8 cafés in 3 citys. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
Tomoca opened in February 1953, and its name comes from the Italian Torrefazione Moderna Café, 'modern coffee roasting'. The family company still roasts Ethiopian arabica for Italian-style drinks and is closely tied to the macchiato.
Order: Macchiato · Espresso · A bag of beans to take home
💡 Dark roast is the default; at some branches you can ask for a medium or light roast instead.
A simple local coffee place opposite Gondar's bus station, in the Piazza area. It is a cheap, unfussy stop for a good Ethiopian coffee.
Order: Buna · Macchiato
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Small street coffee stands, called bunna bets, are dotted all through Harar's walled Jugol. It is the easiest way to drink coffee the way locals do in the town where, by one tradition, the domesticated coffee plant began.
Order: Buna from a street stand
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A small coffee house just inside Harar's old walls, behind beaded curtains hanging in a doorway. The coffee is strong even by Ethiopian standards.
Order: Buna (Ethiopian coffee)
💡 Look for the beaded curtains on the south side of the main road; open 7:00 to 20:00.
Harar coffee is one of Ethiopia's oldest and most distinctive arabicas, traditionally dry-processed for a heavy, wine-like and fruity cup, and it carries a protected regional name. At Nure you can watch it being roasted, buy beans and drink a cup on the spot.
Order: A cup of freshly roasted Harar coffee · Whole beans to take home
💡 Harar coffee is getting rarer as farmers switch to khat, so buy beans here if you see them.
Galani takes its name from the River Gelan, which runs down from the Bale mountains through coffee country, and its donkey logo nods to how cherries are carried out of those hills. In 2026 it was the overall winner of the Global Coffee Awards Africa edition with a washed Limu heirloom.
Order: Single-origin espresso · Filter of the current Guji or Yirgacheffe lot
💡 The Jackross branch is closed on Mondays.
Addis Ababa's home-grown coffee-house chain, much like Starbucks in style, with more than 20 branches across the city. It serves coffee alongside burgers, sandwiches, juices and pancakes.
Order: Macchiato · Fresh juice
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A porch café on Bole Road known for cakes and pastries and well-made Ethiopian espresso drinks. Sitting outside is a good way to watch one of the city's busiest roads go by.
Order: Macchiato · A slice of cake
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.