Pero Restaurant & Lounge

Nice atmosphere and décor. The upstairs is very quiet and feels homie, and you don’t hear any noise from downstairs, which is good.
The service was ok. Our waitress was very nice, but the other waitress didn’t know anything, and on anything we asked for she’d reply: ’ I’ll ask the manager’, even if it’s a simple question. FYI they don’t know about the 10% discount that is on their Unilocal page.
The food was good, but nothing too extraordinary. The menu is pretty small, so we did the platter and the shrimp. Chicken and mushrooms got my vote, although some of the dishes in the platter I didn’t like at all. Very interesting concept with eating with your hand, I found it being the best part.

Why would your Unilocal page say you have delivery when you don’t. Super annoying. Sorry, but you lose my business forever.

Ethiopian cuisine has been on my list of foods to try for the longest time. Now that I have crossed it off, I can say that it is totally worth it! Note: for those who are new to Ethiopian food, cutlery is not required; instead, you use super fluffy injera bread to scoop up the various meats and stews. It’ll get pretty messy, but that’s just part of the fun (and you’ll get a bowl of warm rose water at the end of the meal to clean your hands).
We started with the veggie roll — a chickpea mixture rolled up in injera bread — and my boyfriend and I both loved it. The waiter (owner?) recommended it to us, saying that it was a popular choice, and I can definitely see why; the seasoning in the chickpea stew made it wonderfully flavourful and it paired nicely with the impossibly soft injera bread.
For our main course, we opted for the Pero’s platter, which includes beef tibsi, chicken tibsi, and your choice of 3 vegetarian dishes — we got the timitimo tsebhi (lentil stew), hamli (collard greens), and flaxseed stew. My boyfriend said that he actually preferred the vegetarian dishes over the meats and we both agreed that the flaxseed stew was our favourite — highly recommend!
We ended the meal with some traditional Ethiopian coffee (served with popcorn) and it really is a very unique coffee experience — much darker and richer — so it’s worth a try if you’ve never had it before. Overall, the great food and romantic ambiance made for a very enjoyable meal.
(P.S. Check in on Unilocal to get 10% off on your first visit)

A very quiet place with a romantic ambiance, mellow music and quite a few nooks with different decoration styles: they have a spot at the front with couches and cushions that can fit a group of 10 people or so, there are nicely decorated tables with a separator between each and there is a «tent» at the back with more cushions and couches — usually a spot for bday parties.
I think it’s a great spot for dates and hangouts with friends. I never saw it being busy (at most there was another group of people dining at the same time with us).
I love the food, but as mentioned in few other review the prices are not cheap and it wouldn’t be my go-​to place on a regular basis.

Restaurant Décor was purposeful immersed by cultural or Safariist’s deeply rooted from the Horn of Africa. They served food & roasted coffee culturally. It was exotic experience! entertainment primarily multi nation was great. My best Safariist experience. Vegetarian combo my #1 choice. Dero/​Derho or the «Majesty» #1 Meat product for me.

I went there for birthday and it is very exciting as this is my first time having African food. Service is good and bartender treated me a birthday shot. We got a booth at the back of the restaurant, which is very comfortable. However, they do charge $ 20 for bringing in birthday cakes, which I find a little bit expensive. Food is not too spicy, and price is acceptable. Overall, we all had a good time and very interesting experience.

Great food, ambient, quiet atmosphere. I enjoyed my grilled Lamb Cha Cha. It is a bit chewy, however that’s how I preferred it rather than the fatty juice normally I would have had it in most the restaurant. The vegetables with the dish are very flavourful. Before the meals started, there was a coffee ceremony to awaken our senses. This was my first time trying Ethiopian cuisine, it was quite a pleasant experience with a very hospitality owner who often came by our table greeting us. We were there as a group of six, he also accommodated us in a VIP tent seating. However, I would like to use utensils in the next visit and I would hope they would reselect their beer choices on the menu, since Canadian really love Beer and I like mine dark or Red, With Unilocal Check In 10%.

In my opinion, this is the best Ethiopian restaurant in Toronto.
The restaurant is clean, the ingredients are fresh, and the food is consistently delicious.
I have never been disappointed.
I will happily pay a little more for good service and to avoid finding a hair in my food (unlike the experience I had with the cheaper Ethiopian option down the street).

