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The first time I drove past the Katar River Restaurant & Bakery, tucked away in a little industrial complex at Minnehaha Ave. and 28^th St. behind the Minnehaha shopping center on E. Lake St., I thought it might be Chinese. Turns out it's Ethiopian, and named after a river that runs through owner Sara Wordofa's home town in central Ethiopia. The shop is tiny, with just a few booths and a counter, and the dining-in menu seems to secondary to Katar's main business, a wholesale bakery.

The menu offers Ethiopian and American breakfasts, and a standard selection of Ethiopian entrees. On a lunchtime visit, my friends and I sampled the doro wat (chicken in a spicy red stew with hard-boiled eggs, $9) minchet abesh (ground beef in a spicy ginger and garlic sauce) and the Zilzil Tibs, sauteed strips of beef with onions, jalapeno and black pepper ($11), as well as a vegetarian combo of split peas, lentils, collard greens, cabbage and tomato salad ($8), all served over injera, the traditional spongy flatbread made from tiff and barley. Portions were generous and the flavors delicious.

I'd like to return sometime for breakfast, when the menu offers both Ethiopian and American dishes, ranging from scrambled eggs with tomato, onion and jalapeno pepper, served with French bread ($4) to Iradiba, a spongy bread served with berbere hot sauce and spiced butter ($3). Or maybe on a Thursday or Friday,for the $7.99 lunch buffet. (Which I haven't tried yet.)

It's a shame that Katar is located so close to my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, T's Place, (2713 E. Lake St., 612-724-8868) since I don't know if the neighborhood can support both. Both offer very good food, but T's has some amenities that Katar lacks - wine and beer, a more stylish ambience, a more extensive menu (including a few Ethiopian-Malaysian fusion dishes), and occasionally, live music in the evenings.

Katar River Restaurant & Bakery, 2751 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis, 612-245-0556.