Derae Restaurant

Let me just start by saying wow. No wonder this place has so many great reviews. I tried Ethiopian food once before and didn’t think I would try it ever again. But looking at the reviews, I thought to give this place a try while visiting Memphis and my oh my what amazing taste they have. The food is so delicious and so well seasoned. You get so much more than what you pay. The owner is such a wonderful guy… Very friendly, helped us decide what to get. Would have definitely been a regular here if lived in the area. Might come back just for the food!!!

First time visiting, I’m going to just say, what a great experience. From the outside I, like some others, was a bit concerned. Well, that all evaporated upon arrival. The owner was beyond nice and polite, and the food was well priced and delicious. I knew nothing about what I was ordering, but he took the time to explain everything to us and helped make a great experience.
Also — I never had, or expected to love goat so much. I will certainly return!

What can I say?
This place has been extensively reviewed, and our experience was right in line with the prior reviews.
Mohammed, the owner, was kind and pleased to share his knowledge about the various dishes.
He picked a delicious selection for our lunch.
We loved everything.
I will definitely go back soon.

Excellent food with great service. The menu was slightly confusing, but the owner came over and walked us through as this was our first visit. He helped us order. We loved the food. My kids can be picky but the both loved the Fuul and the Beef stew. My wife and I shared the garlic chicken and a lamb dish.
We would will go again when we are in Memphis.

Amazing food. Got the vegetarian plate and it was fabulous. The owner is very helpful and designed a dish for my picky brother and was very generous. Please check out this place! Ps they no longer accept the 10% off coupon so don’t try it. I asked.

We order chicken and goat with rice and it was so delicious. It tastes like home made food. but the goat portion was a little bit smaller than the chicken
Definitely will come back

Taking my friend Srishti’s awesome Unilocal recommendation, we decided to check this place out, with her of course. Immediately when you walk in, the owner, Mohammad makes you feel right at home with his friendly smile and attentiveness. It also helps that he knows exactly what his loyal customers, like Srishti, regularly older and love.
We started with the bajiya and hot tea, a perfect combo for these cool winter days. Then we ordered the fuul (fava beans cooked with yummy spices), shiro wat (thick red lentil stew), fatira (buttery flat bread with scrambled eggs and veggies) and spicy chicken and rice. Everything was delicious and memorable. I love the fuul and the fresh warm bread, definitely my favorite. And don’t miss out on the fatira, a great dish for brunch/​lunch because it is basically an amazing omelette with the bread already sautéed in! The spicy chicken was good as well, but a little dry and I would probably skip it next time.
Happy I finally had a chance to try this 5 star place. So get your hands dirty and check out Derae!

Great restaurant. The owner was warm and friendly. I loved all the dishes recommended!

Greeted at the door by Mr Mohammed– a nice lively guy. The location of the place is a not so great place of Memphis– still safe though
We started of with Bajiya (recommended by Mohammed)… It’s basically mashed vegetables but deep fried and comes with a spicy sauce on the side.
I got the Hannid and rice which is delicious … And my friend had the Fuul… Both were great…
Overall, I liked the place

Hungry for some fulfilling Friday lunch, I decided to check out Derae Restaurant after stalking it on Unilocal for quite some time. Unlike Instagram stalking someone’s page and accidentally liking someones picture from 53 weeks deep, I did not regret this decision.
When my wife and I pulled up to the establishment, we definitely had our doubts about the place. But, as I have learned about a lot of joints in Memphis, you cannot judge a restaurant by ANY of its physical features. we decided to pursue the restaurant and hopped on inside. We were greeted by the owner, Mohammed, who has a very colorful personality. He was able to walk us through the entire menu and asked up about our eating habits and formulated a meal plan for us based on what were used to eating. We went with his suggestion of Hanid and Rice, which is a type of goat and rice dish, and the lamb stew on Injera, which is a heaping pile of beef stew on a bed of gluten-​free bread made of teff. Teff is native to Ethiopia and had a consistency that i was not used to at all. nonetheless, we enjoyed every bite of it. There was plenty of food so we even had enough to take home for dinner.
Derae was a great experience and if you are in the market for some authentic Ethiopian food, come and check out this wonderful establisement!

The owner was very friendly and the food was the best I’ve had in Memphis… I’m from NYC btw.
If you love quality food that’s inexpensive then you can’t go wrong with the Derae restaurant.

Delicious food coupled with excellent service? Derae has got it going on!
We tried the fuul with egg, sambusas, and bajiya, all of which I would highly recommend. The kind man working here was very helpful and accommodating, and was excited to treat us to this flavorful cuisine. Definitely grab a cup of the homemade tea, which is the perfect accompaniment, especially for breakfast.
All together (with our 10% off check in coupon) the two of us made it out for under $ 15, fat and happy.

