Serves meat, vegan options available. African-themed cuisine and interior. Vegan choices are labeled on the menu and includes tofu piri piri, portabella mushroom burger, tomato avocado smash, and side dishes featuring flavors of Zimbabwe. For the 3-side plate, pick from chakalaka (baked beans with spices), vegetable samosa, skewered flame-grilled vegetables, fried curry cabbage, jollof rice, rice pilaf, and piri piri chips. Relocated from 4600 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd Ste 26. Open Mon-Fri 11:00am-3:00pm, Mon-Thu 5:00pm-9:00pm, Fri 5:00pm-10:00pm, Sat 11:00am-10:00pm, Sun 11:00am-3:00pm.
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905 W Main St, Durham, North Carolina, USA
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Last update on 05 Mar 2024 by Guest
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Added by Cook for Good on 21 Jul 2019
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9 Reviews
First Review by turtleveg
pp2347
Points +964
First Experience with Zimbabwean Cuisine - Edit
I recently tried Zimbabwean food for the first time, and while it wasn't a standout experience, it was decent. The menu clearly labeled the vegan options, which made ordering easy, and the portion sizes were generous. However, the food itself was just okay—not particularly memorable. If I find myself in a bind, I might consider revisiting, but it's not a place I would go out of my way for.
Read moreGuest
Dessy
Points +45
Flavorless - Edit
While I appreciate any place that offers seemingly thoughtful vegan options, we’ve tried all of the vegan menu items and none are good. Just…so…bland. The flavor that is there is surface level - totally flat. This was our group’s experience both times we ate there. We won’t be back.
Read moreGuest
turtleveg
Points +1651
bad first experience, better second time - Edit
Some day I will give Zweli's another chance but unfortunately I didn't have a great first experience there. After being very explicit with the server that we were ordering vegan, our food was delivered with meat in it. We sent it back and they brought out another order and it STILL had meat in it. The wait time from the time we ordered until they started bringing out food was almost unbearable.
Read moreI've heard from a couple other vegans that they had a positive experience though. They do promote their vegan options regularly, so I hope they learn to be more consistent and accurate.
Updated from previous review on 2019-10-01
turtleveg
I finally went back in 2022 and tried the Dovi Tofu and jollof rice. It was delicious! I see that other reviewers have tried the dish and hated it, so I wonder if they are still dealing with inconsistencies and sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. Either way, I'm raising my stars from 2 to 3 since I had a more positive experience than the first time.
Read moreGuest
CharonMoon
Points +1111
Ok food, terrible experiences - Edit
We gave this restaurant 3 chances and have given up. The first time we were told they were out of half the items on the menu. My only option as a vegan was the dovi tofu, which just tasted like chili peppers and not much else.
Read moreThe second time we met friends there. We waited for an hour after ordering before we realized tables sat after us were getting food before us. No one checked in on us either. We flagged down a server and she told us our ticket got lost and now they were out of some of the food we had ordered, so we had to reorder. The food was not bad that time, but definitely not worth the wait.
The last time, we brought my sister. We ordered right away. An hour goes by with no one checking in, yet again. However, no tables or to-go orders were getting any food. About 15 minutes later we see the owner come out to join the line and food started to come out of the kitchen. Again other tables that came in after us started to get food before us. Our waitress is nowhere to be found. My husband went up to the kitchen window to ask when we'd get our food and was told "we're working on it now." Another 30 minutes goes by(now 1 hr 45 minutes since we arrived) with no food. Since we had only ordered water, we flagged down a random waitress(ours was still nowhere to be seen) and told her we were leaving because it took too long to get our food. She looked shocked.
No one ever even apologized for any of it or bothered to let us know the kitchen was backed up.
Pros: Staff is nice, when you can find them
Cons: Often out of some menu items, Long wait for food, Absentee staff
Guest
WHA
Points +1602
⭐️ - Edit
Tried for Triangle Vegan Restaurant Week and boy, were we let down. 😂 The sweet potato samosas were enjoyable. The dovi collard greens and plantains were okay—I’ve had worse; I’ve had better. I enjoyed the small cup of tomato relish that came with the sadza, but the sadza itself was underwhelming. My entrée, the dovi tofu, was borderline inedible. The entire dish tasted like someone just dumped a bottle of turmeric in it. I had to double check on their website afterwards to see if I had read the item description correctly because it’s supposed to be a peanut butter stew and all we could taste was turmeric. My partner’s food (not vegan) was extremely dry. I could tell by looking before he even said anything. I love tofu, I love rice, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to eat my anti-inflammatory tofu and jollof, so this restaurant gets a really hard pass from me.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2022-11-04
Cons: Why my food tastes like medicine , Order took 20 min longer than 40 min estimate
Guest
ZacharyShackary
Points +214
Love Zweli's. Chakalaka is a must-have - Edit
See above. Tofu and their chakalaka is one of my favorite local dishes. Their house lemonade is super good too.
Read morePros: All vegan sides, Very flavorful
Guest
DianeGillMorris
Points +63
Yummy! - Edit
All of their sides are vegan, so the sides platter is a perfect dinner.
Read morePros: Vegan options labeled
Guest
Vegan_ACL
Points +2632
Taste of Zimbabwe - Edit
Ordered at counter during pandemic and ate outside at their provided table and chairs. They were SO nice! Very helpful in explaining menu and gave us samples of the sides (because all the sides are so incredible they find people have a hard time choosing which ones they want). My non-vegan friend and I split two entrees (Piri Piri Tofu with sides of chakalaka and peanut butter collards and the seasonal butternut squash stew) and were not disappointed!! Even my friend was blown away by how incredibly flavorful everything was. The tofu wasn’t anything to scream about but the Piri Piri seasoning was phenomenal. The sides and stew were the real stars of our meal. Seriously so delicious. Would give 5 stars if I could. They do serve meat entrees so Happy Cow won’t let you do all 5 but the flavor of our dishes were definitely a 5!
Read morePros: So flavorful and unique, Very reasonably priced, Lots of vegan options
Cons: Location in strip mall doesn’t look promising
Guest
tarasha34
Points +69
Great food! - Edit
Love the chakalaka and portabello mushroom burger. There are great options available for vegans and vegetarians here.
Read moreYou won’t be disappointed!
Pros: Vegan options , Great customer service , Great atmosphere
Guest
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