Meals by Genet

This restaurant is actually very fancy and lovely on the inside, and is definitely less casual than some of the other Ethiopian places on the same street. Ethiopian is a family-style setting, where you can enjoy stewed meats and vegetables by tearing it with your hands and eating it with the large flatbread that it comes with.This is quite possibly the best Ethiopian place in Los Angeles.

Incredible meal here. Had the veggie platter with tofu. Never had tofu quite like this and cannot recommend enough. Everything was so flavorful and light but filling. Leftovers were so good the next day too. Can't wait to go back. The atmosphere is intimate and the Wait is not long at all. Genet even came out to greet us at the end of the night. Great experience

truly a special place. the doro wot is a revelation of spice. unlike the other restaurants on the row, she makes her own injera bread - a remarkable feat.

Delicious food for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. Good lighting and ambiance to take a date. There is limited seating so it is worth getting reservations. Luckily someone cancelled and they let us in. We had honey wine and Ethiopian beer which were both great, and one order of tofu tibs and a veggie combo. It was just the right amount of food to leave us full but wanting more and it was tasty, especially the tibs. The total was like 55 dollars too. The waiters are extremely friendly and helpful and have great personalities. Hard to improve on this. This place is in little Ethiopia and there is no dedicated parking or valet so look for a street parking spot. There are usually plenty. Feed the meter with an hour and a half though because the food takes a while to prepare.

My favorite Ethiopian restaurant! It's a small, stylish, family-run business. The ambience is calming, the service is friendly and the food delicious! If you are vegetarian then the "tofu bits" are a definite must have and the "foul" as appetizer is not to be missed.

This is THE best Ethiopian food I have had in my life. Every single item is absolutely delicious. Don't forget to have the gluten free vegan cookie at the end. It's not Ethiopian but it closes the meal well 😝

I actually was not a fan of Ethiopian food, but my husband surprised me for Valentine's Day. I was pleasantly surprised. The food was good, service was great and Genet was so personable. I would definitely return and the Doro Wat is amazing!!!

Service and food is on point! I recommend making an reservation prior to going. If it's your first time let the servers guide you, they did right by us. I had their veg special with a side of chicken for meat. Also, they can do gluten friendly dishes! If you like sweet wine try their honey wine. ;)

Really yummy Ethiopian cuisine. Friendly service and staff. Enjoyed it very much.

vegetarian rich menu. My favorites are yellow split peas, cabbage & carrots and another carrot dish i can’t name. Beef tibs is also my first choice of meat, enjoy!!

The food is delicious, top quality! If you go alone, keep in mind that you’ll get much more on your plate than you can finish. You’ll definitely end up taking some home!

So happy to read that Genet came back to serve meals at her restaurant Fri-Sun, it is an eating experience you will not forget. My kids tried foods they would not normally have tried and of course loved eating with injera. You need reservations, take your waiter's suggestions on what to eat, it doesn't require much research prior to going. Wonderful place for vegetarian and people with GF restrictions. Afterwards, Genet herself came out to check on how everyone had liked the meal, what a blessing it is to have her still cooking.

Meals by Genet is, without a doubt, my top recommendation for anyone seeking a truly unique and unforgettable dining experience in Los Angeles. This isn’t just a meal; it’s a culinary journey that rivals my best experiences from Napa to New York. The food here is elevated to an extraordinary level offering an authentic taste of Ethiopia infused with love and warmth. My go-to order? The Ethiopian tofu tips in homemade butter. It’s pure magic—simple, yet so profoundly flavorful. While the DoroWot often gets the spotlight (deservedly so), insiders know the tofu tips are where simplicity truly outshines. Pair it with an Ethiopian beer to start, and follow up with a dry Sauvignon Blanc for a great pairing. Genet, the heart and soul of this establishment, is a gem. Dining here feels like being welcomed into her home, where she masterfully guides you through the rich and vibrant flavors of Ethiopian cuisine. It’s no wonder the late, great Jonathan Gold praised this place as one of the best he’d ever experienced. This is my go to answer on if you had the choice for your one last meal. Thank you Genet.

