Guide | Los Angeles | 2 November 2026
Los Angeles has one of the best known Ethiopian dining streets in the diaspora. Ethiopian entrepreneurs began opening businesses on Fairfax Avenue between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Eater LA reported, and on 7 August 2002 the Los Angeles City Council adopted a motion designating that stretch of Fairfax as Little Ethiopia. The Infatuation calls it the first neighborhood in America named for an African nation. Today the block holds restaurants, markets and coffee shops within a short walk of each other, and several of the restaurants below have been cooking there for more than 30 years.
This guide covers eight Ethiopian restaurants from our Los Angeles city page, grouped by street. Before adding each one, we checked that it is still open at the address shown, using the restaurant’s own website, current map and review listings, Los Angeles city business tax registration records, or recent coverage in the local press. Opening hours change often, so please call ahead or check the restaurant’s own website before you set off.
Little Ethiopia, Fairfax Avenue
Seven of the restaurants in this guide are on the same block of South Fairfax Avenue, most of them within a few doors of each other, so it is easy to look at a few menus before you choose.
Rosalind’s Ethiopian Restaurant, Fairfax Avenue
1044 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Fekere Gebre-Mariam bought the original Rosalind’s, a West African restaurant on La Cienega, in 1988 and moved it to Fairfax about a year later, Eater LA reported, then encouraged other Ethiopian businesses to settle on the street. The Infatuation says he was instrumental in getting the neighborhood officially designated in 2002, and describes Rosalind’s today as a big, festive room full of families and friends. Doro wot has been on the menu since the first day, and the Emperor platter brings together the restaurant’s vegan dishes with doro wot, kitfo, awaze tibs, key wot and lamb alicha. The restaurant says gluten free injera is available on request. It is open every day.
Messob, Fairfax Avenue
1041 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Messob first opened on La Brea Avenue in 1985 and moved to Fairfax in 1991, becoming the second Ethiopian restaurant on the street, according to Eater LA. It is now owned by brothers Berhanu and Getahun Asfaw, and Eater LA singled out its kitfo. The Infatuation praises its sambussa and notes that the menu has a page explaining gursha, the custom of feeding a bite to the person you are eating with. Messob says it is open every day from 11 AM to 11 PM and caters events.
Rahel Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine, Fairfax Avenue
1047 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Rahel Woldmedhin opened Messob in 1985, then left it in 2000 to open a restaurant that is entirely vegan, the restaurant says. The Infatuation calls it the only all vegan restaurant in Little Ethiopia and recommends the mushroom tibs and the veggie paradise combination of nine stews, while Eater LA pointed to the yeduba wot, banana squash cooked with berbere and fresh jalapeños. The restaurant lists gluten free options, takes reservations and caters.
Merkato, Fairfax Avenue
1036 1/2 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Merkato is a working market with a small dining room next to it. Eater LA described it as the third oldest restaurant on the block, with shelves of teff and barley flour and spices, and city business tax records show it registered at this address since 1995. The Infatuation recommends the asa tibs, a whole fried fish served over six vegetarian sides and big enough for two, and Eater LA recommended the gored gored, cubes of raw beef dressed in spiced butter, awaze and mitmita. It opens every day from 11 AM.
Meals by Genet, Fairfax Avenue
1053 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Genet Agonafer grew up in the Kebena neighborhood of Addis Ababa and taught herself to cook, building a catering business from her apartment kitchen before opening Meals by Genet in 2000, the restaurant says. Her doro wot was long a favorite of the late critic Jonathan Gold, who wrote that it reportedly takes three days to prepare, and the restaurant lists James Beard Award semifinalist recognition in 2019 and 2020. The small dining room is open only from Friday to Sunday, 6 PM to 9 PM, so it is worth booking ahead.
Little Ethiopia Ethiopian Restaurant, Fairfax Avenue
1048 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Little Ethiopia Restaurant serves beef, chicken and lamb dishes alongside vegetarian dishes such as collard greens, cabbage, split peas and lentils, and Discover Los Angeles notes that it uses herbs and spices imported from Ethiopia. Meals are served in the traditional way on a shared plate and eaten by hand, with utensils available on request. Its map and review listings show it closed on Mondays.
