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$$ - average
Ethiopian/Eritrean
Ethiopian Restaurant
Many vegetarian options, most of which are vegan. They don't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own if you want.
North side of Broadway, between Country Club Road and Tucson Boulevard.
- Quiet
Added by Gerry Morgan on Jun 28 04 (updated Nov 18 07)
Reviews
The food is really great.. Good, nourishing, homestyle food with no processed stuff. I love the bread! The problem is if you have a big appetite you might find yourself asking for more bread. Me and my boyfriend ordered three dishes per person (I think) and ended up needing more bread. But maybe we're just little piggies, I don't know..
Ah, Zemam's is my favorite restaurant in Tucson, and one of my overall favorites anywhere. I've had all the vegetarian items on the menu, and they are superb (though the lentil dishes are a bit on the bland side, for my personal taste). Try the chickpea dish, the cabbage dish, and the spinach dish; heaven! The wait staff are so lovely and friendly, I always feel happy being there. I've taken many of my omnivorous friends to Zemam's, and everyone always loves it. This little place gets very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights, so plan ahead.
Delicious vegetarian food; inexpensive and unique; agree with previous reviewer, decor's very tired. Overall still a place I recommend!
First of all, Zemam's is deserving of a much higher rating than the 7.6 it has now. If you look at the five ratings it was given, it's all nines and tens -- except for someone who registered under the name "Anonymous" and rated Zemam's a one. I wish people who gave low ratings would write reviews to explain what's so wrong.
I went here tonight for the second time. There is a good variety of vegetarian/vegan dishes to choose from, and everything is excellent. Some things are extremely spicy, though, such as the chickpeas and spinach/potato dish. You should probably ask your server which dishes to avoid if your palate can't quite handle the heat.
My favorites are the cabbage, lentils, and split peas. All mildly spiced, flavorful dishes.
My only complaint is that the "sampler" is priced with the assumption that you'll be ordering higher-priced meat items. You're not getting as much value if you order all vegetarian dishes. I sort of wish they had a separate price for vegetarian samplers.
I tried this restaurant for the first time last night and was pleased. There are plenty of vegetarian options. The food was tasty, which was served in the traditional Ethiopian way using flat bread as a serving utensil instead of a fork or chopsticks. You can also bring your own wine, since there is no wine menu available. The reason I gave this restaurant a 9, instead of a 10 is because of the ambiance. It appeared to be slightly run down. Maybe some wall painting would help.
Zemam's is fantastic. They offer a large selection of vegan dishes, which are served with a traditional flatbread. You use the flatbread to scoop up your food--no knives or forks here (though you could probably ask for them). I recommend getting a sampler plate, where you can try three different dishes for around nine dollars.
Not a lot of vegan options, but the ones they have are excellent! I tried the chickpea dish and the cabbage, potato and carrot dish and they threw in samples of the lentils and collard greens. Every bit of it was amazing!