This was my first experience having Ethiopian cuisine but this was the best place to start! Everything about this place is wonderful; the exceptionally kind staff, wonderful service, calm ambience, AMAZING food, and Genet herself even said hello to us. Couldn’t have asked for a better time. Thank you so much!!!

Delicious! The place is small and beautiful. The seats fill up fast. It did get a little noisy, but the world didnt end. The staff is wonderful, knowledgeable and informative, and efficient. As we left we thanked Genet herself who was in the kitchen cooking in a crisp white chef coat. There is limited parking is in the back and cocktails, no bar.

I have been wanting to try this place for years. I tried Rosalinda across the street years ago and it is good. But Genet taste is different and it is also delicious. Pace yourself or you'll get full fast. Great intimate atmosphere. Great staff and Genet comes out and say hello to the guests.

Very happy that this restaurant has finally reopened since the pandemic!

We got beef tibs and veggie combo. The lighting was amazing the waiters were very knowledgeable and the food was impeccable!

Camilla Tartaglia

The food is delicious, top quality! If you go alone, keep in mind that you’ll get much more on your plate than you can finish. You’ll definitely end up taking some home!

Eddie Urenda

So happy to read that Genet came back to serve meals at her restaurant Fri-Sun, it is an eating experience you will not forget. My kids tried foods they would not normally have tried and of course loved eating with injera. You need reservations, take your waiter's suggestions on what to eat, it doesn't require much research prior to going. Wonderful place for vegetarian and people with GF restrictions. Afterwards, Genet herself came out to check on how everyone had liked the meal, what a blessing it is to have her still cooking.

Ryan Donahue

Meals by Genet is, without a doubt, my top recommendation for anyone seeking a truly unique and unforgettable dining experience in Los Angeles. This isn’t just a meal; it’s a culinary journey that rivals my best experiences from Napa to New York. The food here is elevated to an extraordinary level offering an authentic taste of Ethiopia infused with love and warmth. My go-to order? The Ethiopian tofu tips in homemade butter. It’s pure magic—simple, yet so profoundly flavorful. While the DoroWot often gets the spotlight (deservedly so), insiders know the tofu tips are where simplicity truly outshines. Pair it with an Ethiopian beer to start, and follow up with a dry Sauvignon Blanc for a great pairing. Genet, the heart and soul of this establishment, is a gem. Dining here feels like being welcomed into her home, where she masterfully guides you through the rich and vibrant flavors of Ethiopian cuisine. It’s no wonder the late, great Jonathan Gold praised this place as one of the best he’d ever experienced. This is my go to answer on if you had the choice for your one last meal. Thank you Genet.

Nikki Mann

This was my first experience having Ethiopian cuisine but this was the best place to start! Everything about this place is wonderful; the exceptionally kind staff, wonderful service, calm ambience, AMAZING food, and Genet herself even said hello to us. Couldn’t have asked for a better time. Thank you so much!!!

Miss Cookie

Delicious! The place is small and beautiful. The seats fill up fast. It did get a little noisy, but the world didnt end. The staff is wonderful, knowledgeable and informative, and efficient. As we left we thanked Genet herself who was in the kitchen cooking in a crisp white chef coat. There is limited parking is in the back and cocktails, no bar.

Janet Li Tall

I have been wanting to try this place for years. I tried Rosalinda across the street years ago and it is good. But Genet taste is different and it is also delicious. Pace yourself or you'll get full fast. Great intimate atmosphere. Great staff and Genet comes out and say hello to the guests.

Ben O'Connor

We got beef tibs and veggie combo. The lighting was amazing the waiters were very knowledgeable and the food was impeccable!

Superb. The best Ethiopian meal I have ever had. Pro tip: order a protein dish and also their veg dish. This gives you that wonderful mix of dals, greens, etc to set off the meat ( or tofu). Very welcoming staff, great vibe. Open fri-sun for dinner. Worth planning for.

