Awash Ethiopian Restaurant

DANGER a few months ago I pressed the owner about the “gluten free injera” and he said “well there’s a little bit of wheat flour in it” I let him know how dangerous and unacceptable that was but he didn’t really seem to get it

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not at all

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Not Much/None

The guy literally said the injera is 95% teff and claimed his gluten intolerant customers are fine. The other 5% is barley. Very disappointing.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not at all

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Not Much/None

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Average

I asked for GF ingera (Ethiopian flat bread) but was told that it is 95% GF. There ingera is 5% barley, 95% teff.

Celiac friendly?

No

Injera, the spongy crepe-like substance used in Ethiopian restaurants to pick up your bites of food, is supposed to be made with teff flour - which is GF. However many Ethiopian restaurants in the USA add wheat flour to their injera. At Awash, they have teff-only injera available on request. You do have to ask for it, and there’s no GF menu, but most if not all Ethiopian dishes are already GF by their nature. Don’t let the little grocery store in front or the somewhat dingy and unappealing look of the restaurant deter you. This place is known to have some of the best Ethiopian food in San Diego. People line up to eat here on busy nights. You have to be ok with eating in what looks a lot like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Sometimes those are the BEST!