East African Restaurant Massawa Reopens in North Beach

East African restaurant Massawa reopened on Saturday, September 19 bringing its Eritrean/Ethiopian dishes to North Beach. Hoodline reports the former Upper Haight restaurant, which closed in 2010 so the Haight Street Market could expand, is now in the former HRD Smokin' Grill space on Green Street.

While owner Asmerom Ghebrmicael's lamented in 2010 that there weren't any tourists in the Upper Haight anymore, manager Teshome Fedai is happy with the new North Beach location and all of the visitors that flock there. "This area is good to create a unique kind of food," he says of the neighborhood best know for its Italian fare.

According to Hoodline, the "new location has a casual interior, with wood-paneled walls adorned with colorful African baskets and picnic-table seating for about 50." There's no liquor, but Fedai says they're working on getting a license to sell beer and wine.

The menu focuses on Eritrean/Ethiopian cuisine with dishes like shiro, a spiced chick pea dish as well as plenty of spiced meat dishes with a focus on beef and lamb. Everything is served over injera, a spongy flatbread or rice. There are also a bunch of American options like burgers, wings, and chicken tenders.

Massawa is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.