What a delicious and enjoyable meal! Best Ethiopian I've ever eaten! Lovely staff, and meeting the head chef, Genet was a special touch. Will go back asap!

Not only is this the best Ethiopian food, but this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had across the board. Genet is kind and warm, and her food is unmatched.

Meals by Genet is one of my favorites, if not my favorite place. The food is always so good. The servers are very nice. I highly recommend this place for locals in the neighborhood and also for people visiting from out of town. The food is always consistently very good. I really enjoy taking my out of town guests there to dine. They always enjoy the food and the experience at Meals by Genet. For those unfamiliar to Ethiopian food, the style of dining is communal. A great choice for families and children at age ten really like it also. That is really nice because children at that age can be a little picky about their food. Meals by Genet is a great place.every time we go. We are always welcomed with smiling faces. On every visit we always order two veggie platters. One is never enough.

I had the pleasure of dining here during a trip to LA and I would just about hop on a plane just to dine here again. The ambiance is that of intimate minimalism, which I found inviting from the very first second. Although the menu may be a bit more limited than other places on the same street, the dishes they do are executed exquisitely. I most definitely would recommend checking this spot out.

A friend recommended Meals by Genet and the experience was even better than they said! The food was absolutely incredible - the kind of meal you can’t explain to someone, they just have to try it for themselves. Chef Genet said hello to almost every table there. And our servers were outstanding!

Absolute best food on this block. My favorite is chicken tips and I love the fried fish. There is just nothing at all on the menu that you don't love !!!!! Just so so delicious!

Meals by Genet is awesome. Great food, elegant atmosphere, and helpful service. The seasoning on the dorowot and minchet abish was spot on along with the lamb and some tasty selections in the veggie combo. Slightly disappointed that they didn't serve Ethiopian tea, but the food quality more than made up for it.

The best! So glad Chef Genet has reopened dine-in service. Shocked to see a recently opened “Ethiopian” restaurant completely rip off Chef Genet’s concept. Some people have no shame smh. Chef Genet’s food is a labor of love and highlights the true essence of Ethiopian cooking.

Alexis Halyard

I had the pleasure of dining here during a trip to LA and I would just about hop on a plane just to dine here again. The ambiance is that of intimate minimalism, which I found inviting from the very first second. Although the menu may be a bit more limited than other places on the same street, the dishes they do are executed exquisitely. I most definitely would recommend checking this spot out.

Victoria Sanchez

A friend recommended Meals by Genet and the experience was even better than they said! The food was absolutely incredible - the kind of meal you can’t explain to someone, they just have to try it for themselves. Chef Genet said hello to almost every table there. And our servers were outstanding!

Lynn Cates

Absolute best food on this block. My favorite is chicken tips and I love the fried fish. There is just nothing at all on the menu that you don't love !!!!! Just so so delicious!

Sarae Cart

Not only is this the best Ethiopian food, but this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had across the board. Genet is kind and warm, and her food is unmatched.

Jim C

Meals by Genet is awesome. Great food, elegant atmosphere, and helpful service. The seasoning on the dorowot and minchet abish was spot on along with the lamb and some tasty selections in the veggie combo. Slightly disappointed that they didn't serve Ethiopian tea, but the food quality more than made up for it.

Leila M

The best! So glad Chef Genet has reopened dine-in service. Shocked to see a recently opened “Ethiopian” restaurant completely rip off Chef Genet’s concept. Some people have no shame smh. Chef Genet’s food is a labor of love and highlights the true essence of Ethiopian cooking.

Fake Rodz

Superb. The best Ethiopian meal I have ever had. Pro tip: order a protein dish and also their veg dish. This gives you that wonderful mix of dals, greens, etc to set off the meat ( or tofu). Very welcoming staff, great vibe. Open fri-sun for dinner. Worth planning for.

