Hands are nature's silverware—evidenced by early man's serrated pointer finger and forked thumb. Get back to your ancestral roots in sophisticated, hand-fed fashion with today's Groupon: for $12, you get $25 worth of Ethiopian fare at Addis Ethiopian Restaurant. Located in historic Shockoe Bottom, Addis enlightens eaters on Ethiopia's culinary culture through a wide variety of traditional dishes. Commence the feed with a plate of sambussas, lightly fried pastry shells filled with spiced lentils ($3 each). Like a Thanksgiving dinner for one, traditional Ethiopian meals are eaten without silverware. Instead, diners use homemade injera, a sourdough flatbread, to consume succulent and saucy concoctions such as rosemary-seasoned chunks of lamb, called ye-beg lega tibs ($14). The menu offers a plentiful number of vegetarian options, and Addis often features traditional live music.

Reviews

Anything Wine reviewed Addis under its previous name, Sheba, and Richmond magazine mentioned it. Yelpers give the restaurant an average of four stars.

• Katenya … looks like an Ethiopian version of a quesadilla, and was really fabulous, I think it lasted about 3 minutes before we gobbled it up. – Anything Wine
• There's never a wait, the food is wonderful, perfect portions, the waitresses are especially helpful if you've never had Ethiopian food, and the atmosphere is very relaxing. – rheda r., Yelp