Q: negative

A: I need a manager/owner to get in touch with me ASAP for my recent terrible experience here and a debit card dispute. Preferably not the stringy long haired blonde that was chatting about her party plans for the night on the landline for the entire store to hear. I need someone with a brain to contact me. Will leave full length review and file a complaint with BBB if I'm not contacted within two days and this charge settled. I've never in my life dealt with such genuine apathy and just flat out unprofessionalism. Avoid this place at absolutely all costs. Did find some cool pieces here but nothing worth what I dealt with/am still dealing with.

Q: positive

A: I always come to Al Mizan for international calling cards, and halal meat. Aside from that they have good spice collection for both desi and middle eastern cuisine. Their meat cuts are great for lamb and beef and they even have other body parts as well. I usually only get my meat from here but they always have good fresh produce as well. One slightly note of awe though is the 2 ladies who are always working at the counter. Amazingly enough they work incredibly fast, and by incredible I mean my bill of 60+ items done in 4 minutes max. TIME!!! yes i am wow'ed out but anyway this is a nifty store for local students nearby as its perfectly accessible from the metro.

Q: negative

A: It's been ages since I had Ethiopian cuisine. The last time I ate here was when it was still named Blue Nile. It looks like they kept the Blue Nile menu, but then expanded it to include more general Middle Eastern dishes. We stepped in for lunch, and saw the large advertised sign on the window for $5.99 lunch. There are 2 large menus to choose from. Browsing through the menu, we couldn't find the lunch specials on it anywhere. When I asked the waiter where I could find the lunch specials on the menu though, he vaguely pointed to the 3 pictures on the window in front, and briefly described them. Maybe it's just me, but it's odd to not have at least a printed paper description of your lunch specials at your table if they are so boldly displayed on your window front. Since there were only 3 of them, it would not be that hard to describe or print out! Anyways, we decided to share the veggie/meat Ethiopian combo ($9.50). My friend asked "Is it good?" and the waiter replied almost instantaneously "It's alright." Not very reassuring, no? So we asked what would be better. After some hesitation, he pointed to quite possibly the most benign, Americanized, and uninspiring menu item, the grilled chicken salad. He then went on to say that the combos were quite popular (...But not good?). Faced with this rather odd discourse, we decided to carry on with our plan to get an Ethiopian dish and take the risk! The combo came out in fairly quickly. The dish came with grilled beef, chicken, and 3 veggies of your choosing. Unfortunately, despite having the waiter repeating our choices for us and pointing to them on our menu, one of the items was not the right veggie. Despite this mix up, the combo tasted good, and the injera bread went well with the meat and vegetables. Even though the sign out front says they were open from 11 to 10 that day, they decided to close at 1 P.M. and left the "Open" neon sign lit. Quite a few people tried to enter the restaurant only to find out that it was locked. We got there a little after 12 and were still eating when they locked up the door. They let us know that we could take our time and the chef could let us out when we were done, but we felt uneasy being the only customers in there, trapped inside so we left as soon as we finished. I'm not sure if they normally close at 1 P.M., but perhaps changing their signage or leaving a sign describing why you are closed just that day would help clear any confusion. I used to really like going to Blue Nile for both the food and the service years ago, but since the change in management and name this rather odd eating experience has left me leery to frequent this restaurant again. On to Lalibela perhaps for our next Ethiopian outing!

Q: negative

A:
After waiting for twenty minutes for our food, we asked how much longer and the waitress told us that others were there before us, so much longer, we would have to wait. Someone else will have to review the food, because we left.