Fayetteville restaurant on Cliffdale Road shutters after five months in business

A short-lived restaurant in West Fayetteville closed in late August.

Axum Ethiopian Restaurant, which opened in March at 5945 Cliffdale Road, announced in a since-deleted Aug. 22 Facebook post that the restaurant is closed after five months in business.

Located in Cliffdale Square, a shopping plaza one local restauranteur described as a “little international food court,” Axum billed itself as the city’s first Ethiopian restaurant.

The restaurant operated in the space that once housed Puerto Rican restaurant Desde Mi Balcon, which moved to the Midway Center shopping plaza on Bragg Boulevard last year. Before that, Axum’s former spot was home to Habana, a Cuban restaurant.

Cliffdale Square has long been the site of German restaurant Max & Moritz, Indian restaurant Bombay Bistro, and Japanese restaurant Sakura.

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Axum’s menu offered entrees like doro wat, which is slow-cooked chicken leg with garlic, ginger, boiled egg and cheese; lamb or beef tibs, in which the meat is sauteed with onions, garlic, rosemary and spices; and vegetarian options like misir, made of stewed red lentils, and tikil gomen, which is steamed cabbage with potatoes and carrots. There was a kids menu, soft drinks, espresso, tea and desserts like chocolate and lemon cake.

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Axum Ethiopian Restaurant management confirmed Wednesday that they are closed but declined further comment.

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter .

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville restaurant on Cliffdale Road shutters after five months in business