From Lalibela to Berlin

Six tables in Neukölln

Our journey began in 2017 in a small shop in Berlin-Neukölln. Just 40 square metres, only six tables — but a large vision: to bring the real hospitality and the unmistakable flavours of Ethiopia to Berlin.

At the start we did not know what to expect. Would Berliners love our cooking? Would they eat injera with their hands? Would they take to a completely new way of eating?

The answer came faster than we had ever expected.

Day by day our little restaurant filled up. People came from every part of Berlin, brought their friends and told others about this small place where food was not just cooked but served with heart. The first two and a half years were wonderful — almost every day full to the last seat.

But in time it became clear: our dream had outgrown our first shop. So we dared to take the next step.

Lalibela grows

The little shop with six tables became a name people in Berlin knew. In 2022 we opened a second location in Berlin-Kreuzberg, on Ohlauer Straße – today a place of its own, with its own website.

But one wish remained: a large home for Lalibela where it had all begun – in Neukölln. A place with room for long evenings, big gatherings and celebrations.

It had all started in Neukölln. And in Neukölln the biggest step would follow.

We did not have to look far: Kienitzer Straße 113 is only a few steps from our very first little shop – back to where it all began, just with far more room. Close to Körnerpark, in the heart of one of Berlin’s liveliest neighbourhoods.

What followed was a lot of work, many hands and the same hope that had carried us from the start: to turn empty rooms into a piece of Ethiopia.

1 May 2025

On that day we opened the doors of our largest house yet – Lalibela at Kienitzer Straße 113. At last the place we had always dreamed of: spacious, warm, with room for big gatherings and celebrations – and the full variety of our kitchen.

Hand-plastered walls in warm ochre, the mural of tej – our homemade honey wine –, the Lion of Judah, woven mesob baskets on every table and the coffee ceremony in the evening: everything here tells of Ethiopia. And at its heart, what it was always about – eating together, sharing, spending time with one another.

Today

Today Lalibela is more than a restaurant to many people. It is a place of meeting, of being together, of hospitality. A piece of Ethiopia in the middle of Berlin-Neukölln. And every smile from our guests reminds us why we took this path.

Our story is far from over. It has only just begun.