Marathon Ethiopian Restaurant, Fairfax Avenue
1043 S Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019. Marathon is a small, casual restaurant that city business tax records show registered at this address since 1993. Its delivery menu runs from a vegetarian combination, shiro and misir wot to dulet, special kitfo, gored gored and a whole fried fish. Current listings show it open daily from 10 AM.
Pico Boulevard
Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Pico Boulevard
5990 1/2 W Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035. Just around the corner from Little Ethiopia, Awash is a small restaurant that city business tax records show registered at this address since 1991. The Infatuation says it does meat better than most places in the area and recommends the special kitfo, mixed with mitmita and homemade cheese, though vegetarian dishes are on the menu too. Its listings show it closed on Mondays.
A few tips for first timers
- Most restaurants serve dishes together on one large tray lined with injera, a soft, slightly sour flatbread. Tear off a piece and use it to scoop up the stews.
- Combination platters are the easiest way to try a range of dishes. Many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians fast from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays and before Christmas and Easter, so every restaurant here serves vegan dishes.
- If you need gluten free food, ask whether the restaurant has 100% teff injera that day, since many kitchens also use wheat or barley flour.
- Fairfax Avenue is known for heavy traffic, so allow a little extra time to find parking.
Find more Ethiopian businesses in Los Angeles
Our Los Angeles city page lists Ethiopian restaurants, a market, churches and other community listings across Los Angeles and nearby cities. Know a restaurant we have missed, or spotted a change at one of the places above? Tell us and we will update the guide. Own an Ethiopian restaurant in the Los Angeles area? List your business for free.
More guides: Ethiopian restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ethiopian restaurants in London, Best Ethiopian restaurants in Washington DC and Best Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle.
Sources
- Los Angeles City Clerk, Council File 02-1641 (motion adopted 7 August 2002 designating Fairfax Avenue between Olympic and Pico Boulevards as Little Ethiopia): cityclerk.lacity.org
- Eater LA, Cathy Chaplin, “A Tour Through Little Ethiopia in 6 Spicy Dishes”, 3 February 2021 (early history of the block, Rosalind’s, Messob, Rahel, Merkato): la.eater.com
- The Infatuation, Brant Cox, “Where To Eat In Little Ethiopia”, 23 January 2024 (Rosalind’s, Messob, Rahel, Merkato, Meals by Genet, Awash): theinfatuation.com
- Rosalind’s Ethiopian Cuisine website (address, hours, menu, gluten free injera on request): rosalindsla.com and its menu
- Messob Ethiopian Restaurant website (in Los Angeles since 1985, run by brothers Berhanu and Getahun, hours, catering, address): messob.com
- Rahel Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine website (history, 100% vegan, gluten free options, hours, address): rahelethiopianvegancuisine.com
- Merkato on Yelp (current hours and phone): yelp.com
- Meals by Genet website (Genet Agonafer’s story, opened 2000, James Beard Award semifinalist 2019 and 2020, Jonathan Gold quote, hours, address): mealsbygenetla.com
- Discover Los Angeles, Little Ethiopia Restaurant (dishes, imported herbs and spices, communal service): discoverlosangeles.com; Little Ethiopia Restaurant on Yelp (current hours): yelp.com
- Marathon Ethiopian Restaurant on Uber Eats (menu): ubereats.com; Marathon on Yelp (current hours): yelp.com
- Awash Restaurant on Yelp (current hours): yelp.com
- Los Angeles Office of Finance business tax registration data (Awash at 5990 1/2 W Pico Blvd since 1991, Marathon at 1043 S Fairfax since 1993, Merkato at 1036 1/2 S Fairfax since 1995, active accounts for Little Ethiopia Restaurant at 1048 S Fairfax): data.lacity.org
Last updated: 2 November 2026. Listings were checked on 2 November 2026. Ethiopialist has no commercial relationship with any of the restaurants in this guide.
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Featured image: An Ethiopian sampler platter of meat and vegetable dishes arranged on injera around a small bowl of tomato salad, from Rosalind’s in Little Ethiopia, Los Angeles. Photo: Rosalind’s Ethiopian Cuisine (official restaurant photo from rosalindsla.com), cropped.