Jessica Matley

What a delicious and enjoyable meal! Best Ethiopian I've ever eaten! Lovely staff, and meeting the head chef, Genet was a special touch. Will go back asap!

Vivi Stafford, MD

Meals by Genet is one of my favorites, if not my favorite place. The food is always so good. The servers are very nice. I highly recommend this place for locals in the neighborhood and also for people visiting from out of town. The food is always consistently very good. I really enjoy taking my out of town guests there to dine. They always enjoy the food and the experience at Meals by Genet. For those unfamiliar to Ethiopian food, the style of dining is communal. A great choice for families and children at age ten really like it also. That is really nice because children at that age can be a little picky about their food. Meals by Genet is a great place.every time we go. We are always welcomed with smiling faces. On every visit we always order two veggie platters. One is never enough.

Max Levy

Incredible meal here. Had the veggie platter with tofu. Never had tofu quite like this and cannot recommend enough. Everything was so flavorful and light but filling. Leftovers were so good the next day too. Can't wait to go back. The atmosphere is intimate and the Wait is not long at all. Genet even came out to greet us at the end of the night. Great experience

Meals By Genet just completed refinishing my hardwood floors. One word: MAGNIFICENT!!! Josef (owner) very patiently spent over an hour creating the "perfect stain color" for the floor. He explained step by step so I understood the entire process from start to finish. His crew arrived on time (in fact, about 10 minutes early) each day. They completed the job in just 2 days. Based on the impressive result, I have already referred 2 friends and an interior designer/decorator to Sequoia. A+++

This was our second trip to this intimate little Ethiopian restaurant, and although the first visit was almost a year ago, the food has been consistently delicious. The restaurant is sparsely decorated, so it can get quite loud with everyone's conversations bouncing off the walls - although never deafening. I'd recommend making a booking, because the small restaurant can fill up pretty quickly, especially if a couple of groups are eating. Staff have always been friendly and attentive, but make sure you listen carefully to their description of the meal, especially if you can't tolerate spicy food. If you pick a few 'proteins' to go with the 'vegetarian combination', the meal can get reasonably expensive rather quickly. I wish they did half serves! There's limited parking in the back lane - if you arrive early enough! A great place to have something a bit different from the burger and burrito staples of LA.

Service was fast and the employees were nice. It gets pretty loud in the small space, so get ready to repeat things to the other people in your group. The food was good and most of the dishes were very flavorful, although a couple of the potato dishes were quite bland. Overall, good food and great for groups. Good service.

Came here with my boss and a some coworkers a few weeks ago. I'm a huge fan of Ethiopian, and apparently so is my boss, so we let her take the reins on ordering. Consequently, I have no idea what I ate or how much it cost - just that it was spectacular. It wasn't the down and dirty authentic Ethiopian food that I'm used to, but rather more refined and fancy. I distinctly remember a couple of lentil dishes as well as the salad standing out as delicious. The service was absolutely impeccable. The server was very familiar with the food and made recommendations on which dishes paired well with each other. We also got to meet the chef/owner which always gets a star in my book! This is definitely a great place to introduce Ethiopian to someone or to have a nicer dinner. Highly recommended!

Sally Elbassir

Came here with my boss and a some coworkers a few weeks ago. I'm a huge fan of Ethiopian, and apparently so is my boss, so we let her take the reins on ordering. Consequently, I have no idea what I ate or how much it cost - just that it was spectacular. It wasn't the down and dirty authentic Ethiopian food that I'm used to, but rather more refined and fancy. I distinctly remember a couple of lentil dishes as well as the salad standing out as delicious. The service was absolutely impeccable. The server was very familiar with the food and made recommendations on which dishes paired well with each other. We also got to meet the chef/owner which always gets a star in my book! This is definitely a great place to introduce Ethiopian to someone or to have a nicer dinner. Highly recommended!

