talking drums african cuisine

yum. this place was awesome, staff was super friendly

mediocre - service needs a lot of work. i hate to write a bad review for an independent place like this. i hope my experience was exceptional. went with a crowd of about 14 which despite the fact the restaurant only had one four topper in use when we arrived, completely overwhelmed the staff. they had been warned several weeks in advance that our group was coming to try the place out and had to reason not to be better prepared. more than two hours after we arrived, we were still waiting on some of the people to get their food.

my dish arrived after only about an hour. i had to ask for silverware which was only provided to those that asked. even as hungry as i was, i didn't find the food memorable.

a male, apparently the owner, came out after our host went and complained and was quite defensive rather than being apologetic. i can understand that a crowd can overwhelm a small restaurant but they were given the option of how large a group they could accommodate and refused to set a limit. nothing was comped, no sincere apologies were offered nor were we given any discounts for the terrible experience.

i'm sure that this place would be fine for a group of four or less. avoid it like the plague if you have more than that.

amazing!. my fiance and i were going through albuquerque from colorado and searched online for a restaurant to eat at that night. this was the first restaurant on our search, so we showed up! alex was very helpful with explaining all the menu selections and helping us choose what we might like (he even stayed open past closing time for us). i am vegetarian and at first glance it did not seem like i would have much to choose from, but how wrong i was! there are several vegetarian friendly options, just ask. we had the fried plantains, moi moi, the injera platter, and the fufu platter. i was also able to try a new hot sauce, which was amazing! we are going back in june; we both highly recommend talking drums african cuisine!

delicious and beautifully presented food. really enjoyed our dinner .

horrible, horrible, horrible. my wife and i decided to try talking drums for dinner last night. we were looking forward to trying their jerk chicken and jamaican patties. what a mistake!!! you enter the restaurant through an outside door, then you have to go down a narrow hall to get to the second door. this is almost impossible to navigate in a wheelchair. then you come to a sign that says "wait to be seated". there was no one in front of us and it took 10 minutes for us to be seated. the decor of the restaurant is drab at best. once seated and our order was taken our waitress literally disappeared. after 30 minutes of not receiving our drinks (we ordered water and cokes) i flagged down the only other waitress and let her know that the other tables received their drinks and were even starting to get their food and we had gotten nothing. she let us know that she would let our waitress know. another 15 minutes passed and still nothing. let me add that there were only about 10 dinners in the restaurant. i finally got up and told the second waitress that we were leaving and she told us our drinks were on the way. when i told her she said the same thing 15 minutes earlier all she did was apologize. my wife and i left in disgust. i wish i could tell people the food was great, but i can't even comment on their water since we got nothing. do not go to this restaurant unless you plan on a 4 hour dinner!! all of my co-workers are waiting to hear how the food was and now i will return to work and let them know not to waste their time.

a good place to visit for people who love to eat africa. and carribean. the injera was good. the jerk chicken was probably the best dish even though it can a bit spicy for some people. the flavour was just amazing and right.

the injera was good, very springy and good flavor, but very little spice in the beef, collard greens or beans. beef was like beef boyarde. lentils tasted a bit like porridge. music was good and the decor was fine and appropriate, but very disappointing compared to other restaurants that serve injera based dishes. service seemed a bit disinterested.

great food, great gluten knowledge. this restaurant is awesome! the staff is super knowledgeable about gluten! they are really friendly and helpful with the menu. i have celiac disease and felt totally comfortable eating there. i fell in love with this place and will absolutely go back!

flavorful and exciting food!. the atmosphere was inviting and calm. they explained the items on the menu. alex was very friendly and passionate about the food. the fufu platter was a fun and delicious experience. the jerk chicken hit the mark on it's spices. if your looking for a relaxing and invigorating dinning experience this is your place. however, i recommend around lunch time for a slower pace and more personal time if that is what your looking for.

excellent food, friendly service. i have been looking for ethiopian food in albuquerque for a long time and was excited to try talking drums. we ordered the injera with a sample of all 5 of their ethiopian choices and every one of them was excellent. the service was excellent as well

erratic hours? closed?. love the food, but the last two times we've gone (including today, dec 27 after 11:30 a.m.) they have been closed! not good when you have friends meet you there to eat and you have to hastily come up with an alternative. worse yet, we don't live in albuquerque, so really getting annoying. can't reach them by telephone to find out what's going on and if the hours have changed. so...great food, but please call and make sure they are open (or still in business) before you go.

a new taste. i finally had a saturday off to go try this place with my friend. my friend is from zimbabwe. the owner alex was very friendly, a great host and took the time to go over the menu with us. the food was excellent and my friend from africa was impressed as well. i tried the jerk chicken and my friend had some goat with greens and fufu. this place is definitely worth visiting - da bomb!

cheap trip to w. africia. just had a wonderful dining adventure at the talking drums.
my friend and i both had the fufu platter; so we had a choice of 4 fufu's and 6 different soups. the soups are more like a dipping sauce, nice and spicy, and lots of different flavors; my favorite was the palm nut.
if you are looking for something different and tasty, this is the place.

great eat, good service. i have been here multiple times and the owner has given me great suggestions and service each time, making it difficult for me to believe he would be rude. he was very helpful to me when i was here and served me great food. the jerk chicken i ordered was hot off the pan, and cooked to perfection so contrary to other reviewers, i believe there is a lot of care put into this restaurant and their cooking. the owner was also kind enough to open up the store for some customers to purchase items even though it was closed. i hope this place will be there for a long time and that one disgruntled customer's "bad" experience will not dissuade others from coming.

nasty food. this is the worst excuse of african food i have ever had the displeasure of eating. the food is overpriced and tasteless. i ordered beans and plantain and the unprofessional rude owner actually had the nerve to set down in front of me burned plantain and cold beans. i will never ever eat here again. i am from houston and have tried many african dishes and never have i experienced such lazy cooking and unprofessional-ism. it is like he is not even trying anymore somebody please open another african restaurant in albuquerque because you guys obviously don't know what good african food tastes like. he has this huge restaurant and its always empty. time for him to get out of business and keep his disgusting food to himself. i have attached photos of yam i bought from the store that he refused to exchange for ones that were not rotten!! he actually sells rotten food to his customers.