Kaffa Crossing (photo: Marly Pierre-Louis)

West Philly Cafe More Than Fills Your Cup

On my quest to discover the perfect coffee shop, I have visited several spots in Philly. Feeling like an around the way Goldilocks, there was always something wrong with each spot I tried. One cafe may have a great menu, including a wide range of foods, coffee and teas, but it’s too small, service sucks and there’s no ambiance. While another one may have great ambiance and free Wi-Fi, but a very limited menu. My first time at Kaffa Crossing, I breathed a sigh of relief. This one was just right.

Located on 44th and Chestnut St. in West Philadelphia, Kaffa Crossing is truly a community cafe. For the five hours I sat there to write this article, I observed the traffic of folks coming and going. On several occasions, people would come in for a drink or a meeting and just so happen to run into an old friend they hadn’t seen in ages. This phenomenon even happened to me, when three good friends just happened to walk in and find me there, trying hard to focus but happy to take a break.

The table to my left celebrated a birthday with injera, and Coconut Chai Breeze and Mangolicious smoothies. Another table chatted for hours about everything under the sun over hot chocolates with ridiculously delicious names like, Jungle Fever (hazelnut, banana and chocolate) and Almond Joy (coconut, almond and chocolate). Others focused, or at least pretended to, on work with papers sprawled across the table and laptops buzzing; hoping the Ethiopian coffee and Caramel Macchiato they were sipping on would keep them up and running. There were folks like me who came in and stayed for hours. And folks who ran in, grabbed a tofu wat or an injera split pea wrap to go, and ran out.

As I sat with one of the friends I bumped into, I asked her what her favorite thing about Kaffa was. She recounted a time when she was having an amazing conversation with someone there. Other than the employees, the cafe was empty and they kept chatting away. Unbeknownst to them, the cafe had been closed for an hour. The employees carried on cleaning and working, allowing the two to continue their engaging conversation uninterrupted.

Kaffa Crossing (photo: Marly Pierre-Louis)

Now if you know me, you know food is one of my greatest loves. You would also know that I could never spend hours (now going on five!) in a place if the food isn’t good. Kaffa Crossing has an extensive menu. The breakfast options range from classic scrambled eggs to traditional Ethiopian dishes like Ful: crushed fava beans garnished with fresh onions, jalapeno peppers, tomato and cumin. Since I was writing about Kaffa, I felt compelled to indulge in as much food as possible. I mean, we at Square Rootz really believe in hands on research. The hummus platter is hefty and delicious, and the Ethiopian vegetarian combination which comes with injera, yellow split peas, spiced split lentils, collard greens, string beans & carrots and salad is enough to fill the bellies of three hungry people. The counter is also lined with vegan cookies, trail mix and organic chocolate bars.

But wait, it gets better.

With Ethiopian music playing softly in the background, dim lights, tables of varying sizes and a big comfy couch (that now must have a permanent Marly impression in it), the ambiance is relaxing and inviting. The work of local artists decorate the walls and every time I’ve been here there’s a new artist featured. There’s a “leave a book, take a book” shelf, a Scrabble board, decks of cards and dominoes. On top of the warm ambiance and delicious food, Kaffa Crossing is also a cafe with a conscience. From their website: “Our mission is to sell affordable, high-quality, fair trade coffee produced under socially-just and ecologically-conscious farming conditions, to promote a healthy lifestyle and support the community by serving fresh, locally produced ingredients to create a market for high-quality, Fair Trade handmade arts & crafts from Africa and by local artists in our neighborhood. The ultimate hope is to apply fair trade principles to help improve the quality of life of those African artists and their families.”

Kaffa Crossing is truly an all purpose spot. I come here to get work done, to meet up with friends, conduct interviews for Square Rootz and on the rare occasions that I’ve had to come up with a date spot, Kaffa Crossing is always my first pick. Now excuse me as I enjoy my Taste of Paradise smoothie.

Kaffa Crossing (Website)
4423 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215.386.0504
Get there: 46th st. stop on the Market-Frankfort line (Google Map)