Bete-Lukas | Ethiopian Restaurant

Fantastic introduction to Ethiopian cuisine!!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Injera, Doro Alicha Wot, ASA Goulash Fish

My whole family loves this place, so warm and friendly and excellent food

I had not been to Bete Lukas in quite some time and we took some friends there recently. I remember now why I love it so much! My friends loved it too. Delicious food, and Peter was, as always, quite dry and humorous. I appreciate that almost all of the food is gluten free and also very easy to make choices that are dairy free as well. I highly recommend the sampler plate so that you can try everything, and the Doro Tibs are delicious! Thank you for a lovely evening and delicious dinner.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great taste and good Quality!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Amazing atmosphere and food. The owner, Peter is really funny and kind. Highly recommend.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very authentic Ethiopian food which we greatly enjoyed. The restaurant is on the second floor of a building which does not look very inviting but once inside, the restaurant looks nice. We were picking up take-out this time and the order was nicely packed up and the service was friendly.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Perfect stuff

Food: 5

The food was fine, although portions small. We had a reservation, showed up early, the owner had a strange jokey too casual familiarity that led into sexual comments, for example when my husband mentioned he was 68, the owner mentioned next was 69, he would enjoy that. Also no way to wash our hands, which most restaurants for Ethiopian cuisine provide some type of hand cloth prior/and or after the meal..

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 4

Service: 2

We ordered a wide selection of the vegetarian dishes to get a full sense of the menu. While the variety was appreciated, none of the dishes particularly stood out. The yellow split peas were undercooked, which affected both texture and overall enjoyment. The injera was adequate, though not especially memorable.
Overall, the meal felt average as Ethiopian food goes. As a huge fan of Ethiopian foid, I was hoping for at least one dish that would stand out.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 3

With absolutely zero people in the establishment, the hostess tried to have us sit in the dark corner by the door and then gave major attitude when we requested to sit elsewhere and told us the table was “reserved”

Opted to drive across town and eat elsewhere instead.

Also, there were quite a few flies flying around as well.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

They made a customer for life with me last night. Good business.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

One of the best restaurants in Portland. Amazing food. Even better people. Everything is top notch. We eat here all the time and we can never get enough.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Dear Peter, So good to see you thriving after all these years! Thanks for heckling us for our extended absence. Clearly we forgot how much we enjoy eating at Beta Lukas! It's still delicious! Cheers, Kim and Brian

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This place is a special gem for those of us that love food and wonderful company. The food is consistently fantastic, great experience eating at the convenient location and with takeout, and the owners are generous with their warmth, humor and care. Visiting friends & family always love it, as well.
A favorite place for sure!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Don’t listen to the neighbors smoking cigarettes outside—the restaurant (up the stairs on the second floor) opens at 5. Apparently the owner has asked them not to smoke at the entrance to his establishment and they were irritated by the request and so try to deflect his customers. Super-nice, hard-working guy runs the place. They welcome children and have high chairs available. We ordered a veggie combo platter for 5 and it was way more than enough for 3 grownups, 1 preteen and 2 kids. Updated from previous review on 2026-02-21