Dukem opened as a market and carryout in 1997, and eventually grew to several adjacent storefronts.

/ Google Street View

Dukem opened as a market and carryout in 1997, and eventually grew to several adjacent storefronts. Google Street View

Tefera Zewdie, founder and owner of beloved Ethiopian restaurants Dukem in D.C. and Baltimore, died Nov. 14, according to an update on the restaurants’ website. He was 66.

He was widely known as a pioneering businessman in the local Ethiopian community who paved the way for many others to launch businesses of their own or find employment.

Zewdie opened Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant on 12th and U Street in 1997 as a carryout spot and market. He offered the pancake-like Ethiopian flatbread injera, along with ingredients for Ethiopian cooking. As the business became more popular, he expanded to adjacent storefronts and opened a sit-down restaurant that wrapped around the corner at 1114-1118 U St. NW.

“I didn’t have much money when I started my business,” Zewdie told DCist/WAMU in 2015. “My brother gave me a loan to start a carry-out. I was always cooking for my friends and they were always telling me that I should sell what I made.”

Customers raved about the restaurant’s doro wat (chicken stew), kitfo (a raw beef dish), and lamb tibs, traditional Ethiopian dishes that Dukem put a special twist on with “secret sauces” and other personal touches. For some patrons, Dukem was their first foray into Ethiopian fare — a number of Yelp reviewers note they were directed to Dukem after asking locals where they could try the city’s best Ethiopian food.

In 2004, Zewdie and his brother, Getachew, opened another location of Dukem in Baltimore. The expansion was symbolic of a larger journey.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, conflict in Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea brought many refugees to the D.C. area. The 18th Street corridor in Adams Morgan emerged as a haven for Ethiopian business owners until the rent soared in the 1990s. Zewdie and his brother were among the wave of entrepreneurs that opened their shops in the ’90s along U Street NW around 9th Street, which was still recovering from the 1968 riots. The area became unofficially known as “Little Ethiopia.”

“Thank God, this is America — like everyone says, the land of opportunity,” Zewdie told DCist/WAMU in a previous interview. “I’m very happy that I got the privilege to do what I’m doing.”

The Zewdie family could not immediately be reached for comment.

In the wake of his passing, community members have posted about Zewdie on social media.

“After undergoing unspeakable obstacles through the years, Dukem carryout grew up to be a … well known Ethiopian restaurant and an entertainment spot, not only around DMV but across the United States,” one person wrote on Facebook. “Beside providing services to patrons from all walks of life who come to the facility to enjoy an Ethiopian traditional meal and to be entertained, Dukem restaurant has also been opening up a way of an employment to countless people over the years.”

Another Facebook user, who says they were a singer at the restaurant, wrote of Zewdie: “Thank you for the possibility you gave me to work with you! Thank you for showing me all the respect! Thank you for believed in my talent!”

Family and friends honored Zewdie in a service this past weekend, according to a flyer that circulated online. The D.C. restaurant is closed temporarily out of respect for Zewdie, but plans to reopen on Tuesday, according to a message on its website.

Filed Under: dukem, ethiopian restaurants, little ethiopia, U street,