text: I've been going to Cafe Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant for many years now. Tonight's experience reminds me of my very first time here 12 years ago when my wife and I flew into Sky Harbor Airport late in the evening to visit Phoenix for a job interview. We were very hungry but couldn't find a place to sit and eat. We spotted this Ethiopian restaurant (in a strip mall of all places, we thought!) and decided to try it out. As we walked up to the entrance, we saw that Cafe Lalibela was closing for the evening (it was about 9 pm). In defeat, we turned to walk back toward our rental car, but the owner saw us and urged us to come in!  Mind you there were diners finishing their meals. Clearly we were going to keep them late. The owner and staff never minded though and we had an amazing meal. \n\nWe now live in Phoenix and ever since that night, we bring nearly everyone who visits us from out of town to Cafe Lalibela after picking them up from the airport. Universally they are pleased with the food and friendliness and ask to return on subsequent visits to Phoenix.\n\nTonight, I brought my parents, who just arrived in Phoenix to visit us, to Cafe Lalibela and found that the restaurant was closing early for the evening. The manager saw us looking at the 'Closed' sign and invited us in. He explained they had such a busy day today (a very favorable review in today's Arizona Republic will do that, apparently) that they ran out of several dishes, only had gluten-free injera bread left, and decided to close early. He explained that as long as this was okay he'd be pleased to have us dine here tonight. We were treated \"like honored guests\" as my dad noted and our meal was fantastic, as usual.\n\nCafe Lalibela is my favorite restaurant in Phoenix.