This is such a lovely establishment and the workers here are just as lovely and informative. This was my first time trying Ethiopian food and I was not let down with a happy belly. Everything felt so authentic and was rich in flavors. If you don’t know what to try then please ask the staff, they will be more than happy to give you any information you may acquire as well as suggestions. Because I myself didn’t know what I was doing, but was excited none the less. They do have your standard appetizers and entrees on their menu but also serve combinations and courses (“feasts”), that you can share with a larger group which was what I went with, with a friend. The feasts are good and the options are big, they are meat and vegetarian friendly. I like ordering the feasts that comes with a bunch of injera which you could rip off and grab whatever options you chose for your feast such as beef, chicken, lima beans etc. There is a small lot in the area and I’ve never had problems with finding somewhere to park. Everything is easy access and great food. Don’t be afraid to try something new if you haven’t already, come in!
Great food. Very flavorful. We had the veggie meat shareable for 2, with spiced beef, mild chicken, yellow split peas, spiced ground peas and Lima beans.
I thought this place was amazing from start to finish. The only thing I'd want more about this restaurant is more sides and more sauces. It's lacking in those. Other than that, I love the culture, ambiance, food and take on authenticity. I ordered chicken off the bone platter. The meat was very tender and it had a lot of flavor!! I'll stop typing and let my pictures do the rest of talking...
My Hubby had the spicy lentils with half rice and half injera. I had the meat and veggie combo with spicy chicken and mild chickpea sauce. The meals are served with salad and cabbage with collard greens and injera. The injera is fermented so it does have a sour flavor and it's quite spongey. The custom is to use the injera to scoop the meat or vegetable side into your mouth. It was delicious.The sambusa was a vegetarian filling of lentils and it was spiced to perfection. I must return to try more🤩 Extremely reasonable in price and humble food
They're busy on a Friday night, and rightfully so! Staff was friendly, ambiance is nice, but the food was great! I had the spicy chicken breast stew, and it had a great kick to it... It's ok to eat with your hands. ;) Definitely coming back. :)
Amazing vegan food! All 8 items on their vegetarian dinner menu are confirmed vegan by the staff. So tasty! We bought takeout for later after our meal because it was so good. I’ve been coming here for 20 years.
My only wish is that their hand soap was fragrance free because the fragrance left on your hands after washing them detracts from the amazing food. (Purell makes a fragrance free commercial product for wall mounted dispensers. )❤️
2022-02-11 1401 local time
Visited here for first time today.
This place was recommended to me by 3 people in my food circles. We came here for a quick lunch visit.
I had the spicy ground beef and peas, spicy beef stew, spicy chicken stew (drumstick), spicy ground peas, rice, and injera.
Firstly the overall spice of the meal was top notch. The 'spice' itself was hot enough to cause happiness but not make me lose my breath.
The flavor of the spicy peas was almost perfect. The sauce complimented the rice perfectly.
The beef and chicken stews were moist, flavorful, and filling.
The injera was soft and soaked up the juices from the meats and sauces quite well. It was quite spongy as expected.
The sambusas were packed to the brim with lentils and flavor. The outside was perfectly crisp and crunchy.
The 'salad' was kind of silly. It was literally 5 pieces of lettuce and 2 quarters of tomatoe. The dressing was quite awesome however. The acid lemon flavor made me use it on some of the rice and it was quite tasty.
I recommend this place.
Altu’s Ethiopian cuisine is by far one of the best hidden gems of Lansing. We have only been here twice, but both times were absolutely incredible. The waiters are so nice and caring, they were very attentive and helpful. The atmosphere is very comfortable and welcoming and very clean! The food is the best part of this restaurant. Great vegetarian options, great meat options. The food has never disappointed, and if I had to recommend two things from here, it would be their delicious sambusas and their mild Lima beans. Highly recommend coming here!
This time we chose take out. We ordered inside though, great help while we placed our order. Food was prepared in less time than we were told and it smelled great on our drive home. We live and hour away and make the drive just to eat this food. It is wonderful.
I've never had Ethiopian food before, but my husband rants and raves about it all the time. So last weekend when we were in Lansing, we decided to try it. For those who are unfamiliar like I was, they really don't use utensils. You can request them if you really want to, but I recommend diving in head first and eat like they do. They give you this sourdough spongy bread that you use to pick up your food (the menu explains it all). The spices they used are amazing and reminded me of a cross between Indian and Thai spices. Everything we ordered was delicious. We did a shareable of three veggies and two meats, all spicy of course. They have mild, too. But honestly, the spicy isn't overpowering. It's just enough to say hello. Try at least ONE spicy thing just for the flavor. I can't wait to make up another excuse to go to Lansing and try more things from Altu's.
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