ANOTHER 5 STAR REVIEW ...WHY? BECAUSE IT'S JUST THAT GOOD! The Ethiopian food is fresh and delicious. There is a good variety for vegetarians and vegans. The coffee is strong. The atmosphere is comfortable relaxed, the music is always interesting, but never too loud. The folks that run the place are super nice!! It's CHEAP! It's GOOD! Just COME!!! read more

The pancake-like stuff tastes a little bit sour. Very interesting. Decoration is warm and cozy. read more

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Decent Ethiopian food with a welcoming atmosphere. Got the vegetarian platter, enjoyed the spiced lentils but the other items were a bit bland. Good injera!! read more

Love, love, love Kaffa Crossing. A coffee shop with great smoothies and excellent food options--how can you go wrong? This place is rarely crowded, and the staff never makes you feel even a hint of having over-stayed your welcome, so you can sit and crank out work (or talk with friends for as long as you want). You can start in the morning with a coffee, stay through a delicious lunch, and sustain yourself through the afternoon with a fantastic smoothie. Perfection. For the food, my favorite is the misir wot (lentils), with the similarly-prepared split yellow peas a close second. Both dishes are some of the best Ethiopian food I've ever had. I love the injera (wide, flat spongey, moist, sour-doughy bread that the dishes are served on and that doubles as a utensil) at Kaffa--it is perfectly moist and spongey and sour. I go to Kaffa at least every week or two. Love it. read more

I got hooked on Ethiopian food during my undergrad days in a college town that had an excellent, upscale Ethiopian restaurant. Since moving to Philly, I've been eager to sample the many Ethiopian restaurants here, and based on these reviews, I decided to start with Kaffa Crossing, which did not disappoint. Kaffa Crossing has the feel of a coffee shop (which it is), but they offer a full menu of Ethiopian food, which I believe is served all day long, as well as table service. I split the vegetarian combo and the doro tibs with my mom. Both were delicious, though the highlights were the yellow split peas and the split lentils. They will alter the spiciness of the dishes to your taste - we requested mild, and the food was not too hot, but still very flavorful. Everything came with generous portions of injera (flat, pancake-like bread). I thought everything on the menu was really affordable, but like I said, my experience with Ethiopian food was at a more upscale place, so I don't know how Kaffa compares with other options in the area. The atmosphere is cozy, but the service was pretty slow. read more

Place was busy on a weeknight with a huge cross section of different folks. Food was intense and truly a treat for my tastebuds. They have a bar of you would like a drink and the service was fine. Only downside was a huge package of Injera sitting on the next table so you automatically know they buy it. But I'd definitely still do back!! read more

We had doro aand beef tibs. Plenty of food for two people. The chicken had incredible flavor, some of the best I've had at any Ethiopian restaurant. Veggies were great on the side. We also had fruit smoothies. I'll definitely go again. read more

I love this place! It's my spot, especially when I'm ravenous. I mean the portion sizes are enough to share for two, but I can devour my own meal in a few minutes. I love the lamb and the beef portions (kaffa tibs). It's small and service is slow so expect a wait or expect to sit. I always come in and plan on spending time here for at least an hour or so. I love to sit and drink some tea. Either way don't think you're just coming in and walking out. Sometime during the day I just crave food from this place. It's just that good - puts you in a dream like state. read more

Delicious coffee, comfortable, clean atmosphere, free wi-fi. Ordered Yebeg Tibs and sambusa. The lamb was rubbery and inedible. The sambusa was ok. The service was spotty at best. Id definitely come back for coffee and wi-fi. However, not for the food. read more

Ok My father is from Ethiopia and I know proper ethiopian food when I smell it. This place is not it. The injera is more than a few days old ( it gets sour as it ages). The Ethiopian spices have been watered down to what they should be so the food has lost its touch. Your supposed to eat Ethiopian food and have the smell on your fingers of the the Mitmita even if you wash your hands with lye. The so called Ethiopian eggs I ordered were more like tex mex because they came with jalapeño and bell peppers. Bottom Line - come here for coffee/tea not your dinner the owner is present and the interior decor is that of the "new west philly". read more

The times I go, I'm a creature of habit. Coffee and shiro wot. Their wot is absolutely amazing. I like the atmosphere as well. I can get work done, and it's a pretty spacious place - especially compared to West Philly's other closet sized cafes. read more

