Rhode Island Ave NE is about to be jolted with some great news!
Zeke’s Coffee of DC is planning a new “Roastery and Coffee Lab” for the 2300 block of Rhode Island Ave NE. Zeke’s, which got it’s start roasting beans and selling coffee in 2005 in Baltimore, MD, is a family-owned business and a member of that family, John Kepner, who is a local resident, has been managing the DC-side of the business. John decided to open this new location to fulfill the wholesale side of his DC operations and to experiment with new flavors and mixes of coffee, hence the “coffee lab” concept. The rear part of the shop will be where John and his team will roast and blend beans, bag them, and prepare for shipment (added bonus: they will offer tours so folks can learn how the process works)… but no worries, local coffee lovers, because the front 2/3 of the shop will be retail, a coffee bar, and seating (counter and bar stools) so you can pick up your favorite flavor of bean, try samples of the coffee, or just go all in with a cup of Zeke’s and enjoy it on site. In fact, they are planning to have outdoor seating so folks can enjoy their coffee while watching the world flow by.
Zeke’s will feature between 40-50 varieties of coffee, which you can sample in store, or show up on most Saturdays to enjoy the “coffee lab” where you can sample new concept blends not available to the public. This is what will make Zeke’s stand out from other coffee shops and RIA NE is proud to have them here!
John and his team are excited about this new opportunity along the Avenue, and credits the fact that the engaged neighborhood (and having local friends) helped convince him that this location was the right one. The shop’s operating hours have not been determined yet but John mentioned that it will depend on the neighborhood. In other words, more demand, more coffee time.
So get ready…. Zeke’s Coffee is aiming for an early summer opening!
(side note fact: John’s grandfather used to repair/fix coffee roasters for a living, and because their family was so big, his grandfather used to call everyone “Zeke”…now you know where the name comes from and how the family honor’s their grandfather!)
rhodeislandavene.com 
Yes! We CAN have nice things!
Oh wow, this is going to increase our productivity and happiness then thousand fold! We have a lot of coffee lovers here, so this is the best news all week.
I’ve had their coffee before, and it’s really REALLY good! Exciting!
This is great news! I can’t wait to see what life this breathes into the middle of that strip! From Art Enables, to Carl’s, to Lace, to Oliver Friendly’s, to Zeke’s, to Rita’s… what great offerings!
Finally, a coffee shop of some sort. Hurray! I’ll bet their coffee will be great–and what fun to taste new blends and see how it is made. Now if we could just get a good ethnic restaurant we could also walk to! This might help turn that old mini-downtown into a richer neighborhood center!
ok this makes me happy! awesome news.