Reviews for Bole Ethiopian Cuisine in St Paul, MN
First time trying Ethiopian cuisine. I was referred here by a friend of Ethiopian decent. Atmosphere: it?s clean, and... comfortable not huge but enough space to sit and eat comfortably. They have a bar area and outside dining as well. Service: Myexperience unfortunately was that service was mediocre. I came during lunch which wasn?t busy. No greeting. No direction justkind of figure it out. My server didn?t seem to really understand the language that well as I told her that I knew what I wantedto order and she just walked off for 7-8 minutes until I had to physically get up and get her. There was a young man tending thebar area who was helpful and came back over to take my order. I sat here for an additional 10 minutes after I boxed the food upwaiting for someone to bring me a check and ask how my meal was etc nothing. They are just really slow in terms of tending totables and closing out checks. I only seen 1 server so I assume they are just short staffed. Food: I ordered a bunch of thingsto try and bring home. Vegetable Sampler, Shiro, Lega Tibs, and Doro Wat. The orange veggies on the sampler were delicious. Ididn?t care for the greens nor the squash. The lega tibs has a great flavor although the meat was a little tough. It wasgood. The Doro wat smelled great it had different spices that my flavor pallet wasn?t accustomed to. I was excited butunderwhelmed by the overall flavor once I tasted it. Chicken was tough, red Sauce had a little bit of spice but nothingsubstantial and there wasn?t a burst of flavor. The flavor was mute and subdued. Overall: I would come here again to trysomething different if and only if I was in the area . However it wasn?t anything to write home about. I wouldn?t drive 30minutes to dine here. Read more
Walked in at 5:30 on a Friday without a reservation and were seated immediately. Food was delicious, prices were reasonable,... and the service was solid considering how busy they were. We got the veggie sambusa and the Chefs Veggie Sampler (more thanenough for 2). The bathrooms could use a cleaning, but were serviceable. Can?t knock ?em, it was very busy and bathrooms don?tmake money? Will be back! Read more
Wow! my first time trying Ethiopian food and it was delicious. I grew up enjoying raw beef laab so hearing that Bole have a few... raw beef dishes options makes me super excited. when I got to Bole, we were put on a waitlist because we didn?t have areservation. we sat at the bar to wait and the bartender, Sarah, overheard us saying we?re starving so she immediately gave us amenu to get us started with appetizers. Sarah noticed this was our first time eating Ethiopian food and helped us choose ourfood according to what we think we?ll like. the meat entrees were perfectly flavored! the veggies we ordered (I didn?t get a picof it), tasted great. highly recommend the veggies. Sarah was amazing! We also got to meet the owner. he was so sweet andwilling to share stories with us. their basement just got done with renovations so it?s open for you to reserve for a privateparty or celebration. I highly recommend this place and look forward to their raw food entrees. Read more
It was a great experience. The food was delicious. We ordered crispy kitfo, which was made of ground beef with traditional herbs... rolled in traditional injera bread. The taste was synergy of a little sour and a little spicy. The striped beef was mixed withonion, garlic, pepper etc. it was juicy and a little spicy. The herbal tea was also pretty good. Staff were friendly. Read more
This was a wonderful dining experience! We got the veggie sampler and the vegan kocho tibs. It was really nice to have a vegan... tibs option! The injera was so spongy and had a wonderful slightly sour taste. I think about this meal a lot and I'm lookingforward to dining at Bole again soon. Read more
One of the single greatest dining experiences of my entire life. I came here with no idea what to expect and I was absolutely... blown away. The service was kind and inviting and educating. The building itself is gorgeous. All of that is second place to theoutstanding food. My gosh do yourself the favor and order one of the sampler plates and try everything you can. I cannotrecommend this place enough. Thank you Bole for a great night and an incredible culinary experience! Read more
We had an excellent experience at Bole. The atmosphere is clean, fresh, warm, and inviting. The service was top notch! A few... people checked in with us during the time we were there. The waitress was very helpful in choosing an entree. The gentleman thatbrought our food made sure we knew the way to eat it. Drinks were refilled promptly. Food was so amazing and flavorful! We willfor sure be back. Read more
Loved slipping in here, no line, no wait. Great service and incredible options for food and drink. Four of us shared the "tour"... which came with sides and a little bit of everything and was more than enough. We tried the honey wine and the desserts. Can'twait to come back and tell all my friends about this gem. Read more