Kefa Café celebrates 30 years in downtown Silver Spring with Saturday community event

Coffee shop co-owner says continued local support is critical due to Purple Line construction disruption

June 19, 2026 4:52 p.m. | Updated: June 19, 2026 4:54 p.m.

Ayu Humphries (left) and Abeba Tsegaye (right) have known each other for decades and consider each other family. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

After three decades of serving coffee made from Ethiopian-grown beans alongside baked goods and cheesy egg sandwiches on croissants, Silver Spring’s Kefa Café is celebrating its anniversary on Saturday with a community event and party.

“We feel so blessed to be able to be here. Even with the difficulties and everything, the ups and downs, we are so thankful,” co-owner Abeba Tsegaye told Bethesda Today on Wednesday.

The “downs” she mentioned are just steps from the café’s front door: construction of the light-rail Purple Line, which has been in progress for several years and has restricted traffic to the eatery.

Standing outside of the shop at 963 Bonifant St., Tsegaye said she hopes Kefa Café will continue to “bloom” for decades to come.

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While bright orange barriers still border Bonifant Street, the tracks for the light-rail line have been installed and construction is nearing completion. Purple Line officials say the 21-station line, which will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton, is expected to begin operation in late 2027.

With an end in sight, Tsegaye said she wants to focus on celebrating the café’s anniversary and ensuring it remains open and in the community with “our family.”

“We don’t even consider them customers anymore. They’re not. They are family,” Tsegaye said.

Kefa Cafe in Silver Spring boasts a colorful mural that tells the stories of three refugees in Maryland. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

On Saturday, the café will open at 9 a.m. and then host a celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with food and music. The event is open to the public. County officials are expected to attend and to speak, Tsegaye said.

A family-run affair

Housed in a yellow-brick building with a green-and-white striped awning, Kefa Café is a family-run affair that was launched in 1996 by Tsegaye’s brother and sister, Abiy and Lene. Since opening, the café has been a fixture of the downtown Silver Spring community that stands out with a colorful mural on its outside wall that tells the stories of three refugees who came to live in Maryland.

Inside the café is a homey atmosphere with potted plants on windowsills, tables topped with patterned cloths and displays showcasing Ethiopian coffee as well as accolades and proclamations the business has received over the years.

Abeba Tsegaye points to a photo of her brother and Kefa Cafe co-owner Abiy Tsegaye in a news story in the Takoma Voice from November 1997. Photo credit: Elia Griffin
Kefa Cafe has a homey atmosphere with plants, artwork on the walls and tables draped in printed tablecloths. Photo credit: Elia Griffin
The cafe has a collection of vintage coffee grinders displayed on shelves on the cafe’s walls. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

On the café’s walls are shelves that display a collection of vintage coffee grinders and pots as well as artwork by local artists. In a side room is a shelf that holds photos, along with funeral pamphlets, of the business’s longtime patrons who have died.

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“I always call it my second home,” Kensington resident Ayu Humphries told Bethesda Today on Wednesday during a visit to the café.

Humphries’ two children, now 21 and 19, are among the hundreds of kids who came to the café with their parents while growing up and who have their photos posted on the café’s wall. Pointing to one of two photos of her children as toddlers, Humphries said that seeing the images when she visits the shop reminds her of just how “big” her son and daughter are now.

“I came when I was pregnant,” Humphries added. “We literally grew up here. Like, this was our spot on Saturdays.”

Ayu Humphries points to photo of her two children on the Kefa Cafe photo wall. Photo credit: Elia Griffin
Wall with hundreds of photos of children who have frequented the business. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

Today Kefa Café has two satellite locations in the county: in the Wheaton public library at 11701 Georgia Ave. and the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center at 1319 Apple Ave. Lene Tsegaye runs the coffee shop at the aquatic center while Abeba Tsegaye’s niece runs the café in the Wheaton library.

In 2015, smoke damage from a fire in a neighboring restaurant caused the café to close for 10 months. That same fire caused significant damage and flooding to the café’s neighbor, the Quarry House Tavern, another legacy Silver Spring business on Bonifant Street. During the closure, the café operated in a space on the lower level of the Silver Spring public library. It reopened its Bonifant Street location in 2016.

A major challenge following the fire has been the café’s financial struggle resulting from the impact of the Purple Line construction, according to Tsegaye. The work tore up the road in front of the café so tracks could be installed, occasionally blocked sidewalks and obstructed access to the café and other businesses along Bonifant Street, Tsegaye and other business owners told Bethesda Today in June 2025.

Over the years, Kefa Café received grants from the Maryland Department of Transportation aimed at financially supporting small businesses in the Purple Line corridor that have been hurt by construction of the light rail line. The department awarded a total of $2 million in grants across three rounds to nearly 200 businesses in 2025, according to the Purple Line website.

Orange barriers line Bonifant Street in front of Kefa Cafe. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

As of May, Kefa Café, which sits between future Purple Line stations at Silver Spring’s library and transit center, has been awarded a total of $35,000 in small business grants from the state, according to MDOT records.

While the grant money was appreciated, Tsegaye said it has not made much of a difference for the business. Community support is critical to keep the business alive, Tsegaye said.

“We need the support of the community. We need them to come back,” she said. “It’s been very, very difficult.”

Community connection

Sitting in the café’s side room while reading a book, Laura Chase de Formigny of Silver Spring told Bethesda Today that hearing about Kefa Café celebrating 30 years was “kind of a relief.”

“I think it’s incredible,” de Formigny added. “Especially for a business that, if they’ve been struggling, they’re doing it quietly and gracefully. I’m glad that there are enough regular patrons to keep their dream alive.”

De Formigny, a food photographer who has freelanced for Bethesda Magazine, said she decided to head to Kefa Café on Wednesday to find a quiet place to read before her babysitter was done for the day.

A decal on the cafe’s door says, “Community through Coffee.” Photo credit: Elia Griffin

“I wanted somewhere that I knew was quiet and had a nice ambiance and that’s always here,” de Formigny said.

The café’s calm and homey atmosphere is also something Humphries said she loved about the shop. She noted that is likely because the café has never had Wi-Fi. In doing so, Humphries said the café’s mostly technology-free environment is a place where customers and community members can connect and talk to each other.

“Kids talk and draw and read and have conversations with the people around you, which I love,” she said.

Tsegaye said the business has no plans to provide a Wi-Fi connection.

“What we tell people is: ‘Connect with each other,’ ” Tsegaye said.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine