Enjoyed authentic Ethiopian food in a nice corner restaurant. 5 veggie plate was delicious!
Carlos Javier Montañez
Cozy informal space with friendly service and good food.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Joanna Purich
After hearing years of glowing reviews, I am not impressed. There are much better Ethiopian restaurants in Silver Spring.I ordered zilzil tibs and the veggie platter via Uber Eats. The tibs came in a typical 3-partition carryout container and the meat did not even cover half of the main section. For over $20 an entree, this is an extremely small amount of meat. The tibs tasted great and had a good amount of berbere, but the veggie platter was so so. Gomen and atakilt wat were highlights and the other dishes weren't executed well.
Food: 2
Siena F.
Love eating here with big groups. All the food options are tasty and there's something for everyone.
Kiros Adhanom
WARNING. I was at Dukem for lunch with my Daughter today. The food was good. The reason I am giving them 2 stars is because of their scam on the bill . We order a total of 4 orders. We ate the 2 orders at the restaurant and we take 2 orders to go . The total bill supposed to be $85.70 plus tax .but they charged me $117 . At the time I didn’t check the details I know it was my fault but I trust them and I tip the server 18%. So they charged my Card for a total of $138. Then when I left the place I realized something was not right and I called to the restaurant if they can explain the details of the bill and I talked to the waitress she severed us and her response was, yes your total is $85.70 plus tax comes out $117 . I asked her how many percent is tax in DC ? She doesn’t have an answer. And because they said $31.30 is a lot for $85.70 . Sorry if you go there make sure you check your bills before you pay. Scammers
Danté R
Always a pleasure visiting Dukem! Just wish they'd open sooner on Saturdays so that I can enjoy lunch there. Also, gotta love how pleasant the staff is!Vegetarian options: Get the 7 veggie platter and honey wine :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Fish
Hailey Lewis
I hadn't been to dukem in years and decided to make a visit. They have seriously gone down hill. When we arrived there was an old grimey smell but I decided to ignore it. The menus are dirty as well but the bathroom is clean. The prices are not worth the portion size and the injera was served cold. The food itself was lukewarm as well but tasty.My friend and I ordered two platters with mine being vegetarian. She brought out one plate with meat and 4 sides on it and when asked about my veggie platter she pointed at the plate saying that is the veggie platter. I said we ordered separate plates and she apologized and brought out one for me. Even if they assumed we were sharing, the amount would not have been enough for two people.The service was some of the worst I have ever experienced in my whole life. The server stayed on her phone at the bar and only came by to take our order, bring the food, and take the payment. She also cleared our water glasses without refillling them. and even though they weren't closing for another 20 minutes, they started turning off lights and closing blinds while we were sitting. I became uncomfortable so we decided to wait for our uber outside in the rain. Very unpleasant.The total came to $42 before a tip and we still gave 20% because we work this industry, but seriously I'm never coming back and would not recommend them. I live in Silver Spring and could've paid the same amount for far more food and it would've been hot. If you're in the city go to chercher or Family Ethiopian instead.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
A B
Food was bland. Veggie combo ordered. Server suggested most expensive Veggie combo with items I do not eat after I specifically stated I wanted Mesir wat, Kik Alicha, Gomen, Tikil Gomen and Fasolia. I also ordered Spinach and Veggie Sambusa. Lentil Sambusa was brought. Server not very friendly. This used to be a great spot for good Ethiopian food.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Guy Enosh
Tha food is very tasty, the service nice. The prices were somewhat upscale and not really
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Deepal G.
Always ask for your check first, and review it before you make the payment. My case the gratuity was already included in the final bill but during the payment on the machine it asked me to add the gratuity again.
Food is great. Portions are tiny. They served us the wrong combo plate. They could have fixed it by bringing one side, for which they wanted to charge us $3.00. Maybe the shirks were because we aren't Ethiopian. We eat out at other Ethiopian restaurants so we do have a basis for comparison.
Ray O
We had an absolutely terrible experience there. The place was dirty. The waitress were totally not in touch AT ALL....the food was really bad. I asked for duro wat and was served chicken curry and a boiled egg? ? This DC....Dont go and waste your money on unauthentic Ethiopian food in a dirty space with really poor service....and if you choose to....well. Best of luck.
Clara Johnson
The food was cold, as well as bland. Good for people who are new to Ethiopian food as they won't be able to tell if this good. Service was awful as well. I had to physically get up to go to the bar to ask for the check. The food was too expensive as well. The one thing that was good was the samosa. I also liked the atmosphere. We went to celebrate a friend, disappointed overall. The poor quality of the restaurant made good conversation though.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
christine terefe
I don’t recommend this restaurant at all.I lived in Ethiopia for two years, and I know Ethiopian food very well. Their food tastes different from the Ethiopian food I knew before.Chercher is the best place to get Ethiopian food.Dukem only thinks about their business, not customer satisfaction.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Yafiet G.
Great injera & great service. I ordered Awaze tibs & the vegetarian combo. Food came quick & waiter was very polite.
Enjoyed authentic Ethiopian food in a nice corner restaurant. 5 veggie plate was delicious!
Cozy informal space with friendly service and good food.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
After hearing years of glowing reviews, I am not impressed. There are much better Ethiopian restaurants in Silver Spring.I ordered zilzil tibs and the veggie platter via Uber Eats. The tibs came in a typical 3-partition carryout container and the meat did not even cover half of the main section. For over $20 an entree, this is an extremely small amount of meat. The tibs tasted great and had a good amount of berbere, but the veggie platter was so so. Gomen and atakilt wat were highlights and the other dishes weren't executed well.
Food: 2
Love eating here with big groups. All the food options are tasty and there's something for everyone.
WARNING. I was at Dukem for lunch with my Daughter today. The food was good. The reason I am giving them 2 stars is because of their scam on the bill . We order a total of 4 orders. We ate the 2 orders at the restaurant and we take 2 orders to go . The total bill supposed to be $85.70 plus tax .but they charged me $117 . At the time I didn’t check the details I know it was my fault but I trust them and I tip the server 18%. So they charged my Card for a total of $138. Then when I left the place I realized something was not right and I called to the restaurant if they can explain the details of the bill and I talked to the waitress she severed us and her response was, yes your total is $85.70 plus tax comes out $117 . I asked her how many percent is tax in DC ? She doesn’t have an answer. And because they said $31.30 is a lot for $85.70 . Sorry if you go there make sure you check your bills before you pay. Scammers
Always a pleasure visiting Dukem! Just wish they'd open sooner on Saturdays so that I can enjoy lunch there. Also, gotta love how pleasant the staff is!Vegetarian options: Get the 7 veggie platter and honey wine :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Fish
I hadn't been to dukem in years and decided to make a visit. They have seriously gone down hill. When we arrived there was an old grimey smell but I decided to ignore it. The menus are dirty as well but the bathroom is clean. The prices are not worth the portion size and the injera was served cold. The food itself was lukewarm as well but tasty.My friend and I ordered two platters with mine being vegetarian. She brought out one plate with meat and 4 sides on it and when asked about my veggie platter she pointed at the plate saying that is the veggie platter. I said we ordered separate plates and she apologized and brought out one for me. Even if they assumed we were sharing, the amount would not have been enough for two people.The service was some of the worst I have ever experienced in my whole life. The server stayed on her phone at the bar and only came by to take our order, bring the food, and take the payment. She also cleared our water glasses without refillling them. and even though they weren't closing for another 20 minutes, they started turning off lights and closing blinds while we were sitting. I became uncomfortable so we decided to wait for our uber outside in the rain. Very unpleasant.The total came to $42 before a tip and we still gave 20% because we work this industry, but seriously I'm never coming back and would not recommend them. I live in Silver Spring and could've paid the same amount for far more food and it would've been hot. If you're in the city go to chercher or Family Ethiopian instead.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Food was bland. Veggie combo ordered. Server suggested most expensive Veggie combo with items I do not eat after I specifically stated I wanted Mesir wat, Kik Alicha, Gomen, Tikil Gomen and Fasolia. I also ordered Spinach and Veggie Sambusa. Lentil Sambusa was brought. Server not very friendly. This used to be a great spot for good Ethiopian food.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Tha food is very tasty, the service nice. The prices were somewhat upscale and not really
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Always ask for your check first, and review it before you make the payment. My case the gratuity was already included in the final bill but during the payment on the machine it asked me to add the gratuity again.
Restaurantji Recommends
Food is great. Portions are tiny. They served us the wrong combo plate. They could have fixed it by bringing one side, for which they wanted to charge us $3.00. Maybe the shirks were because we aren't Ethiopian. We eat out at other Ethiopian restaurants so we do have a basis for comparison.
We had an absolutely terrible experience there. The place was dirty. The waitress were totally not in touch AT ALL....the food was really bad. I asked for duro wat and was served chicken curry and a boiled egg? ? This DC....Dont go and waste your money on unauthentic Ethiopian food in a dirty space with really poor service....and if you choose to....well. Best of luck.
The food was cold, as well as bland. Good for people who are new to Ethiopian food as they won't be able to tell if this good. Service was awful as well. I had to physically get up to go to the bar to ask for the check. The food was too expensive as well. The one thing that was good was the samosa. I also liked the atmosphere. We went to celebrate a friend, disappointed overall. The poor quality of the restaurant made good conversation though.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
I don’t recommend this restaurant at all.I lived in Ethiopia for two years, and I know Ethiopian food very well. Their food tastes different from the Ethiopian food I knew before.Chercher is the best place to get Ethiopian food.Dukem only thinks about their business, not customer satisfaction.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great injera & great service. I ordered Awaze tibs & the vegetarian combo. Food came quick & waiter was very polite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef TIBS, Ethiopian Injera