I needed to find somewhere Vegetarian friendly and this place popped up on my Unilocal app as being that as well as being right around the corner from my friend’s house that we were at at the time. She had always meant to give this place a shot so she was excited to go here.
Four of us went, two vegetarians and two omnivores. We ended up sitting on opposite sides of the table, which worked best for sharing our respective dishes anyway. The owner greeted us the moment we walked in and helped us pick out things to try. He told us he would bring out appetizers and if we didn’t like them we didn’t have to pay for them. Not only did he do that, but he made it so there were two meat appetizers and four vegetarian ones so we omnivores could try everything as well. We thought that was a nice touch and we loved the appetizers as well.
The owner actually picked out our meals for us– which at first unsettled each of us until we realized he was just trying to help. Also, he picked out things we wanted to try anyway, so it was fine with us. He picked the Veggie Combination, Hanid and Rice, and Fuul (which is on the Memphis’ list of 100 things you have to eat before you die). Ok, one thing you gotta get right about Ethiopian food is that it’s meant to be shared. You aren’t really supposed to get one meal per person but rather one for two or three people. In fact, none of use finished our food and we only ordered two main courses! But that’s also likely thanks to the side dish and appetizers we ate as well.
I didn’t really like the Hanid and Rice because I don’t really like goat. But on that same note, it tasted delicious for goat meat, so that’s a really big plus in their favor. I will definitely get lamb or chicken (if available) next time because I know I will enjoy that more. I’ve eaten at other places and got meals that came with all the vegetables my friend’s Veggie Combination came with. I sorely missed them and definitely hope there’s a meat meal here that comes with them as well.
This place is amazing because not only did we basically order two dishes, a side, and some appetizers, but they were crazy affordable. After using our 10% off check-​in bonus and splitting the bill 4 ways, our food only cost $ 8.25 per person. Freaking amazing.
Loved:
— Cabbage
— Kale
— Lentils
— Samubusa
— Shatni Sauce
— Veggie Combination
Ok:
— Bajiya
— Fuul
Nah:
— Hanid and Rice
— Potato mixture

There’s a reason why this place has 5 stars! Like Joelle said, don’t let its location psyche you out. This place is a hidden gem! The owner could not be any sweeter and love giving us recommendations. The appetizer was amazing. And then the rice came out. Incredible. It’s was just the right amount of spice and flavor! You can tell they really love what they do!
Definitely will be back :))!!

This food is sooooooo good. This was the first time I had Ethiopian food, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The owner was sooooooo friendly. He gave us amazing suggestions, and he even showed me how to eat it! We loved every bite. Good appetizers, the veggie plate was delicious, and the tea was fantastic. So glad we tried this place, we will certainly be back!

Best Ethiopian-​style food in Memphis? Quite possibly.
The lamb tibs (essentially, strips of spiced meat) are probably my favorite, but the fuul is excellent as well. I also saw at least one carnivore nearly convert to vegetarianism after trying the veggie combo. In short, pretty much all the topics we tried were great.
On my most recent trip last week, I discovered the meat samosas which were phenomenal. Normally, samosas often either have the meat get kind of mushy within the crust, but these tasted fresh and delicious with a unique set of spices. For $ 2, I would order 5 servings of them for lunch in the future.
Owner was extremely helpful as others have mentioned and even poured the normally hot tea over ice. Can’t believe there was nobody else there at lunchtime – it’s definitely worth it, if only for a bowl of fuul and samosas if you need a snack.
One tip: the AC works nicely (unlike some other restaurants I’ve found) and even on one of the hottest days in awhile, the interior was cool.

Yesssss oh my gosh YES!
I was a little hesitant due to the part of town… but as soon as I walked in the door, all of my worries fell to the side. The owner is so nice and I let him order for me because I’m not an expert with Ethiopian food by any means (even though I love it every time I have it)…best decision ever by the way… and I highly recommend you do the same. He just kept bringing food left and right for me to try… and it is so reasonably priced, my bill was still teensy tinsy.
Bottom line: this place is legit.

I have been coming here regularly. And the quality and passion is just the same. My favorite still is the Bhajiya and fuul with the awesome hot tea. They sometimes are out of Bhajiya, so I always call and confirm in advance.
I have eaten Ethiopian food in Boston, NY, DC, NOLA and so many other places. But no other place has such flavorful fuul. This is truly a hidden gem of Memphis.

Five star restaurants on Unilocal with more than few reviews are rare. Combine that with me only having had exceptional Ethiopian food in DC, I felt I may get let down. Luckily for me, that was not the case! I don’t know what I ate, I just told the gentleman Muhammad to pick for me.
I wanted to go back to try another dish he was equally proud of, but sadly I didn’t have enough time. But the food is great. I went at an off time and Muhammad even sat down with me at the table talking about Ethiopia and his background. Whenever I’m back in Memphis, I will be back to try that other dish he is proud of.

We went to this small family operation for lunch, and so glad we did!
We had the Soup, Sambosa, Bhajiya (similar to Indian pakora), Fuul, and Vegetarian meal with spongy Injira bread. Everything was absolutely delicious. The warm spiciness & richness of the food kept me satiated all day long. I can’t wait to go back and order large quantities of yummy lentils.
The best part of the experience was meeting Muhammad. What a stellar guy! He was wonderful to talk to, very genuine, and very eager to help you understand Ethiopian cuisine. He made several recommendations to us, and we were happy with all the options.
This place is such a hidden gem! If you love ethnic food, put this on your restaurant itinerary stat.