09/07/08

Terrible Service

by Jamila914

I was visiting from out of town. I decided to try Columbus' Blue Nile, because the ones in Michigan are fantastic. However, when my party came in, we weren't even greeted. We were told we could sit wherever, so we chose the traditional style seating. I had ordered tea, but the food came first. When I asked about it our waitress was like "Yes, it's coming", with an attitude. She didn't even check on us one time!

The manager came by and I told him we were done. The food wasn't that great, it was pretty bland. I've had much better Ethiopian food at the Blue Nile in Michigan. The food was also way overpriced. I was with two other people and our bill came to $55! All we ordered was the vegetarian plate, and a few sambusas and tea. Plus, when they brought us the check it was so messy we could hardly read the handwriting on it.

But we did make out the word "table" and next to it it said $3.75. I asked the waitress what the table charge was for and she told me that there's an extra charge for traditional style seating. But she didn't tell us that when we came in! She was just like "It's in the menu". So, I asked to talk to the manager, she's like, "You can talk to him on your way out". I was like, "Well, he needs to come over here". So he comes and he was just like "The extra charge is on the menu" and he refused to take it off!

I asked where it said that on the menu and he didn't even know himself, he flips through the menu then he finally finds it on the last page in fine print! I was like, "Who is supposed to see that?!" He was just like "That's to help support the business". But we just spent over $50 on vegetables! He was just like "We never had a problem with this before". Then our waitress mumbles under her breathe "No one else complains about it!" Needless to say we left NO TIP, and vowed never to go back!

Beware, they sneak an extra charge on the bill in messy handwriting! It's $1.25 extra per person for the traditional style table!

• Pros: Nice Ambience
• Cons: Bad Service!

09/25/07

love this place

by biketour2007

pyroburns:

i do not know you but you sound like an arrogant jacka$$. if you really can make better ethiopian food than blue nile, why don't you stay home, eat your own food, and don't run down a restaurant that the rest of us enjoy.

for everyone else reading this:

give the blue nile a try. i think you will find it to be a place with the feel of a family-run kitchen, spicy food, and great music. the owners are friendly and personable. i live nearby and eat there at least every couple of weeks. the blue nile is a gem!

09/16/07

Very very bad.

by pyroburns

I was STRONGLY disappointed with The Blue Nile. Recently, I started cooking African cuisine just for the hell of it, and I did WAAAAY better than they did on my first try (It won third in a dutch oven cooking contest).

Their service was slow, and overly informal. My water didn't even come until I was in the middle of my meal. The one waiter wouldn't even give me more chicken in my doro wat which was basically just a bone. But I will admit that the waitress was really sweet and made me feel special.

The food was mostly bland an uninteresting. Their injera pancakes were really good, though. Nice, and spongy. And with proper color. My beef stew that I made in the cooking contest had much more flavor than their's did. Their's had a really bland flavor, as if it came out of a can. I couldn't even tell if they used Berbere or not. The portions were VERY small, and like I mentioned earlier my chicken was just a bone!

Of course everything was overpriced, and they even wanted to charge me for sitting at their basket.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

• Pros: Sweet Waitress, Nice Injera
• Cons: Garbage food, bad service, poor atmosphere.

04/14/07

Delicious Ethiopian fare !!

by fender_guru

Mequanent is an extremely polite host with an amazing demeanour. Laurie and I love the Doro Wat. It's chicken cooked in Berbere sauce (spicy !) with a boiled egg and Injera bread. The Blue Nile brings much needed culinary diversity in Columbus. If you're unsure about what to order go for the dinner #1. It's a combination of entrees that'll jog your palette delectably.

• Pros: Excellent food, resonably priced
• Cons: Slow service when busy, limited High Street parking on weekends

05/18/06

Horrible Service

by sindhu_tatimatla

They find silly excuses to pile additional charges on your bill. The traditional table costs an extra $5. We were even told about the additional cost, werent asked where we would prefer to sit, but were directly led to one. When we got our bill there was an additional $5 just for the table. I thought this was unfair. Especially since we were not told before hand. As a student, $5 amounts to a days lunch. Some amount of consideration should have been shown, esp as we walked in with our school bags and they knew we were students.

• Pros: the food
• Cons: service

08/30/05

User review by bellazzle

by bellazzle

Hardly any vegetarian options and the waiters aren't that friendly. The food itself was mediocre.

• Pros: fast service
• Cons: not very friendly

06/16/05

excite your pallet and enjoy friendly service

by pixurgrrl

as seen on '30 days' fx tv show. this restaurant has exceeded every expectation, service, food and atmosphere. this family run business brings africa to the midwest. you can enjoy your food either tradional ethiopian style (our favorite) or at a good old fashion american style. we recommend any of the vegetarian options (esp the eggplant and lentils): the berber chicken is very spicy (yum): tomato fit fit is a great appetizer. this place is very well priced for the quality of food.

• Pros: inexpensive, great tasting, unique
• Cons: parking, decor

05/13/04

Be Adventurous

by jfritsch

Excellent African cuisine, at an extremely affordable price. Truly one of the best African restaurants which I've visisted. Beverage refills can take a bit of time, but one hardly notices that. The servers/owners are very friendly. Also, if you're new to Ethiopian/African, I suggest trying the lunch buffet first, so you can be exposed to several kinds of dishes.

• Pros: Price, taste, friendly service

03/21/04

Best Ethiopian this side of Addis Ababa

by mcheadle

We are very fond of west African cuisine and through the years have sampled resaurants from coast to coast ( even 'Blue Nile' in Detroit ), and NO ONE does it like they do!! The owners are very gracious, the food is heavenly. The only criticism we might have is the frequency of visits by the server. One might wait until the end of dinner to get a beverage refilled, but this is fairly rare. Two people can order more that they should eat for < $20. A bargain at twice the price. Enjoy!!

• Pros: Excellent Food, Fast seating, Generous Buffet

08/18/03

A charming space bedecked with African art and a polite host watching over his culinary flock.

by Contributor

The Food
Haven't had Ethiopian? No worries. This stuff is so mild and tasty, even your picky friends will be just fine. Go for lunch or brunch and try everything. Have the gomen (collard greens and potatoes), kik alicha (yellow split peas), and especially the key wat, a spicy beef stew that will remind you that you're alive. Rice pudding is a sweet and serene dessert, especially when you've made a few trips to the buffet.



The Scene
Go Bucks! Perched just north of campus in the same strip as many Indian, African, Middle Eastern and Korean places, the Blue Nile is filled with all kinds of people, especially white, liberal types wearing beads and flowy clothes. The servers are kind.