Cafe Eritrea is a popular and renowned ethnic restaurant in North Oakland serving the general publi since 1986. It is a restaurant that received rave reviews from various food critics including Oakland Tribune, East Bay Express, the New York Time, S.F. Focus Magazine and others over a period of time. As a winner of the international food festival contest that was held in Oakland's Lake Merritt, it enjoyed unbelievable success and recognition in and beyond its geographical area. Members of its ethnic community as well as the general public have made it a point to frequent visits to the restaurant to enjoy the authentic food it serves from it's Queen of Sheba's kitchen. The food is so delicious that it can be very addictive!

Cafe Eritrea d'Afrique serves and Eritrean/Ethiopian cuisine that goes to the era of the Queen of Sheba (aka Saba) that reigned the region, including present day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen...around 1000 BC (before Christ). During that time, 3000 years ago that is, legend has it that the area was so rich in gold and spices that even the queen used it to entice King Solomon to develop a special 'relationship' with her which resulted in the birth of Menelik Solomon in the river of Mai Bela in the city of present day Asmara, Eritrea. Therefore, descendants of the era, Eritreans and Ethiopians, have been using the same exotic spices that the queen supposedly used to perfect her culinary 3000 years ago.

About the owner-chef
An American Success Story

Zimam, the owner/chef of the restaurant came to America in 1991 with almost nothing but her determination to work hard and make it in life. She came here as a refugee due to the Ethio-Enitrean war that ravaged her country Eritrea and there by crushed her personal aspiration to pursue a peacful and prosperus livelihood in her village. She did not even get the chance to get any formal education at all. But, she alwasy had the work ethics and enterpreneurial instinct in her ever since her childhood. Because of that instinct, she had tried to run a business of sort in and around her village using mules and donkeys as her means of transportating goods and services from one place to another even in the middle of war. And when that did not work for obvious reasons, she somehow managed to make it in the USA without money or any knowledge of the English language whatsoever.

Soon after her arrival in Oakland, California, she landed a job as a cook in Cafe Eritrea d'Afrique with the first owners of the restaurant. After few years, working hard as she always did, she was able to take over the restaurant when the original owners moved to another location in 1993-94. Ever since that time, she made a lot of improvement to the place especially after it was damaged due to fire in the year 2001.

Zimam, the one time refugee from Eritrea is now an American citizen, speaking English, managing the well known restaurant, hiring waitresses and assistant cooks, cooking authentic dishes of the 'Queen of Sheba', and finally leading a peaceful and prosperus life that she always looked for.