Quick Bites: Ras Plant Based (Crown Heights) · Bati Ethiopian Kitchen (Clinton Hill) · Awash Brooklyn (Carroll Gardens) · Bunna Cafe (Bushwick)
If you’ve been sleeping on Brooklyn’s Ethiopian food scene, consider this your wake-up call. While Manhattan gets the headlines for Ethiopian restaurants along East 6th Street, Brooklyn has developed its own vibrant community of East African restaurants — led by one of the most acclaimed vegan spots in the entire city, and backed by a handful of deeply satisfying neighborhood restaurants that have been quietly feeding their communities for years. This is the guide to where you should actually start.
Why Crown Heights Is the Place to Begin
Crown Heights has become Brooklyn’s unofficial home base for Ethiopian food, anchored by one restaurant that has put the borough on the national map.
Ras Plant Based | 739 Franklin Ave, Crown Heights
The one you’ve heard about. Ras Plant Based is fully vegan Ethiopian, which might sound like a qualifier but is actually one of its greatest strengths. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine has an extraordinary canon of plant-based dishes — misir (red lentils), gomen (collard greens), shiro (chickpea stew), tikil gomen (spiced cabbage and carrots) — and Ras executes all of them with real depth. The mushroom tibs are rich and satisfying in a way that makes you forget the word “vegan” ever came up. The space has warm, intentional design and a drinks list that takes the room seriously. Weekend dinner often fills up; a reservation is smart. This is a date-night destination and a neighborhood anchor at the same time, and it’s the reason Crown Heights belongs on any serious Brooklyn food map.
Address: 739 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Hours: Dinner Tue–Sun, weekend brunch — check their website for current times.
Beyond Crown Heights: Brooklyn’s Ethiopian Community
Bati Ethiopian Kitchen | 1057 Fulton St, Clinton Hill / Bed Stuy
Bati is the workhorse of Brooklyn’s Ethiopian scene. Open seven days a week, serving classics like doro wot (slow-braised chicken stew — the dish that anchors any serious Ethiopian menu), a wide range of vegetarian combos, and more vegan options than you’d expect from a traditional kitchen. The injera — the spongy, slightly sour fermented flatbread that doubles as utensil and plate — is excellent here. If you’re new to Ethiopian food and want to understand what the cuisine actually tastes like before getting fancy about it, Bati is the right first stop. Unpretentious, consistent, and genuinely good.
Address: 1057 Fulton St, Brooklyn (Clinton Hill / Bed Stuy border)
Hours: Open 7 days a week
Awash Brooklyn | 242 Court Street, Carroll Gardens
Awash is a name you’ll find across the city — the brand runs locations in the East Village and Upper West Side — and the Brooklyn outpost on Court Street is one of the most accessible entry points into Ethiopian food in the borough. It’s well-run, consistent, and approachable for first-timers. Order the lamb tibs and a combination platter to get a real survey of the menu. The injera is better than you’d expect from a multi-location operation, and the room has an easy, comfortable feel that makes lingering with a group of friends feel natural.
Address: 242 Court St, Brooklyn, NY (Carroll Gardens / Cobble Hill)
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily — check their website for current times.
Bunna Cafe | 1084 Flushing Avenue, Bushwick
Technically Bushwick rather than Crown Heights, but Bunna is too important to leave off any Brooklyn Ethiopian list. It’s fully vegan, like Ras, and has been a neighborhood anchor for years. The crowd is a good mix of regulars and people making a trip specifically for the food. The injera has that perfect fermented tang, the misir is deeply spiced, and the space has real warmth. A weekday visit tends to be a bit more relaxed than the weekend rush, but it’s worth the trip either way.
Address: 1084 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn (Bushwick)
Hours: Open for dinner most evenings — check their social media for current schedule.
What to Order If You’re New
Don’t overthink it. Ask for the combination platter — most of these restaurants offer a version — which puts multiple dishes on a single large shared piece of injera. You’ll get a survey of the kitchen in one order. Tear off pieces of the injera and use them to scoop. No utensils. That’s how it’s done, and it’s one of the genuinely great communal eating experiences you can have in New York.
For the meat eaters: doro wot (chicken stew) and lamb tibs are the essential starting points.
For vegetarians and vegans: misir (red lentil stew), gomen (braised collard greens), and shiro (chickpea and broad bean stew) are the standards you want to know.
The Bigger Picture
Brooklyn’s Ethiopian food scene reflects the borough’s larger story: communities that built real neighborhoods, restaurants that have fed people for decades, and food that rewards exploration with every visit. The address at 739 Franklin Ave in Crown Heights is one that serious New York food lovers know by heart for a reason. If you’ve been meaning to make the trip, stop meaning to and just go.
