Horn of Africa - (503) 331-9844

First time to this wonderful place. Everyone at our table has been to Africa and this reminded us of the wonderful people and food we love there. We tried a little bit of everything and were not disappointed with anything. Our waitress was from Uganda, and so personable. We will definately be back to bring a new group of friends and share this little slice of Africa in Portland.

The waitress was the worst I have ever encountered. We have eaten her off and on for about 10 years. It has always been inconsistent. The Male owner has always been concerned about service and quality. The women feels the best way to deal with unhappy guests is give them a nasty look and rush them out the door. I ordered coffee 15 minutes later I was still waiting for sweetener finally asked another waitress she said sorry don't have. At that point the coffee was cold and went down in 2 gulps. Our appetizers finally arrived and they were very tasty. The waitress never inquired about the food just took everything away including the coffee cup. Finally got my soup it was good but not super hot. 45 minutes later we still did not have our entrees. Our waitress was missing. We asked another waitress to please check on our food. She brought it out straight away. My daughters order was wrong, mine was nothing like the menu description and my husbands was very good. They were suppose to come with rice or bread, however we were charged $3 for the rice that was cold and perhaps had a strand of saffron waved through it but was by no means saffron rice. Having lived in Africa for 2 years I know what this food is suppose to taste like. When we complained that the rice was cold the waitress put her finger in it. The female owner then came out gave us NASTY glaring looks and slung the rice at us then the bill. No apologizes no trying to correct the problem. They have lost our business for good.

My boyfriend and I love North African food and for Christmas I got him a gift certificate to Horn of Africa. We were super excited and upon arrival asked our server for a recommendation of drinks. She brought us two Ethiopian beers. We ordered hummus and Sambuccas for apps. We got the hummus in about 20 minutes. Then continued to wait for another 40 min. When we had been there about an hour the table across from us, got their order although we had been there about 25 minutes longer. Our waiter continued to ignore us and I finally asked the status of our other appetizer. The waitress snapped that they were coming. That is when the table across from us realized that the dinner they ate was not what they ordered. Someone came out from the kitchen and apologized to them and said they would make their order. Still, nothing was said to us but by now it was obvious our dinner had been given away. Finally an hour and half into this experience we got our 2nd app of sambucas although they were not the beef and lentil we ordered they were still delicious. The dipping sauce for them was unbelievably good. When our entrees came, there was no apology or acknowledgement about the mistake, or wait time. The lamb curry was very good although not spicy like I had requested, it probably was the first time they had cooked it. My boyfriend's dish was lamb with beri beri sauce and was average. The dishes were served with bideen bread although the menu said we could have bideen or saffron basmati rice, our server didn't offer it. We asked for our check and that was the only thing that came to the table quickly, then the server returned while I was still signing the credit slip and waited for it. The funny thing is, when we arrived there was a couple sitting, looking very unhappy, asking about their food. When they got it they ate in 5 min, and quickly left. We thought, wow, what rude people, 2 hours later, we were in their shoes. Such a disappointment because we would love to return for the food. Even with the poor service, if our waitress had apologized or admitted the mistake or anything, we would have been fine and happy to wait. I used to be a server years ago and I know mistakes can happen but to be ignored and spoken rudely to for 2 hours is enough reason to never return.