1508 Coffee & Cocktails plans to open in Portland’s Central Eastside in early 2027, bringing Ethiopian coffee to the neighborhood by day and coffee-inspired cocktails on weekend nights. The owner, Beka Yahya confirmed the timing to What Now Portland. “We haven’t announced an official date yet, but it’s going to be sometime in the New Year,”
The shop will be at 77 NE Grand Ave., in a commercial space of about 1,200 square feet. It has a garage door that opens up to give the space an indoor-outdoor feel. The owner is currently building it out, and has designs of what it will look like.
According to a liquor license application with the city, the shop plans to serve Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 44 seats and recorded and DJ music. The address is part of The Strauss on Burnside, a building from 2018, where Parliament and The Darkside Initiative are also tenants.
Beka Yahya, who is Ethiopian, said the idea is to bring quality beans to the Portland area. “It’s a dual concept,” he said. “We will have Ethiopian coffee during the day, and then on the weekend nights, we’ll be serving cocktails that are inspired by coffee as well.”
Every Friday, the shop plans to hold an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, in which coffee is served in small cups as part of a longer, shared tradition. “It’s gonna be really unique to the Portland community,” Yahya told What Now.
The food menu will be small bites with an Ethiopian-American fusion twist. “It’s going to be American food with a little bit of Ethiopian flair to it,” Yahya said. “We’re not going to be a big staple on food, but our biggest attraction is the coffee.”
“1508 is the third place. It’s not home. It’s not work. It’s the third place where everybody comes in and is welcomed as part of the community,” Yahya told What Now Portland.
