Ethiopian restaurant Azla at the University of Southern California brings the campus and community together

Mercado La Paloma is a market space with traditional food options that reflect the diversity of USC’s neighborhood off Los Angeles’ Figueroa Corridor. Among the stands selling traditional ethnic foods that range from Thai to Oaxacana, there is Azla — a vegan Ethiopian restaurant.
Azla Mekonnen and her husband, who migrated to the U.S. from Ethiopia, raised their family in Central California’s agricultural community, where their daughter, Nesanet Abegaze, grew up with five siblings. Abegaze graduated from Stanford University and initially worked in education. When her mother decided to return from retirement in Ethiopia and follow her dream of owning a restaurant, she jumped on board. The mother-and-daughter co-owners opened the restaurant in 2013 and have shared their favorite delicacies with the Los Angeles community since. […] CONTINUE READING