There has been a buzz going around this past week that Buffalo is finally going to get an Ethiopian Restaurant. A sign had gone up in a window on Amherst Street announcing the news. That’s when I started getting phone calls and emails asking if it was ‘my guy‘ who had finally found a location. As much as I wanted it to be Wass (my guy), it was not, but nonetheless I was excited to learn that Buffalo would soon have Ethiopian food.
After digging around, I learned that the operators of Lucy Ethiopian Cuisine and Variety Store also had a restaurant in Toronto. Buffalo will be the owners’ second location. I spoke to co-owner Naima Tesfu who told me that the restaurant would have limited sit-down, mainly because she and her husband were looking to test the market to see how people would respond to a cuisine that they were relatively unfamiliar with. “We’ve been looking into opening a restaurant in Buffalo for three years,” Naima told me. “We feel that it’s time. We are also very happy with Amherst Street and like that it’s become so diverse. We did a lot of research, and I have some family here as well. I recently moved to Buffalo to be closer to them and to be near the restaurant.”
Hopefully it won’t be long before Lucy Ethiopian opens. At this point Naima tells me that it’s just a matter of waiting for a license, and that should be any day. Then she and her husband can get down to business serving injera (buckwheat pancake) and myriad delicious fixings that you scoop with your hands (no forks or knives). Once open, Lucy Ethiopian will be hosting free traditional coffee ceremonies on Fridays. Personally, I can’t wait. This is very exciting news for Amherst Street and Buffalo.
Lucy Ethiopian Restaurant and Variety Store
388 Amherst Street – Buffalo NY