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GuideUpdated July 15, 2026

3 Best Ethiopian Restaurants in Montreal

The 3 best ethiopian restaurants in Montreal, sorted by rating and curated by TastyPals editors.

The best ethiopian restaurants in Montreal are TESFA, Restaurant Queen Sheba, Nil Bleu (Le) Restaurant. Start with TESFA if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By Sophie Laurent•3 ranked picks•Published July 15, 2026•Updated July 15, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
TESFARestaurant Queen ShebaNil Bleu (Le) Restaurant
3 Best Ethiopian Restaurants in Montreal
Google

Top picks at a glance

#1TESFAEthiopian • Montreal • moderate#2Restaurant Queen ShebaEthiopian • Montreal • moderate#3Nil Bleu (Le) RestaurantEthiopian • Montreal • moderate

Who this guide is for

This guide covers the highest-rated ethiopian restaurants in Montreal. The picks are sorted by Google rating and review volume to give you a reliable shortlist.

Quick picks

TESFA
Ethiopian • Montreal
Ethiopian cooking is architecturally communal — everything arrives on a shared spread of injera, the soft, tangy flatbread that functions as both plate and utensil, and the meal only works when the…
Restaurant Queen Sheba
Ethiopian • Montreal
Park Avenue has been Montreal's spine of cultural dining for decades, and Queen Sheba — a family-owned room at 4525 Park, open since 2017 and seating 65 — makes a consistently strong case for Ethio…
Nil Bleu (Le) Restaurant
Ethiopian • Montreal
Le Nil Bleu has been the Plateau's Ethiopian anchor for over 30 years, and the longevity shows: it's been voted Montreal's best African restaurant in reader polls, and the room — zebra-print fabric…
Browse all Montreal restaurantsBack to Montreal hub
Editorial details
Published: July 15, 2026
Last updated: July 15, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. TESFAView →
  2. 2. Restaurant Queen ShebaView →
  3. 3. Nil Bleu (Le) RestaurantView →

How the restaurants compare

Editorial restaurant image stand-in for TESFA
Google
TESFA
Montreal • Ethiopian
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
group dinner
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Restaurant Queen Sheba
Google
Restaurant Queen Sheba
Montreal • Ethiopian
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
group dinner
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Nil Bleu (Le) Restaurant
Google
Nil Bleu (Le) Restaurant
Montreal • Ethiopian
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
group dinner
Mood
Casual

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

3 ranked picks

TESFA — Ethiopian cooking is architecturally communal — everything arrives on a shared spread of injera, the soft, tangy flatbread that functions as both plate and utensil, and the meal only works when the whole table leans in. Tesfa, on Papineau in the Plateau, has built a reputation around exactly that dynamic. The room attracts groups, the format demands participation, and from what diners and critics consistently report, it delivers the kind of dinner that actually changes how a table talks to each other. The menu centers on the East African canon, with doro wot — chicken long-cooked in berbere — and tibs, a sautéed preparation of beef or lamb, among the dishes most frequently cited by returning guests. A vegetarian combo rounds out the table in the way Ethiopian veggie plates do best: multiple preparations, generous portioning, and enough variety that it holds its own rather than playing second fiddle to the meat. Notably, Tesfa also carries a Mediterranean thread — falafel and pita reportedly appear alongside the East African spicing — which is an unusual move and one that seems to read as an asset rather than a distraction, broadening the table's options without diluting the kitchen's identity. The Infatuation has flagged the spot approvingly, which tracks with its standing among Montreal's more reliably recommended spots for this style of cooking. Practically speaking: this is a restaurant that performs best at scale. Six people is reportedly the sweet spot — enough to order broadly across the menu and make the communal format feel intentional rather than incidental. The Plateau location on Papineau puts it squarely in a neighbourhood comfortable with this kind of unpretentious, high-flavour cooking. Book for a group, resist the urge to keep things tidy, and plan to stay longer than you intended. View restaurant →
Restaurant Queen Sheba — Park Avenue has been Montreal's spine of cultural dining for decades, and Queen Sheba — a family-owned room at 4525 Park, open since 2017 and seating 65 — makes a consistently strong case for Ethiopian cuisine at the centre of that conversation. Hands-on ownership tends to define the atmosphere here; by most accounts, the people running the room are the people running the kitchen, which shapes everything from the pace of service to the care that regulars describe in online reviews. The menu centres on sharing, and the dishes diners return to most are telling. Doro Wat is widely regarded as the kitchen's signature — a slow-cooked berbere stew that reportedly showcases how serious this team is about spice depth and technique. Dulete Kitfo, the Ethiopian beef dish prepared with mitmita-spiced clarified butter, is known for leaning toward the rawer, more traditional preparation that separates committed Ethiopian kitchens from cautious ones. Sega Tib and Shiro Wat round out the sharing spread, offering both meat and legume options that reward a larger group eating communally. The Sambusa are consistently mentioned as a strong way to open the meal. Pricing sits at an accessible mid-range that makes ordering broadly — the way this food is meant to be eaten — genuinely practical. Queen Sheba adds a summer patio, which is rarer than it should be for this style of dining in Montreal. The practical advice that surfaces repeatedly: come with at least three people, anchor the table around the Doro Wat and Dulete Kitfo, and let the full spread build outward from there. A twelve-top would not be wasted here. View restaurant →
Nil Bleu (Le) Restaurant — Le Nil Bleu has been the Plateau's Ethiopian anchor for over 30 years, and the longevity shows: it's been voted Montreal's best African restaurant in reader polls, and the room — zebra-print fabrics, tribal art, white linens, soft light — leans elegant rather than kitschy. This is communal eating done right, everyone tearing injera from a shared plate, which makes it a genuine twelve-top contender. Start with the kitfo, a filet mignon tartare that's buttery and aromatic with real textural snap. Doro watt, the berbere-spiced chicken, is the dish people come back for, and zilzil tibbs (filet mignon with ginger) holds its own. Bring vegans without anxiety: yatakelt watt — carrots, potatoes and cabbage — is the standout meatless plate, and there are gluten-free options too. Expect to spend CA$50–60 per person, or do the tasting menu at roughly $70. Time a Friday visit for Afro-Jazz starting at 7:30. It's attached to the African-style Hotel Kutuma, and weekend service opens at noon, a rare luxury for a sit-and-share dinner spot. View restaurant →

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Save these spots to your Montreal list in the TastyPals app, then explore similar restaurants when you want a tighter shortlist for the night.

Personalized city picksCleaner shortlistsBuilt for iPhone and Android
TastyPalsTonight
Your taste. Our picks.
Smarter follow-through after the guide: better restaurant context, quicker narrowing, less second-guessing.
For tonight
Date night spots with warm rooms and polished service
Next step
Keep exploring in the app when you want a tighter shortlist