10/19/09

Adequate Ethiopian

by teresewallace

We recently moved to Pittsburgh from the west coast, where they are many Ethiopian restaurants to choose from, which was lucky for us since Ethiopian is one of our favrotie cuisines. Unfortunately, Abay did not serve much that resembles true Ethiopian cuisine. None of the dishes were bad, but not were particularly good either. The greens tasted as if they had been prepared with Mexican chili powder. Most of the flavors were flat, and lacked the vibrance found with berbere. Portions were at best half the size of portions found at other Ethiopian restaurants. (One injera for a table fo four). A disservice to Pittsburgh..

• Pros: Atmosphere
• Cons: Not authentic Ethiopian food, portion size

02/16/09

Exotic, Savory Fare!

by PittsburghFoodie

Abay was our family's first introduction to Ethiopian food and we are now hooked! Our favorites are the spicy chicken and spicy bean dishes...but honestly, I'm not sure you could go wrong here. All dishes are served with traditional ethiopian bread (like a pancake), which is delicious. Just roll up your food in the pancake and enjoy--no utensils required! The food is spicy so be careful if you're sensitive to that but I'm sure they can adjust accordingly. It's great to eat it or take out--we love Abay!

07/11/08

very very good

by bardotmoderne

Abay reminds me of my great-grandmother's cooking. I love it so much. This town has a real treasure to have Abay.

• Pros: cozey, friendly delicious
• Cons: none

05/09/08

Best Ethiopian Restaruant Hands Down!

by quietriot10

Okay, first I need to say that I live in the D.C. metropolitan area where there are so many Ethiopian restaurants you could eat at a different place daily and not get to them all in a month. The previous diner that went to Abay must not know Ethiopian cuisine like he or she thinks. The food at Abay is delicious. The atmosphere is very calming and you want to just sit there and hangout and eat all night. The various spices that they use in their food make you feel like you are back in the "Ethiopian Motherland". Even though I live in the D.C. area, I would rate Abay #1 in my book for Ethiopian restaurants . The food, cool atmosphere, and outstanding servers make the experience superb. I will continue to drive 5 hours one way almost every other month to get my Ethiopian cravings met at Abay. I have also tried Tana and it can't compare in authenticity, taste, and service like you get at Abay!

• Pros: Portion Size
• Cons: None

04/15/08

Disapointed for lack of authenticity :-(

by lady412

Why do these reviewers perpetuate false raves of authenticity in Abay? Being a lover of Ethiopian food, i was disappointed to find Abay lacking in taste, portions, price, service, and authenticity in general. I went there because Pittsburghers raved about the food (which just proves they don't know better). I can honestly say that i gave it a shot, after dining there 3 times. After doing my research, i found that the place WAS authentic when they first opened but the cooks have traded hands since. Abay is not bad food, rather, a disappointment if you know Ethiopian cuisine. FORTUNATELY.... Tana comes as a second Ethiopian restaurant to the burgh, and this is not Abay's little sister folks. TANA is the real mamma. The address is 5929 Baum Blvd and it comes recommended from true Ethiopian food enthusiasts. if you like Abay, you'll love Tana.

• Pros: BYOB (but a 3-4$ corking fee, per state laws)
• Cons: overrated by Pittsburghers

01/18/08

Lucky that Pittsburgh has an Ethiopian restaurant

by desimba

The two other cities where I have had Ethiopian food are New York and San Francisco. I am glad that we in Pittsburgh also have an Ethiopian restaurant and I am even happier that it is within 2 miles of my primary residence in the Highland Park area. I was here for a date in January of 2007 and I would give it two thumbs up.

Food: great; sufficient portions; the platters make it easy to select a number of entrees. My friend and I ended up having a platter for two in which we could choose 4 different dishes and we ended up choosing two chicken preparations and two vegetarian preparations. All of them were very well prepared and none were excessively spicy.

Service: Good. Could have been better but the restaurant was also extremely busy that Sunday evening and I can understand why it was less than exceptional. The one thing which I missed (especially compared to my previous experiences of having Ethiopian food) is that in both those instances the food was served by people who looked Ethiopian enhancing to the atmosphere and ambiance. That was not the case with Abay.

Overall a great value for money. I would also suspect that consuming Ethiopian food is a great experiential thing which everyone should consider giving a shot.

• Pros: Awesome food; out of the ordinary
• Cons: None really

11/08/07

LOVED the food!

by natsmacks

I live in Chicago where there are tons of Ethiopian places but we heard good things about this one so we decided to try it when we were in Pittsburgh. It was fantastic! BYOB is always great and on top of it the food was so delicious! We sat at one of the small tables on stools and the experience was fun! I would highly recommend this place... get a combination plate!

• Pros: Good food, BYOB, great service!
• Cons: No reservations and there was a long wait when we walked in

01/26/07

Exotic dining

by sanchoman

I've never had ethiopian food before and was pleasantly surprised with its simplicity. Essentiall each dish is served with flat bread (no utensils here!). The best way to go for dinner is to get the combo meal, where you can choose 4 different dishes (meat or veggie). These dishes come out with the flat bread, nice and spicy! We had Doro tibs, Shrimp Tibs, Zilzil, and a Lentil-based dish which I forget the name of. These were very tasty, each with a different set of spices and textures. Dessert was fantastic! The pumpkin sambusso was great with brown sugar and cinnamon ice cream....BYOB!

• Pros: Great value ($25 for the combo for 2)
• Cons: Parking can be tricky and Friday Nights are busy

11/10/06

Good Ethiopian food

by lgsmith

Abay has good Ethiopian food and great service helpful service. Pleasant bright decor. It is very clean and is a great place for a group of people to share family style. I would say great Ethiopian food, but I was spoiled in DC.

• Pros: value, ethnic experiance, service
• Cons: none

Editorial Review by Corliss Lee

by Contributor

Authentic Ethiopian cuisine enhanced within original cultural art and artifacts as decor.