SLO County’s only Ethiopian restaurant still searching for new home

San Luis Obispo County’s only Ethiopian restaurant has unsuccessfully searched for a new spot to move for the past five months — but the search is not over.

Ebony SLO at 778 Higuera St. is moving out of its home in The Network mall building, with its last day expected to be on Dec. 31.

After nearly two years in its location, the Ethiopian restaurant has to leave after its landlord elected to not renew the spot’s lease, owners told The Tribune.

Instead, the SLO Museum of Art is expected to take over and renovate the building, as well as several next-door units, in the coming months for its new downtown museum.

“Everybody that walks in asks the same question every day,” Ebony co-owner Feben Teffera told The Tribune on Wednesday. “I just didn’t have the answer. Now, by next week, we should decide what we’re going to do, if we’re going to continue, or if we’re going to just fold. So we’ll see.”

Teffera co-owns Ebony with her aunts Helen Abraha and Martha Taezaz, and has been looking for open spots for Ebony since July.

Five months later, the restaurant is getting down to the wire.

“We’re just being very careful about what we can afford, what our budget is, and what the right direction for us is,” Teffera said. “Moving was definitely something we thought we had to do, but we really thought there was a little bit of flexibility. Now because of the holidays, because of everything else, it just feels like it’s down to the last moment.”

What are next steps for downtown restaurant?

Ebony first opened in The Kitchen Terminal in 2021 as a takeout space, and moved to its downtown SLO location two years later.

Classic Ethiopian dishes like misir wot, or red lentil stew; injera, a spongy flatbread; and shiro wot, a chickpea stew, are all popular menu items.

With the impending move, Teffera is figuring out the best move for Ebony, whether that be returning to a much smaller production, storing or even shutting down the business.

“There’s just not enough spaces available,” Teffera said. “The ones that are available are way over our budget. Not only is it over our budget, it’s pretty big for our purposes, so we were thinking about maybe we could go back to a takeout situation.”

Others in the community are also thinking about the future of Ebony and ways they can help.

A GoFundMe was set up by community member Hollie West with a donation goal of $25,000 for Ebony’s owners to break down their space, potentially find storage and move to another location.

“Whenever they do find a space it’s going to be great,” West told The Tribune. “They have so many people keeping their eyes and ears out for the perfect spot. Whenever that spot opens up, or a business moves or changes hands and Ebony moves into it, people are on their side and people are looking out for them.”

West was optimistic about the restaurant’s future even in light of its recent difficulty finding a home.

“I think it might be a few weeks or a few months, but they’re not going anywhere,” she said. “They’ll find a spot to call home.”

While $1,960 have been raised as of Thursday, Teffera said the support she values most is from people visiting Ebony and enjoying themselves in the current space.

“If you even had a cup of tea here once, you’ve helped us,” Teffera said. “We just loved having you here, and that’s more than enough for us.”

For more information

Ebony is open on Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday to Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. until Dec. 31.

For more information about the restaurant, visit its website at ebony-slo.com.