J&K Ethiopian Restaurant

J&K Ethiopian Restaurant opened November 2024 in Kansas City’s Northland — a self-funded, two-woman partnership by Obse Lamesa and Lalise Terefe, former Amazon co-workers who met in the Seattle area. The name honors their oldest daughters (J and K). Serves traditional Ethiopian breakfast, stews, and injera flatbreads in an area with no prior Ethiopian dining options.

Description

J&K Ethiopian Restaurant is a Northland KC spot opened by Obse Lamesa and Lalise Terefe — two Ethiopian-born women who met as co-workers at Amazon in the Seattle area before relocating to Kansas City. The name combines the first initials of their oldest daughters. They self-remodeled the space and self-funded the launch with no outside backing. The menu centers on traditional Ethiopian cooking: breakfast all day (firfir, egg dishes), stews (doro wot, tibs, shiro tegabino) served on house-made teff injera, and an authentic Ethiopian coffee and tea ceremony — all in a Northland neighborhood that had no Ethiopian restaurant option before they opened.

Menu

Last verified: 2026-08-12 · Source: J&K Ethiopian official website menu (jandkethio.com/menu)¹ · menu_status: verified · Confidence: High (full priced menu + dish descriptions from the restaurant’s own site; Firecrawl re-scrape 2026-08-12). Entrees generally served with house-made teff injera unless noted.

Breakfast (before 1 PM)

• Ethiopian Style Scramble Eggs — scrambled eggs with tomatoes, jalapeños, and Ethiopian seasoning — $8¹
• Fasting Firfir — vegan: torn injera sautéed in spiced tomato sauce with Ethiopian herbs and spices — $12¹
• Beef FirFir — tender strips of spiced beef sautéed with injera and berbere seasoning — $20¹

Appetizers

• Macaroni Soup — vegetarian soup with macaroni, onion, carrot, garlic, and Ethiopian spices — $5 with purchase (price without purchase not listed)¹
• Sambusa with Lentil — crispy pastry filled with spiced lentils, onions, and Ethiopian seasonings — $1.60¹
• Sambusa with Beef — deep-fried pastry with seasoned ground beef, onions, and aromatic spices (occasionally served) — $2.00¹
• Sambusa Dip — spicy awaze dipping sauce — $1¹

Beef & Lamb (Tibs)

• Beef Shekla Tibs — dry-style sautéed beef with Ethiopian butter, onions, and green chili; served with injera — $25¹
• Awaze Lamb Tibs — tender lamb marinated with mild Ethiopian spices; served with injera — $22¹
• Awaze Beef Tibs — same awaze preparation with beef — $20¹
• Afagn (Ukamisa) — tender beef with garlic, ginger, and hot chilies, slow-cooked in spiced butter; served with injera — $23¹
• Lamb Dulet — minced lamb sautéed with Ethiopian spices, onions, peppers, and herbs; served with injera — $20¹
• Chicken Tibs — $16¹
• Kiki Alicha (also under vegetarian) — stewed yellow split peas with onions, garlic, and turmeric; injera and 2 sides — $16¹

Fresh Raw Meat

Consuming raw or undercooked meats may increase risk of foodborne illness (restaurant notice).¹

• Kitifo — minced raw beef with spiced butter, mitmita, and aromatics; served with injera (no side) — $24¹
• Gored Gored — cubes of raw beef with spiced butter, berbere, and mitmita; served with injera (occasionally served) — $20¹

Vegetarian Entrees

• Shiro Tegabino — chickpea/shiro stew with garlic, onion, spices, and traditional butter; injera and 2 optional sides — $19¹
• Misir Red Wot — red split lentil stew with onion, garlic, tomato, Ethiopian spice, and butter; injera and 2 sides — $16¹
• Veggie Combination — misir red wot, kiki alicha, cabbage and carrots, collard greens, red beets — $18 (for 2: $25)¹

Saturday & Sunday Specials

• Chicken Doro Wot — chicken slow-cooked in rich spicy berbere sauce with a hard-boiled egg and one chicken leg — $20¹
• Kitfo Special — minced raw beef with spiced butter, mitmita, and aromatics; collard greens and homemade cottage cheese; injera (occasionally served) — $25¹
• Lamb Soup (Kikel) — lamb pieces slow-cooked in mild sauce with spiced butter; bread or injera (occasionally served) — $13¹
• Lamb Gaslight Special — spiced lamb seared with garlic, jalapeños, onions, and herbs; injera and two side choices — $24¹
• Kitfo Dulet (Tibet) — minced raw beef sautéed with spiced butter, mitmita, garlic, chopped onions, and peppers; injera (occasionally served) — $24¹

Sides (small / medium / large)

• Cabbage with Carrots, Collard Green, Red Beets, Ethiopian Style Rice, Kiki Alicha, Misir Red Wot — $3 / $6 / $9 each¹

Kids Menu

• Rice with Chicken — Ethiopian-style rice with spiced chicken — $8¹
• Kids Burrito — beef or chicken with rice in a tortilla — $8¹
• Quesadilla — chicken or beef and cheese with rice — $8¹
• Avocado Toast — two whole-grain toasts with avocado and everything-bagel seasoning — $6¹

Hot Drinks

• Ethiopian Style Coffee / Jebana (minimum 2 cups) — $6 for 2 · $9 for 3 · $11 for 4¹
• Cappuccino / Buna Bewetet — $5.00¹
• Espresso Machine Black Coffee — $3.50 · Fresh Ginger Tea — $3.50¹
• Ethiopian Style Black Tea — $3.00 · Hot Chocolate — $3.00¹

Cold Drinks

• Malta — $3.00 · Sparkling Water — $2.80 · Orange Juice — $2.80 · Soda — $2.70 · Birz (non-alcoholic) — $2.70¹
• Mango Juice — $2 · Apple Juice — $1.60 · Bottle Water — $1.50¹

Desserts

• Baklava — flaky dough layers with nuts and honey syrup — $5¹
• Ice Cream (vanilla/chocolate) — $2 one scoop · $3 two scoops · sprinkles +$0.40¹

Links

• Official site: https://www.jandkethio.com/

Sources

Footnotes

1. J&K Ethiopian Restaurant — official website menu — Confirms: full priced menu with dish descriptions (breakfast, sambusa, tibs, raw-meat kitfo/gored gored, vegetarian entrees, weekend specials, kids, drinks, desserts). Re-scraped via Firecrawl 2026-08-12; descriptions expanded same day. All entrees generally with house-made teff injera unless noted. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