Longstanding Tempe restaurant has abruptly closed. What to know

A long-running cafe that introduced generations of Valley diners to Ethiopian food has abruptly closed. Cafe Lalibela served doro wat and fosolia near Arizona State University’s campus for 30 years.

It’s unclear when the Tempe eatery officially closed. The restaurant has not yet posted updates on its social media, but has updated its Google business page to say “temporarily closed.” The restaurant’s phone has been disconnected, and online ordering has been turned off. Fans posted online over the weekend reporting seeing staff taking art off the walls as they enjoyed their last order.

“I just ordered my last doro wat from Cafe Lalibela,” James wrote on Facebook. “They’re sold out of gomen. The woman working just found out this morning. She said she suspects that business has just been slow lately.”

Phoenix New Times has reached out to the restaurant for comment.

‘How are they going out of business?’

Cafe Lalibela opened in a small, low-slung strip mall on University and Hardy drives in 1996. Over the decades, owner Anibal Abayneh and her family introduced diners to Ethiopian food and the eatery became one of the Valley’s top African restaurants. 

Traditional woven baskets hung on the walls of this welcoming, family-run spot, which diners flocked to for clay-pot coffee service and the restaurant’s popular berbere-spiced chicken stew eaten tucked into bouncy pieces of injera. The restaurant also became a destination for vegan and vegetarian diners, who could feast on a platter featuring red lentils, collards and shiro wat, a spiced chickpea flour cooked with onion, garlic and ginger.

A favorite among diners and food critics, Cafe Lalibela held several honors. It appeared on Phoenix New Times’ Top 50 Restaurants list and among the 10 best restaurants in Tempe. Last week, the cafe was recognized as the best Ethiopian restaurant in the Valley. The restaurant’s doro wat was also among New Times’ list of food and drink Essentials. 

Twenty years into Cafe Lalibela’s tenure, its owners opened Market Lalibela, a 400-square-foot retail space filled with grab-and-go food from the cafe, Ethiopian spices and products from local makers. Though that eventually shrank to a display near the restaurant’s host station, the cafe also packaged its coffee and crafted ready-to-eat items that were sold online and in Whole Foods Market and Natural Grocers. The online store has also closed.

Why the restaurant shuttered and whether it will reopen remain unclear. For now, fans of the Ethiopian restaurant are wondering what happened.

“What the heck!?” Jena asked on Facebook. “Best in the Valley, food sold at Whole Foods Market. How are they going out of business?”

Cafe Lalibela

849 W. University Drive, Tempe