DCist has always thought that D.C. lacks neighborhoods with a clear ethnic identity. There is no Little Italy, no Koreatown, no Pulaski Square. There is a Chinatown, but in reality, it is a Chinablock flanked by a Hooters, an Irish pub, a Chipotle and a Coyote Ugly. And while Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights used to be a district of mainly Salvadorans, an influx of Route 42 hipsters caused Don Juan’s (corner of Lamont and Mount Pleasant streets) to switch to a bilingual menu last year.

Last night while standing at the corner of Ninth and U streets in Northwest, we were wondering whether the eastern end of the U Street corridor has been developing into a Little Addis Ababa. Next to DC9, construction crews are at work renovating a storefront that will become Etete, a new Ethiopian restaurant. Next door on the corner is Salome. Further down Ninth Street closer to T Street is Sodere. Then across U Street at the corner of Ninth and V streets is the Asmara Café, but that is Eritrean, which makes DCist wonder if like back in Africa, there is a turf battle, this time between the Ethiopians on the south of U Street and the Eritreans on the north side.

The Post’s listing of Ethiopian restaurants in the U Street area is fairly slim, despite the multitude of choices. But the Post has taken notice of a relatively new Ethiopian coffee and teahouse on T Street next door to Café Saint Ex. Owned by two brothers who live upstairs, Café Collage is a quiet, small place in a rowhouse that specializes in, well, Ethiopian coffees and teas. The Post describes Café Collage as a “refreshingly unStarbuckian coffeehouse.” But a DCist source in the neighborhood laments that she sees many Ethiopian nationals at the new Starbucks at 13th and U streets.