Lucy’s Ethiopian Cafe, located in the South End of Boston (334 Massachusetts Ave.), serves delicious Ethiopian food with meat, vegetarian, and vegan options. I was very impressed with the number of vegetarian options that were offered. Due to the pandemic, they are only offering take-out. They take both online and telephone orders as well as delivery through services such as Grubhub, UberEats, and Doordash.

The key to Ethiopian food is injera, a sour fermented bread, made of teff flour, that has a slightly spongy texture. According to the National Institute of Health, teff is one of the best grains for blood glucose control. It also fills you up for a long period of time, which contributes to healthy weight loss.

There are a variety of delicious dips (my favorite being the yellow split pea dip) that are made for the injera, and it is displayed so beautifully with all of the different dips in a colorful array of small circles covering the injera base. The injera has many bubbly holes that soak up all of the strong spicy flavors and rich stews. The food is traditionally eaten with hands. You are supposed to tear a piece of injera and use it to scoop up the dip before putting it in your mouth. 

I spoke with the co-owner of Lucy’s, Netsanet Woldesenbetof, about the restaurant and what inspired the making of it. She said, “My husband and I are from Ethiopia. When my husband and I first came to America, it was challenging. He wanted to pursue doing his own business so we started looking for a place, and I always liked cooking.” Her passion for cooking definitely shows in her creative dishes.

The pricing is reasonable, with the combo platters ranging from $15-$45 depending on whether it is for one, two, or three people. The portions are generous and usually leave leftovers that are enough to last another meal. I would recommend ordering extra rolls of injera on the side.

The takeout service is great and they are able to package the food in a way that preserves all of the food well and prevents the injera from becoming soggy, which was a concern of mine when ordering takeout from here.

Their drink menu includes a variety of teas, coffees, and juices. I recommend the Ethiopian traditional tea, which is a warm beverage that is sweet and light. Or for anyone that is feeling a bit more adventurous, I recommend trying the peanut tea, which is a unique deliciously peanut-flavored drink that will leave you wanting more.

The food is so good, the staff is so kind, and the service is so great. I definitely recommend going to Lucy’s Cafe!

Images source: Lucy’s Ethiopian Cafe website.