My heart is broken that I need to leave this review. I have loved the food at Kaffa for years. But good food isn't always enough--it's not in this case. The gentleman who runs the restaurant has some major issues with customer service. Because of how he treated a friend of mine I stopped frequenting Kaffa for a couple of years. (He would not release the art she had hanging on the walls in the restaurant nor the money a customer paid for one piece.) After some time I decided to give the restaurant another chance. But today is the day to end our relationship. I ordered food to be delivered by UberEATS. The delivery person brought me the wrong order. I tried to call him back when I bit into beef and not chicken. No can do--phone number took me to Uber. So I called the restaurant. Usually restaurants apologize, offer to make a new meal. What did this guy do? He told me he told the driver which bag was the right bag and hung up on me. You never know who you're talking to on the line. He happened to be talking to a long time Kaffa supporter who has had enough. It may not have been his issue at the beginning but he made it his issue when he hung up instead of ensuring me that he would even look into the problem. Food is good. Service is garbage. read more

I hesitate to write about Kaffa Crossing simply because I don't want it to be over flowing with people on a Sunday. Let them flock to Green Line...I'm off to Kaffa Crossing. The coffee is great (all fair trade), they have vegan desserts, they have ready-to-go food in the display case and they have a full menu. The food takes a long time to come out but it is delicious and usually I am there with my laptop, set up for the entire day so I'm never upset. Their ful is great and cheap but they have some really good lentil dishes too. They have juices and teas, all sorts of coffee drinks and the staff is friendly. There is lot's of literature on a local activities and books for those who come without a good read. You can sit outside or inside. Also, every time I go there the crowd is racially mixed which I think is a sign of a good West Philadelphia business. And I'm more comfortable there. Just sayin. The only reason Kaffa Crossing doesn't get five stars is because of the super long wait for food and the fact that they use a microwave to heat some of their dishes (but don't let that impact your understanding that the food is great!!!!). read more

Came here by recommendation for the Ethiopian food. I had the Yebeg Tibs Wot or something to that name.. which is the lamb in barbere sauce. I tried the mild at first but since it was lacking in flavor and mostly salty i asked for the hot sauce; hoping for more flavor but to my chagrin there was only fire with the spicy sauce. The atmosphere was a coffee shop for poets and school kids. The bathroom was quite big and pretty nice; although they had a South Philly plumber install the faucet. you know the old hot for cold and cold for hot. So there's free Wifi here and I was able to check my email from my Ipod. I always wondered how peeps trade up on privacy for public display of inter-netting. So out of curiosity I asked the girl sitting next to me on her laptop; (she had earplugs in so she could listen to her music while publicly displaying her saavy sense of googling) why she chose to do her work in a coffee shop rather than in the privacy of her home? She removed her plugs and said, "I don't have internet." I never even thought of that one. Wow, not paying for internet! So you have to drudge all your work over to a coffee shop everyday. What a hassle. Hey but that's my opinion. I watched the West Philly view through the huge window from inside the coffee shop and viewed a few crack whores stumbling by, heroine addicts, kids fighting with leftover building materials and bums mumbling to themselves and less not forget the ravaged dilapidated homes. And for the first time in my many years of Philly living I got to see a Police Crimes Unit Truck ride past! wow, so that's what they look like! As I walked down to catch the bus (since I'm on a mission to avoid parking tickets since they're now $36) the numerous damaged personage that walked around me like zombies made me realize West Philly can raise the rents and the property values but its still (to quote Sharon PInkerson at a meeting where she was speaking about the "Old PHilthy") The 3 D's... "Dirty, Dangerous & Disgusting" read more

Update: Ok, there was handsoap the last time I went. Every time I go and there is actually handsoap in the bathroom, I'll increase my rating by one star. read more

I would like to give this place more stars, because the food I was finally able to order was delicious, but when I went the last time, I tried ordering four different things before they finally had something available! This was a little frustrating because I was really looking forward to trying the doro tibs, but they were out. Then I tried to order the shiro wat, and they were out. Then I tried to order the tofu wat, but... you get the idea. The misir wat that I actually did end up trying was perfectly spiced and very filling, the injera light and spongy and delicious, but it's still not really what I had wanted to get. The service was also VERY slow, although the cafe itself is pretty cute and they had some delicious looking pastries in the case. read more

The waitress, who also happens to be the owner, was very rude. She brought out the wrong order and refused to change it insisting that it was what we asked for. She shrugged her shoulders in defense and said we can pay for something else if we wanted, but she wasn't taking it back because "it wasn't her fault". Very poor customer service. read more

