Club Waziema

Like a Seinfeld episode.. Going to this restaurant ended up being exactly like a well-known Seinfeld episode, and can be summed up in its most quoted phrase: "Anyone can *take* a reservation! You have to *HOLD* the reservation!"

We had never been to this restaurant before, but we had a group of 10 going out for dinner and someone suggested we try Club Waziema. We called ahead and made reservations a few days prior for 7:30. We showed up about 15 minutes early and ordered drinks at the bar. The restaurant was pretty full but not packed, and no new patrons came in after our group's arrival. Around 7:45 I asked the woman behind the bar (possibly the owner?) for our table. She asked how many, and when I told her "ten" she repeated, in a very put-out tone of voice, "Ten?!" I said yes, we had a reservation for 7:30. To which she said, "Well, if you had a reservation for 7:30 you should have been here at 7:30." I replied that we had been here the whole time, drinking at her bar. Also mind, again, that no one else had come in that they should have needed to give up the reserved table regardless. Then she just gave me a dirty look and WALKED AWAY FROM ME. And did not come back. So I have no idea if the food was any good, we were repelled by the atrocious service. We ended up going across the street to Ziryab, which was excellent, and they bent over backward to accommodate our large group on short notice.…

Ethiopian food like mom used to make. Wazeima rocks! Ethiopian food, pool table, local art and maroon velvet wallpaper are a great combination. food is healthy and is cheap, and I would eat there all the time, but the service can be painfully slow, so I go when I have time to kick back and relax. a good place to go eat by yourself and sit at the bar and chat to the bartender.…

OK food, good people watching. Waziema is a divey hole-in-the-wall that apparently has cashed in on the bonanza when the Divisadero corridor revitalized through an influx of trustafarian money. From the outside it looks like a divey Ethiopian restaurant, but inside the first thing you see is really old wallpaper and a fully stocked bar full of people.

Ethiopian food is very meat-centric and can be a bit heavy, what with the only carb relief being the thin, flat bread that comes with it. But given that, Waziema is reasonably priced for what it is, if not so downright cheap as everyone here is saying it is.

Service is very good and enthusiastic-- so much so that I thought we were in a room full of pod-people, or that our waitress had smoked some really good dope. No, apparently she is always that eager to please and accomodating.

The most interesting thing about this place, though, is the people watching. It's become hipster-central, with everyone wearing at least one or more of the following clothing items: trucker hat, trucker shirt, uncombed hair, full beard on the guys, wallet with chain, rolled up jeans, retro sneakers, etc., etc. I really wonder what everyone will be wearing there in 5 years.…