First Look: Baltimore’s Zeke’s Opening D.C. Roastery and Tasting Bar

This Saturday, Nov. 2, marks the grand opening of Zeke’s Coffee’s Washington D.C. roastery and coffee lab. This is the Zeke’s team’s second location outside its hometown of Baltimore, where it maintains a separate roastery and coffee bar (it also has a Pittsburgh retail bar).

The new 1,400-square-foot facility will largely be used to support Zeke’s D.C.-area wholesale accounts, with about 25 percent of the space being dedicated to the lab, including a small bar with a rotating daily selection of coffees. Additionally, customers can choose from any of Zeke’s full 25-plus regular coffees, available in single-cup pourovers. The bar will host more structured tastings on weekends, and Zeke’s D.C. owner John Kepner says he plans to add outdoor seating space in the Spring.

(all photos courtesy of Zeke’s)

Kepner says the design of the new space intentionally keeps the feel of a of an industrial facility, pointing to the fact that it is a working production facility and encouraging patrons to sample new coffees. The roastery itself will produce 10-pound batches using a Sivetz roaster.

“We are really excited about opening our DC store in such a great neighborhood,” says Kepner. “The community is really engaged and supportive, and that is one of the primary reasons we chose this location.”

The shop is located at 2300 Rhode Island Avenue NE, in the Woodridge neighborhood of DC between Brookland and Mt. Rainier, MD, and area that Kepner says is underserved by coffee shops. Says Kyle Todd, Executive Director of Friends of Rhode Island Avenue NE, “A sit-down coffee shop is one of the top requests that we get, when we talk about bringing new businesses to this end of Rhode Island Avenue. With seating, weekend hours, and a really quality product, we couldn’t be more excited about what John and the rest of the Zeke’s team are bringing to the neighborhood.”