Fast-Casual Ethiopian Eatery to Arrive in Columbia Heights This Month

Spicy Ethiopian stews, spongy flatbread and other food from the African country are slated to go on sale at a new fast-casual restaurant in Columbia Heights in the coming weeks.

LeTena is set to open in the former Señor Chicken space on Park Road NW near 14th Street NW on Sept. 26, a restaurant spokeswoman told Borderstan yesterday.

“This has been a dream of mine for a long time,” owner Yamrot Ezineh, an Ethiopian native, said in a statement. “I am happy to be able to bring authentic dishes and art from my homeland to our new home in Columbia Heights.”

The restaurant’s menu has more than two dozen dishes, including meat and vegetable stews called wot, toasted Ethiopian flatbread known as injera and sauteed chicken, beef and tofu that is used to make tibs plates. The eatery also has spaghetti bolognese, stir fried rice and other food from outside of Ethiopia.

All of the dishes are less than $20.

Photo of LeTena interior courtesy of the restaurant