian food. They also have an imported beer that is very tasty. I don’t remember it’s name, but it has a black elephant on it.
I’ve been here several times and I seem to always have an experience similar to those described in other reviews. The place generally stays empty and the entire restaurant is a one-​man show! Luckily, this one man is very nice, helpful with suggestions, and works his butt off. The food does typically take a bit longer-​than-​usual to prepare, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Just grab a beer (or two) and talk to the people you came with! Here are some conversation topics that you might consider: the weather, that sports team, Jennifer Lawrence’s new haircut, or why hot water freezes faster than cold water.
I’m always excited to support local business and am happy to see that this place is still surviving. They definitely need help with marketing so give it a try and if you like it, tell EVERYONE! and if you don’t like it… just keep it to your Lisa Frank diary.

This restaurant is amazing! The owner gives you personal attention and suggestions. He’s just a nice guy who makes the restaurant a really pleasant place to dine.
The food is so good! Served family style on injera, a thin bread used to scoop up the food. No utensils here!!!
My favorite Eritrian/​Ethiopian restaurant in St. Louis!!!

I’m extremely disappointed that… I didn’t find this place earlier! This is definitely one of my top five favorite restaurants in St Louis. I can’t wait to come back soon. It seemed Ethiopian to me, but I’ve heard it’s closer to Eritrean (Idk, it was mind-​blowing all the same).
One thing I do want to point out is how Ethiopian is traditionally served. If you come with a group you are close with, they serve every dish that is ordered on a large communal platter. The dishes are plated onto injera bread (reminds me of a thick dosa) and everyone uses their hands to eat. So, if you are a germaphobe or have dietary restrictions where dishes cannot be placed on the same plate, you should warn your waiter. The manager is really great at catering to these requests and is more than happy to put certain dishes on separate plates. If you do not specify, they normally put them all on the same plate. If you are comfortable sharing food, I highly recommend getting it this way. It’s much more enjoyable than ordering your own dishes.
The food has a lot of spice, but very little heat. I cannot believe how well the flavors permeate through the entire pieces of meat — not just the surface. Considering how much I love meat, I was a huge fan of the lentils. If you’re vegetarian you’ll find something you love that’s a thousand times better than the steamed, bland stuff most restaurants try to sell as «delicious vegetarian friendly food.» The lamb tidbits were my favorite dish by far — I highly recommend it.
The only thing that did disappoint me about this place was how empty it was. When I came in, there were only two or three tables with people. For how great the service and the food are, I am baffled. I guess not many people know about how wonderful this restaurant is.