Café Avole

Café Avole, also known as Avole Coffee, is a Black-owned coffee-roasting company and café business based in Seattle, Washington. The company launched in Brighton before expanding into Seattle neighborhoods, where it developed a retail presence alongside its roasting activity. Its documented Seattle locations include a café on East Union Street in the Central District and another on Rainier Avenue South in Rainier Valley. The former operates in the Liberty Bank Building, while the Rainier Valley shop occupies a former convenience-store site connected to the Ethiopian Community Center. Avole’s identity is closely associated with Ethiopian coffee. Its beverage menu includes conventional coffee drinks as well as signature offerings such as a lavender latte. The cafés also serve iced drinks, including the Genesee Tea, made with black tea, lemon, and blueberry syrup. Food offerings reflect East African influences and include vegetable sambusas and ful medames, the latter appearing among the breakfast options. This combination gives Avole a position that extends beyond a conventional espresso bar: it presents coffee, food, and neighborhood culture through an Ethiopian and African diasporic lens. The business was co-founded and co-owned by Solomon Dubie, Gavin Amos, and Getachew Enbiale. Its Brighton location subsequently closed, while the Central District and Rainier Valley locations formed the core of its publicly documented café operation. Avole has also supplied coffee to Africa Lounge at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, extending its brand beyond its neighborhood cafés and connecting it with an airport hospitality venue. Public descriptions of Avole emphasize relationships with local farmers, philanthropic activity, and community outreach. These activities support a positioning built around locally engaged, culturally specific hospitality rather than scale-oriented coffee retail. The company has received recognition in Seattle food and beverage coverage: Tasting Table included it in a 2022 selection of notable Seattle coffee roasters outside the Starbucks chain, and Seattle Metropolitan included it in a 2023 overview of prominent Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in the city. The available reference material does not establish a founding year, formal corporate structure, ownership changes, financial data, or a current official website URL.

Café Avole is a Seattle coffee-roasting company and café operator also known as Avole Coffee. The business launched in Brighton and later expanded into Seattle. The available historical record identifies Solomon Dubie as a co-founder and co-owner, with Gavin Amos and Getachew Enbiale also identified as co-owners. A precise launch year is not established in the supplied reference material. After its Brighton phase, Avole established a presence in Seattle’s Central District. Its Central District café operates in the Liberty Bank Building on East Union Street, a setting that places the business within a historically significant neighborhood commercial environment. Avole later operated a second Seattle location on Rainier Avenue South in Rainier Valley. That shop occupies a former convenience-store site attached to the Ethiopian Community Center. The Brighton location eventually closed, leaving the Central District and Rainier Valley cafés as the documented neighborhood locations. Avole’s operating model combines coffee roasting with café service. Ethiopian coffee is central to its drinks program, linking the business to Ethiopia’s importance in global coffee production and to Seattle’s broader specialty-coffee culture. Its menu also differentiates the brand through drinks such as a lavender latte and the Genesee Tea, an iced black-tea beverage prepared with lemon and blueberry syrup. Food offerings include vegetable sambusas and ful medames, extending the customer experience into East African and Ethiopian-influenced café food. The company has also operated beyond its own cafés. Avole supplied coffee to Africa Lounge at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, giving the brand a presence in an airport hospitality setting. Public descriptions further associate Avole with work involving local farmers, philanthropic pursuits, and community outreach. The reference material does not specify the precise structure or scale of these programs, but they are consistent with the brand’s community-oriented public identity. Avole received external editorial recognition in the early 2020s. Tasting Table selected it for a 2022 list of Seattle’s best coffee roasters apart from Starbucks. In 2023, Seattle Metropolitan included it in an overview of the city’s best Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants. These references indicate that Avole is viewed both as a specialty coffee business and as part of Seattle’s Ethiopian and Eritrean food culture. No reliable information in the supplied material establishes a founding date, revenue, investment history, public listing, formal parent company, or subsequent ownership transition.

1. 2023Recognition in Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant coverage

   Seattle Metropolitan included Avole in an overview of notable Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in Seattle.

   Source
2. 2022Recognition among Seattle coffee roasters

   Tasting Table included Avole in a selection of seventeen notable Seattle coffee roasters other than Starbucks.

   Source
3. Business launched in Brighton

   Café Avole began its business in Brighton before expanding its operations into Seattle.

   Source
4. Expansion into Seattle’s Central District

   The company expanded into Seattle and established a café on East Union Street in the Central District, operating in the Liberty Bank Building.

   Source
5. Rainier Valley location

   Avole opened or operated a second Seattle location on Rainier Avenue South in Rainier Valley, in a former convenience-store site attached to the Ethiopian Community Center.

   Source
6. Brighton location closed

   The business’s Brighton location later closed.

   Source

A Seattle Black-owned coffee and café brand combining Ethiopian coffee, East African-influenced food, neighborhood hospitality, and community engagement.

• Ethiopian coffeeCoffee

  Ethiopian coffee forms the foundation of Avole’s beverage program and is served through the company’s cafés. Its use connects the brand’s roasting and café activities with Ethiopia’s central role in coffee culture and production.

• Lavender latteSpecialty coffee beverage

  The lavender latte is one of Avole’s identified signature-style drinks. It adds a floral flavor profile to a familiar espresso-and-milk format and helps distinguish the café’s menu from a purely conventional coffee offering.

• Genesee TeaIced tea

  Genesee Tea is an iced drink made with black tea, lemon, and blueberry syrup. The combination gives the beverage a fruit-forward, sweet-and-acidic profile and provides a non-coffee option within Avole’s drinks menu.

• Vegetable sambusasSavory food

  Vegetable sambusas are part of Avole’s food menu. They extend the café’s offer beyond pastries and standard coffee-shop fare, reflecting the business’s Ethiopian and broader East African culinary orientation.

• Ful medamesBreakfast food

  Ful medames is listed among Avole’s breakfast options. The dish is a familiar staple across parts of East Africa and the Middle East, reinforcing the café’s culturally specific food identity.

• 2023Avole featured in Seattle Metropolitan’s Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant overview

  Seattle Metropolitan included Avole in an overview of notable Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in Seattle.

  Other
  Source
• 2022Café Avole included among Seattle coffee roasters outside Starbucks

  Tasting Table included Avole in a list of seventeen notable Seattle coffee roasters other than Starbucks.

  Other
  Source

1. Café Avole