Why oh why is this place rated so high?! Probably by people that don’t eat Ethiopian food often.
I’ve had Ethiopian food in most of the city, east … west, and south + other cities in Canada and the US. This place has by far been one of the worst places. Here is why:
There are a ton of better places in the neighbourhood. The food we ordered was bland, and chunky. The beef and chicken (how my partner described it) was chewy and old. The veggie choices were sub-​par, and nothing special.
The mint tea was not a tea at all … it was 2 leaves of mint submersed in medium-​hot water, which didn’t do anything, because it wasn’t crushed, and had no actual tea leaves. So really it was a tasteless mint infusion (yes, I am a big fan of teas/​infusions and this was sinful + expensive).
One other comment: I found beef in my veggie dishes. Yes, imagine if you are a vegetarian, and order a shared platter (I asked if the items were separated so that I wasn’t forced to eat meat, was told absolutely), then as I was eating my lentils, I picked up a piece of beef. No, it wasn’t put there by me or my partner, it was there when the platter arrived.
SO, save yourself the trip, and try a different place. The chef came up and said hi to us, which was nice, but it by far did not help the food aspect.

Food is great!
Love the food presentation and friendly staff. Thank you For great food.

Really lovely peaceful tasteful atmosphere. My mum and I shared the veggie platter. Generally good, but some dishes were a touch bland. Very friendly staff, the chef came out and brought a scoop of our favorite dish to entice us to finish our injera. Ginger tea was nice, made with fresh ginger, and the wine was very reasonably priced. Will definitely return!

Dinner
Ambience: 3.5÷5
Food: ³⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅ (Friendly)
Value: ³⁄₅
Repeat: Nope.

Love the Ethiopian food here and the live jazz music. The shrimp was delightful immersed in spices unknown but a great combination and not too hot. Plenty of injera underneath as well as extra rolls. The sautéed mushrooms were great too. The ambiance is nice and conducive to conversation with the live music downstairs. Been coming here for years and the recent renovations really improved the place.

Still the best African restaurant I’ve ever tasted, and one of the best restaurants that I’ve ever tasted in the world (real talk people!!). First place I go to when I come to Toronto and the last place I go before I leave. Get the pero platter, the cha cha cha (grilled meat) to go on top of it, and finish it off with some authentic popcorn and coffee. Pero, the owner, will take great care of all his guest.

I had been to an Ethiopian restaurant only once before (Ethiopiques) and even though I found it interesting, I wasn’t sure whether to give this type of resraurants another try. However, after some other plans fell through we decided to go to Pero and and I must say it was a very good decision.
The food was great. We had the Shiro deep as apperizer and I got The Gigolo as main course. Both came with injera bread and were rich in flavour with spices.
The owner came to chat with us shortly after we were done to check how we liked everything and told us a bit about the dishes. Very nice man.
The setting is a lot more cosy, a bit up-​scale but with home-​y feeling.

I sat waiting for my dining buddy in a cushioned warm comfy tent. The ambience and warm colours at Pero are immediately comforting and inviting. I was relaxed right after work.
The waitress was very attentive and filled my water glass more times than I can count.
The owner, Pero himself, came out and greeted me! I asked him a million questions about Eritrean culture and he patiently sat with me and explained the rich religious diversity of Ethiopia.
We ordered the Pero platter as I hadn’t been here before. It was the right type of tasting menu for people new to the food. 2 meats and 3 veges on a bed of yeasty injera. It was a lot of food. Go hungry!
Beef tibs– I will be getting this on it’s own next time. Delicately flavored cubes of beef which were al dente to my liking. The sauce soaked the injera right through and I thourougly enjoyed the soppy injera.
Chicken tibs– tibs is just better when beef!
Collard greens– tasted like collard greens. Very fresh, not necessarily something I would order again simply because I liked the mushroom vege better.
Mushrooms– mushrooms and jalapeños in Berber sauce… I kept eating this! That a mushroom could be made so much more.
Split peas– this was a paste similar to hummus. It was well flavored, I’m just not a fan of pasty lentils.
Injera– perfect.
Pero came by a couple of times to initiate us with the roasting coffee bean smoke. I felt communal, like I was part of the ceremony itself. Again, in Pero fashion, he went over all my questions around why we were served popcorn with coffee? (that’s what his mother did!- good enough for me)
Would I go back? For sure– to meet Pero again and to have a bowl of beef tibs. All by myself!

Came here with the lovely Elaine K post our very adult business meeting. Because I are adult. As soon as we walked in, I told the waitress/​hostess «We’re not on a date» because that’s how suave I am. But for realz, the dim lighting, cloth napkins, drapes around private tables — this is the perfect spot for making moves.
I docked a star because our waitress, albeit lovely, seemed very confused. She didn’t know where to seat us and walked around dazed for a bit until we grabbed a table.
We shared the veggie platter for two (modified to be vegan) and it was DELICIOUS. Honestly, probably the best Ethiopian I have had to date. The freshness of the ingredients and subtle flavour layering in the spices cannot be beat.
They give you some rose water to rinse your hands with afterwards. I repeat — DATE.

