Shewit Eritrean Restaurant

Oh how I love this restaurant. The staff and work is a great fun place to visit live entertainment good food lots of fun I would recommend this place to my friends.

I live in Clarkston and am very familiar with Eritrean and Ethiopian food. I stopped in the other day to check them out. The place was kind of shabby and dark, but the owner, Fishall and his son, Alem, were so warm and inviting! They did not have a takeout menu, but since I am familiar with this type of food, they said to call in an order or come in and they would accommodate me. I called in my order of a veggie plate and lamb tibs a few days later. When I went back in to pick up my order, they were delighted that I followed-​up! Again I had a pleasant conversation with some of the young guys in there, and the food was delicious! There was so much food that I have enough for 2 — 3 meals and very reasonably priced. I have raved to my family about it, and will definitely continue to patronize this place.

super friendly, wings were cooked great, owner sat with us for a bit, had the ethnic lamb dish with the sponge bread (ill pay attention to the name next time) which was devoured immediately. smoked a hookah, had a few shots of johnnie walker, played music, had fun. come if you want an intimate time with a group of friends (the place is usually kinda empty)

My wife and I found ourselves hungry on Sunday around 1pm, so she fired up her Scoutmob app and we headed to Shewit. Despite the utterly nondescript (and, as Heather N. said, sketchy) storefront, we decided to take the risk.
Upon entering, we were greeted by the unmistakably acrid smell of cigarette smoke and, well, a very worn and dirty interior. I asked the server/​greeter/​barman if people were allowed to smoke (since I thought that was banned in pretty much every place that sells food*) and he ushered us back to the curtained area, as if the smoke-​heavy curtains would serve as HEPA filters for the smoke. (Spoiler: They didn’t.)
We ordered two vegetarian platters and some foul (it’s pronounced «fool» and it’s a really yummy dish made mostly from fava beans). The foul was listed on the menu as an appetizer, so we expected it to be served first, but ours arrived pretty much when we were finished with our veggie platters, so we asked for a to-​go box.
While this was our first trip to an Eritrean place, we’ve been to a bunch of Ethiopian places. We found the food here to be average (the foul was below average) and there were several times we were waiting for our server to return (e.g., when my wife and I had run through our one-​napkin-​each allotment). He was nice, but scarce. To their credit, the food was not as oily as we’ve seen at some Ethiopian places.
(My wife noticed the server riding a bicycle back and forth in the restaurant. We had no idea what that was about. We joked that the big draw of the place was its atmosphere.)
When it came time to leave, we gave up waiting for the server to return to our table, so we walked up to the bar to check out, where my wife was hit on by a man so drunk he couldn’t find his mouth with his cigarette. (She thought he said something to her, but I imagine that if he was so drunk that the cigarette wouldn’t go in, intelligible words probably weren’t coming out.)
The server employed some undocumented calculations (all he handed us was the change) to come up with the final amount owed and, to his credit, he mentioned that the total included a mandatory 18% gratuity. (While awaiting the result of his calculations, I watched a lone cockroach descend from the counter of the bar down to the footrest. Yum.)
Conclusion? There are plenty of competing places that have better food, don’t have the (and I’m being quite charitable here) quirky service, and don’t make me feel like I shouldn’t touch anything (particularly important when I’m going to use that same hand to shove food into my mouth), so I think we’ll let the drinkers and smokers keep this dive afloat.
(I tried to cajole my wife into checking out the restroom, but she refused.)
* Turns out that smoking is allowed in restaurants and bars that do not admit or employ people under 18 years old, so there you have it.

this place is interesting, we may have fallen on a bad night but the crowd was looking at us as though we didn’t belong. The food was good but not at the top of the scale when it compares to other Eritrean/​Ethiopian places around. we had a drunk lady sit at table and harass us several times, it was lear we didn;t want her there but the staff was oblivious to our hints to make her leave us alone.
I will come back with the hope this place picks it up a bit.

The lamb dish was good size, the injera was good. The Asmara beer I will pass on next time. One cook in the kitchen so it takes a while for food to come out.
If your looking for atmosphere, this sure isnt your place. Basic place with good food yes.
I used a Scout Mob also, but three stars because of confusion over that.
The lady who took the order seemed familiar, but went home. The one who collected seemed to know what it was, but doesnt understand what 50% means.
She uses 32% off. I ask… you just included the tip then right, NO, the tip goes here she says. Hmm… I ask again, get the same answer, you put the tip here…
The 18% makes sense if they include the tip but somehow this just isnt working here. So I put in a tip where she points that it should and go. She repeated several times Scoutmob is only 32% off. Ok ok… I suspect I tipped twice, but she didnt understand.
Wish people who signed up for these promotionsl things made sure the help understood them.

