I went here with a big group and the staff was very accomodating, even to how loud our group was...we never got a dirty look or was asked to keep it down. Our waitress was very friendly and she took the liberty of picking out our order for the basic fact that none of us had ate ethopian food before and she didn't want us to have a bad experience. I couldn't tell you what we were served, but it was all delicious!! While I thought the food was good, its probably not a cuisine I would try again...to me its one of those, you have got to try everything once things and Merkato was a great choice for my first ethiopian food experience. The food is good, service is great, and its very reasonably priced...for 11 people, our bill came out to only about $96.00!