Johnson County restaurant has a new name, new owners who are ‘passionate about food’
Snow is falling on Santa Fe Drive, but it’s warm inside Abol.
In downtown Overland Park, the Ethiopian restaurant, formerly known as Elsa’s, serves sauteed meat wrapped in flatbread. Dereje Eticha brushes by tables and pours coffee into a teacup.
“That’s abol,” he says, pointing to the first serving in the cup. The second helping is called “tona,” then “baraka.” After three cups, the coffee ritual is complete.
Eticha’s wife, Tseday Teklemichael, took over the former Elsa’s at 8016 Santa Fe Drive at the beginning of the month. She cooks in the kitchen with her sister, Selam Teklemicahel. Abol has many of the same menu items as Elsa’s, (like its veggie pasta), plus a few extra.
Elsa’s had transitioned to a fully vegan menu toward the end of its run. The Teklemichaels are bringing back food for meat lovers, like doro tibs, a chicken curry served with rice or bread.
In the next few weeks, Abol will begin offering brunch. Details have yet to be determined, said Tseday’s daughter, Eden Hailemariam.
But like Elsa’s, Abol is a family-owned restaurant serving authentic Ethiopian cuisine. The sign hanging over the maroon awning has yet to reflect the name change. (Its new sign will be up soon, they assured.)
In October, the owners of Mesob Restaurant & Rhum Bar in midtown Kansasa City told The Star they were considering moving into Elsa’s. But the restaurant became Abol instead.
Tseday brings out a mix of chicken and peppers, resting on a spongy flatbread. Steam rises from the plate.
Hailemariam said it’s been Tseday and Selam’s dream to open a restaurant since they immigrated to the U.S. 24 years ago.
“They’ve both been very passionate growing up together about food,” Hailemariam said. “About introducing our culture and all our food to the country.”
Abol is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