This place is really amazing. They have really good cafe-type fare, and really good food, too. Why don't I go here more? For vegetarians like myself i strongly recommend the fake tuna salad, especially in summer. I wish they sold it in huge containers because it is so delicious I would eat it every day. read more

Best Ethiopian food I've had in Philly! Kaffa's got lots of awesome veg options (like their raw mock-tuna salad and the only existing "tofu wat" in the city, if not the whole U.S.), plus lots if stuff for egg-and-meat-eaters. They're also a full service coffee/tea/smoothie bar--all fair trade! And the food is cheap: $8.50 for a 5-dish veg combo with extra injera! read more

As a coffee shop junkie, I've got to say that Kaffa Crossing is the best place I've found in West Philly for when you want something more than your standard coffee and espresso. In addition to the usual fair trade coffees, Kaffa Crossing has a pretty unique menu of specialty drinks that cover any craving you might have. They also have a great selection of smoothies that are a tasty alternative when you don't need that caffeine fix (or when you want to at least pretend that you've had something healthier than the peppermint patty hot chocolate you had your eye on). The biggest perk might be that it's one of the few places in West Philly that takes credit cards. With free Wi-Fi and a cozy interior, Kaffa Crossing is a great addition to Chestnut St. that brings something different while still feeling like a part of the neighborhood. read more

First time trying Ethiopian food. Very interesting texture. Cute little environment with a very chill vibe. The food is pretty good but the coffee is amazing. Just get the regular black coffee with milk and sugar on the side. It is hands-down one of the best coffee I had in town! read more

I really enjoyed the food, the service and the resturant. I chose the traditional dish with bread and an assortment of vegetables on top. It was so yummy! Recently I have been only ordering vegetarian dishes and they had several choices, my friend who is a vegan also had many choices to choose from which was a plus. The food was healthy, non-greasy and flavorful! There was a woman who took our order and she was very welcoming and friendly, we were able to bring our own bottle for a $5.00 cork fee but the Resturant did supply wine. The atmosphere was relaxed, you can easily have an intimate relaxing lunch/dinner or bring a lap top chill out, and feel like your in a cafe with really good food. I will go back because the food was healthy and delicious, the resturant was large and clean and the staff was very friendly. read more

Kaffa Crossing is my favorite cafe in the city. The coffee is cheap and delicious while the Ethio-Jazz sets a laid-back, welcoming atmosphere. During the Premier League season, folks are always around watching the weekend's games. It's definitely a great place to step in for coffee. read more

Kaffa's Crossing is a real gem in West Philly. I wish I lived closer! First of all, there is always parking on the block, so accessing it is easy. Second of all, it's got GREAT prices. Third, and most importantly, the food is great. I personally love Ethiopian food, as it is pretty similar to Indian food, which as a brown fool is near and dear to my heart. The red spicy lentils were the best version of that I have probably ever had. Additionally, the injera was perfect - spongy and soft and tasty. The portions are huge for the price you pay. And I think I enjoyed this Ethiopian food experience the best so far in Philly. Almaz and Dhalak are good - but this is way better. I totally think it's worth the trek into West Philly. GO HERE. Tons of vegi options to :) read more

Started with a mango, banana Smoothie. Very tasty. Next up was the Sambusa. A deep-fried triangular pastry filled with potatoes, peas, carrots and spices. A little over cooked but still very good. Good flavor and just the right amount of spice. Yum. Next up to bat, The Kitfo. It's beef, spiced butter and spices. I opted for medium rare. It comes with injera. The bread indigenous to Ethiopia. Also comes with collard greens and a carrot/squash combo. I gotta say I wasn't crazy about my meal. I mean, when they say tiny pieces of meat they weren't kidding. Minuscule might better describe it. Meat flavor was indistinguishable. The taste of butter was far too powerful. Not enough spice cooked in either. The greens were on the bitter side. The carrots/squash was very good. I'm not an Ethiopian expert by any means. Matter of fact my only recent experience was at Era not long ago to contrast too. The meal at Era was memorable. It had my nose running a bit but in a good way. It was very spicy but soooooo good. And the flavors were excellent. To me the injera was better at Era, less cold and spongy. The waitress who seemed to be part of the family was very sweet. though read more

I found Kaffa Crossing after student teaching in Ethiopia. I was craving Ethiopian food and have been here multiple times since! The food is terrific and very authentic and the service as wonderful as well! We love to get the vegetable combination with the yebeg (lamb) tibs. I definitely recommend it to others! read more