Pero is a lovely, romantic little thing that I hesitate to describe as a «restaurant and lounge»… the restaurant thing, my taste buds attest, they’ve got down, and there is definitely a vibe befitting late night drinks in their cozy setting (complete with drapes, dim lighting, and ambient music)… but my picture of lounges involves overpriced cocktails and a nightclub feel, whereas Pero lies somewhere between a jazz café and an intimate resto for cute couples (made cute simply by the fact that they are in this setting).
My friend and I shared a veg platter and a nice bottle of African shiraz. The food was flavourful and very tasty, and, me being a messy and enthusiastic eater, I loved the way it’s all to be eaten Ethiopian-​style, sans cutlery, with your bare hands (the owner even told me flatteringly that I eat like I’ve been to Africa! Messy eaters rejoice!). Super cute feature: they give you a bowl of lemon water with actual rose petals after the meal to wash your hands. D’aw.
Prices are quite reasonable (~$ 30 can feed two people, and wine bottles start at ~$ 30 also), and the service is super sweet. And I hear they’ve opened the downstairs for live music, which I’m quite excited for based on their taste (in décor and in music). Of note, they are 100% veg*n-friendly, but also equally carnivore-​friendly.
Overall, there really wasn’t one aspect that I felt was wanting — 4 stars for the food, and the added star for the amazing ambiance and lovely service. I will definitely be back, perhaps on a night with live music (Fri-​Sun).

Found a Groupon for this place a few weeks ago and decided to try something new.
We didn’t really know what to expect when we first walked through the curtain covered entrance. We were greeted by a rush of lovely smelling spices and a very nicely decorated, dimly lit room. Very nice ambiance.
Our waitress was friendly and polite, and recommended a really tasty appetizer.
The vegetarian platter was delicious. It was a very interesting experience overall, since neither of us had ever tried Ethiopian food. The owner gave us tips on how to eat the food and interesting combinations of sauces to try. He was very helpful and we would’ve been lost without his advice. The spicy red lentils tasted the best.
There was actually no need to add the appetizer, as the platter was already enough food to fill your stomach, but it was worth it because it was good.
We were served freshly roasted coffee and lightly buttered popcorn after our meal. The coffee was really tasty.
Overall: Beautiful atmosphere, delicious food, great service.

Nous devons y retourner car pour l’instant nous n’avons pu y déguster que quelques petites amuses-​gueules lors d’une excellente soirée privée. Piqué par la curiosité, le rendez-​vous est pris: donc à bientôt !

A daily deal for a vegetarian platter for 2 enticed us to visit Pero but good food and service would bring me back to Pero.
It was very quiet while we were there. We were the only diners for the most part, other than a few men at the bar. Our server, who I believe is the owner, was very attentive and answered all our questions. He talked us into ordering an appetizing of ‘ethiopian sushi’ that consisted of injera with spicy lentil pastes inside, rolled up and cut. It was good but very filling, as injera tends to be so make sure you’re adeqately hungry before ordering this.
We followed with a veggie platter that was smaller than the standard veg for 2 platter at Nazareth, that we are so used to, but also tasted much fresher. The wats were brightly coloured, something you don’t see at Nazareth. We polished it off quickly, though I do remember some pieces of the eating injera being dry on the outside, as if they had been pre-​rolled and then sat out, loosing some moisture. Wasn’t a big deal though. I don’t remember being charge extra for additional injera, otherwise I would consider this a sticking point.
Overall the service was excellent. I like that they have a lot of veg options on their menu and there’s this nice little coffee ceremony area that they said is for weekend use and for large groups. The drawbacks here are it’s not very busy and I think this is due to the prices. $ 30 for a veggie platter for 2 vs. the $ 8 at Nazareth is pretty steep. Yes, quality is a factor but I think $ 15 per person for what is essentially a lentil dinner just doesn’t make sense.
They seem to be trying to go for the fine dining approach and the owner posts a lot of photos of chairs with fancy covers on them, but truly this is not what the ethiopian dining crowd is looking for in Toronto. People want good food and affordability, not frills. That’s why Nazareth has a line-​up out the door on a Thursday evening and this place only has a few guys at the bar. I’d like to support Pero because the food is good but $ 15 is more than I want to spend on one dish on my average night.