Not that great - very dry, small servings and blah! No jalepenos or serano peppers. Extremely crowded & noisey restaurant makes it impossible to have the best attention. It was odd that we had such tiny saucers for the injera bread and we couldn't keep the larger plate at our table so that our bread didn't overlap into the table. We would not go here again when there are so many other Ethiopian restaurants on this block to choose from!!!

Went here for dinner, got the doro wot and chicken tibs. Chicken tibs were chewy, doro wot was just alright. The service was very poor. The owner herself was kind, I think she had new staff, so may be the service problem is temporary, however for all the hype and the price, the food did not impress.

pooja mathur

Went here for dinner, got the doro wot and chicken tibs. Chicken tibs were chewy, doro wot was just alright. The service was very poor. The owner herself was kind, I think she had new staff, so may be the service problem is temporary, however for all the hype and the price, the food did not impress.

Very spicy. Some of what we ordered was delicious. Others not so much. I didn't like the rib eye stew, the consistency was weird. The lamb was good as was most of the veggie combo

i've tried many Ethiopian restaurants in LA, West Philadelphia, and DC, and this was the driest (not saucy) food I've tried--which we didn't really like. More details: We were four people and we ordered take-out for Sunday dinner. We ordered 6 items from menu and here's what we thought: Kitfo (very plain tasting and dry); medium-spiced dorowot (good flavor and the sauciest of the dishes we tried); alitcha kik yellow peas (just ok); gomen (good but other places make it a bit more flavorful); mesir red lentils (very dry and too hard for our liking); azifa (very wasabe-flavored, we would've liked it more saucy). We put the items on the injera and the injera didn't soak up any flavors. We were disappointed and we do not recommended it.

I was quite surprised at the decreased quality and increased price of the food. We had take out and found the tofu tibs were partially burnt. The doro wat was nearly $30 and we were shocked to see how little chicken and sauce were in the container. On top of that, we were pressured to leave a tip for the waitstaff for our pickup order. Meals by Genet had really taken a turn for the worse. It used to be my favorite place. It’s a real shame.

I think this place have identity crises. I'm not sure what it represent not Ethiopian culture for sure. The chef doesn't have flexibility. We asked how we want our food cooked and she refused and said how they make it is how they do it. I've been to so many restaurant around the world and chefs always cook you how you want it. It seems like she is trying hard to attract non Ethiopian when it comes to how the attmospher is and how the place look , even the food. If a person is looking traditional Ethiopian food , this is not the place i would recommend. It's missing something. I wonder why I didn't see habesha people in the restaurant. But she is doing her thing. I'm not here to criticize her stuff. I just didn't enjoy the place. We were just looking for authentic and real traditional Ethiopian restaurant with Ethiopia's experience. That's all

I made a reservation with the owner for Saturday, June 15 at 7:30pm several days in advance and I have attached a screenshot record of my call. When I arrived, I was told by a rude host I had no reservation with the restaurant, and was treated very poorly-as if I had made an error rather than the restaurant. I was so excited to dine at Meals by Genet, this would have been my first time. But after the restaurant’s error combined with their terrible treatment of me as a customer amidst failing to guarantee my reservation, I will never return and recommend others do the same.

Horrible service. Walked into the restaurant and wait at the door to be seated. We made eye contact with several of the servers and were completely ignored. Don’t care how good the food is, will never come back here. Especially when there are several amazing and authentic ethiopian restaurants on the same street.

Had a 7:30 reservation. When we arrived the host told us he just needed 15 minutes for a table to clear. We then waited an hour and a half at which point no server or host would even make eye contact with us to give us any update. We went down the street to eat at another restaurant which was warm delicious and lovely. Restaurants get busy and there is a way to handle it. This wasn’t it and I won’t be back.

Marla Bremer

Had a 7:30 reservation. When we arrived the host told us he just needed 15 minutes for a table to clear. We then waited an hour and a half at which point no server or host would even make eye contact with us to give us any update. We went down the street to eat at another restaurant which was warm delicious and lovely. Restaurants get busy and there is a way to handle it. This wasn’t it and I won’t be back.