Family owned and operated, Nyala’s Ethiopian Cuisine has been around since 1988, smack in the middle of Fairfax Avenue’s Ethiopian Row, below Wilshire Boulevard. Newcomers are well advised to ask the waiter for suggestions, but regardless of platter chosen (among veggies or meat), the blended spices, tender textures and aromas inherent in each stew are absolutely scrumptious. Everyone in your party eats off a large communal plate using a traditional type of thick, crepe-like bread as both utensil and meal. Greedy guts will have to stifle the urge to spin the plate toward them, but there’s so much food available there is really no reason to fear your friends’ appetites. Contemporary TVs and old-fashioned Ethiopian music compete for your attention.