In a DCist interview several weeks ago, Tyler Cowen declared that Zenebech Injera at 6th and T Streets NW was serving up the best Ethiopian food in town. We put the advice of the economics professor/ethnic eats guru to the test.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, a steady stream of customers wanders in and out. Cabbies drive up to the door—literally onto the sidewalk—to grab their to-go containers. Definitely a good sign. The cashier dashes out to an idling bus to deliver lunch to its driver. A baker emerges from the kitchen with hunks of bread fresh from the oven. It is baked wrapped in banana leaves and accentuated with black seeds of which no one knows the English name. I’d only ever heard of injera. A Google search later reveals that the bread is called dabo, and the seeds are coriander.

Menus are hidden against the wall, but most patrons know exactly what they want. Those who don’t just ask the man at the counter. “I want something with lamb,” says a woman there for the first time. Spicy or mild? We go for the kitfo, the raw, minced beef that Cowen says is the thing to get. The pile of raw, freshly ground meat is completely lean and deep red in color. The taste is beefy but subtle, and a pile of berbere spice adds a powerful kick when dusted onto the kitfo.