I like Kaffa because it's close to home. If I want to step out and have a cup of coffee and change my scenery, it's the place to go. The coffee is decent; I've yet to try any food there beyond the biscotti, which has been fine. It's also nice that they have wi-fi. read more

I love the injera bread which is not extra sour or mushy in texture. The veggie selection is excellent and I am a meat eater. The Ethiopian coffee has a wonderful flavor and made fresh. To me the coffee is equal to Starbucks in terms of texture. I love the new decor. I will make this place my staple. read more

Went here for a meal recently with two friends. While I like the ambience...a pretty environment, cozy and bright--the food was not up to par. We got the sambusa appetizers (good), the beef tebs (good but not great) and the veggie combination (meh). The veggie combo in particular was not as savory and well-spiced as at other Philly Ethiopian places. And our food came out lukewarm. Service was very, very slow; there seemed to be only one fellow working the place...running the coffee spot and serving as waiter. My friends liked the coffee. My hot chocolate was not at all chocolatey. So my advice is, if you are looking for a place to grab a coffee and chat, this will do. If you want tasty Ethiopian grub, go elsewhere. If you don't have two hours to dine, go elsewhere. read more

Easily my favorite restaurant West of the Schuylkill...and beats most of those to the East as well. I love this place, and the owners are super-friendly! They have vegan options on their menu which is great, and everything is delicious. read more

Delicious and inexpensive. I just had the best tibs for lunch. I can't believe I've driven past this restaurant so many times without trying it. It is now my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in the city. So incredibly delicious! read more

I enjoyed both a delicious coffee and a delicious smoothie here and got a bunch of work done at this lively and cozy cafe/restaurant.

Slightly longer wait than I preferred, but the doro tibs was delicious and they were very accommodating for my friend's dietary needs. Huge portions, kind service. I can't wait to go back. read more

Got food poisoning from the kitfo ordered medium!!! The service was great, so if I ever come back, I'd get something that was fully cooked.

Amazing, delicious food! I got the Derek Tibs (beef) with spiced lentils and collard greens. The people working there were extremely sweet and patient with us. They were also extremely accommodating of my friend's gluten-free needs; she just ordered a regular entree (note: the meat entrees come with the main meat and then two vegetarian sides) but instead of having it with the injera (bread), she had it over rice. It was also not too busy at all on a Thursday night. Highly recommend! read more

Walked in on a whim on a rainy evening because one of my friends had recommended it pretty highly. It was relatively quiet because of the storm I am guessing. I ordered their injera wrap (requested for it to be spicy) and boy it was wonderful! So much so that I ordered another one even though I was full. The place has a nice ambience, very clean, quiet space, brightly lit and free wi-fi. They have helpful staff and it is not very far from Penn's campus. So it is perfect to spend a day writing a paper or doing assignments. Their coffee is ok too. read more

I tried this place out for lunch and I was surprised to see so many grad students hanging out here on a Sunday afternoon. It's not in the best part of town but it is nice and clean inside with lots of tables and chairs. There is a cashier counter and glass case in the middle of the restaurant where you can order to grab and go. There are typical cafe fare and plenty of coffee. I didn't try these things and went right to ordering Ethiopian food after I sat down (there is waiter service). It's like Almaz in that a husband and wife couple run the place but I have to say that the food is definitely different. The lamb entree is very flavorful but it's not stew-like, it's very dry. It is sauteed with plenty of bell peppers and onions. They give you plenty of "bread" and the veggie platter is enough to share between 2 people. They ask you how spicy you want your food and I asked for spicy and it was perfect. I didn't like their potato/cabbage/carrot concoction (which is my favorite at Almaz) because it was soggy and not very flavorful. The other parts of the platter were very good though and overall, I thought the food was very good. This place is cheaper than Almaz but I'm guessing it's because of the real estate and surrounding area. If I'm ever in W. Philly, I'll definitely go here again. read more

Kaffa Crossing - veggie platter w/ lamb - Ethiopian Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The food was okay but the service and the attitude of the lady who runs this sucks . She was so rude and not courteous at all. The saving grace was the food . Will never visit this restaurant again . read more

I would have given this please two stars but the owner (at least I'm assuming he is the owner) seems like such a sweet heart that I'm adding another star. The food is somewhat bland. It's better than a few other Ethiopian restaurants that I've been to, but doubt I'll be back. I'm still on the quest to find a great Ethiopian restaurant in Philly! read more

Great place to work while eating delicious food! Try the Ethiopian spice tea with a side of milk.