I loves me some Ethiopian. Thanks to Scoutmob, I’ve been able to enjoy it at a discount. I saw Shewit on the list of deals and decided to give it a try. I am pretty familiar with Clarkston so I was interested to see what eating there would be like. It’s in the same strip as Thriftown and Kathmandu Kitchen (which I also need to try). This place looks super sketchy, so if you’re a stickler for ambiance, your standards will not be met. Inside of Shewit isn’t too bad, though.
The menu is a bit small (especially compared to Desta or Queen of Sheba) but I’m guessing that everything on it is good. I ordered the kilwa (spicy stewed beef), my friend got the veg platter, and my other friend got the stewed chicken. All of it was really really good. Plenty of injera and my kilwa was nice and spicy. They have non spicy options as well.
Note of caution: This may not be a great place for Ethiopian cuisine newbies. My husband claims injera gives him a stomach ache and Desta’s menu has many more options, like rice to sub injera. I get the feeling at Shewit you would probably just get what is on the menu – which would be delicious anyway.
The portions were quite large – i was pleasantly surprised. I showed some restraint for once and actually had some to take home. Also, the prices are suuuuuper reasonable. In the end, totally worth it, even without the Scoutmob. I will be going back.

Shewit=schweet!
A slightly sketchy exterior and strange entrance made me question my choice this evening, but I was pleasantly surprised with the genuine warmth of the owner and his sons. The broken light fixtures gives one an impression that fights have taken place here in the past. This adds to the completely authentic hole in the wall vibe.
I learned some subtle differences between Ethiopian and Eritrean culture, food (no fish tibs) and language (Tigrinya) from our fantastically professional server. He was calm, suave, and served our drinks from a silver tray. My kid said it reminder her of a fairy tale castle. One thing, no tej for me. Sound like a crazy choice, but I went with a margarita, and my guy fixed me up with a cocktail the way I make them at home, tart and strong! Yay, great way to start the weekend! Big thanks.
Veg plate had four selections of lentils and greens, all were fresh. Lamb with okra had a great sauce. Mmm!
Loved the Ethiopique drum and horn music. Added to a well-​rounded experience. This this would be a funky spot for a UYE.
Located in the Thrift Town Village strip mall (near Kathmandu).
Cheers~

i didn’t eat, buy a beer or get a hooka, but this place still deserves four stars. the owner of the bar basically invited all of Surf fest 2011 over for an after party that went past 3am, so this place knows good music and how to party. It had an ample sound system able to handle all the bands’ gear. (tip: bring ear plugs.) the regulars and staff were friendly and very accommodating while guitarists jumped on chairs and tables, and the crowd was really into it. the bar was busy, and people played Italian pool in the background all the while the owner danced wildly as the music crashed over his body in overpowering waves. it was a really good vibe.
try their ouzo. its very good, n normally i don’t like that anise taste.
do not be a drunk fool harassing the patrons and women. the owner will regulate (well, not like 213 style… but he will still kick u out n hurt u in an awkward steven segal move.) conduct yourselves accordingly.

The injera here has a hint of saffron in it. The shiro and the beef tibs are GOOD! Get both of them!

Good food! Portions are large and relatively inexpensive. I had the veggie combo plate which contained two types of lentils – both yummy, greens, a small tossed salad, and cabbage and carrots. I loved the cabbage. The lentils were my second favorite. All of this is served on a large piece of injera (with extra injera as well). We also ordered a chicken dish that had a nice spicy sauce and was also served on injera. You get a much larger portion of chicken here than, say, at Enat (Ethiopian). The people who work at Shewit are also friendly. The place is located in a run-​down strip mall and the atmosphere is bland and run-​down. Eritrean videos sometimes place on the big screen TV. Accept the atmosphere and enjoy the food.

We happened to go when there was a neighborhood power outage, on a very hot day. It was sort of dark and mostly empty except for a group of employees and friends chatting up a storm near the back wall. One person was sound asleep on a table near the front.
When we sat down, and they verified that we wanted to eat, they had one menu for us to review. The menu contained a small selection of mostly meat based dishes, plus one vegetarian plate. We ordered a spicy chicken plate and a vegetarian plate.
So far, you might think that we wouldn’t review this place well — but in fact the food made up for the other weirdness, by far. My spicy chicken plate was full of flavor, hearty and delicious. The vegetarian plate had 5 different lentil, bean and greens based options that were all distinct and interesting. I’ll definitely be returning.