
Bunna Cafe
A vibrant Bushwick cafe offering authentic, all-vegan Ethiopian cuisine and a unique cultural experience.

Highlights
Must-see attractions
Social
From TikTok & Reddit
Best Time
Blue hour photography, calmer galleries

Bunna Cafe

Highlights
Must-see attractions
A vibrant Bushwick cafe offering authentic, all-vegan Ethiopian cuisine and a unique cultural experience.
"This place is incredible!! 10/10. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is cute, and the staff are incredible friendly."
Wednesday Live Music
Enjoy live music on Wednesdays, but be aware that the volume can be quite loud.
Unique Beverage Choices
Try the Ethiopiano drink or hibiscus tea for distinct and refreshing beverage options.

Quick Facts
Cuisine
Ethiopian
Price
Mid-range
Highlights
Discover the most iconic attractions and experiences

Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
Experience an authentic Ethiopian coffee ceremony, a cornerstone of culture and hospitality.

The Feast: A Plant-Based Extravaganza
Indulge in a communal-style Feast with seven vegan entrees, a true celebration of Ethiopian flavors.

Addis Ababa Vibes
Immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere with decor, music, and authentic dishes served with injera.
Plans like a pro.
Thinks like you
Insider Tips
from TikTok, Instagram & Reddit
Wednesday Live Music
Enjoy live music on Wednesdays, but be aware that the volume can be quite loud.
Unique Beverage Choices
Try the Ethiopiano drink or hibiscus tea for distinct and refreshing beverage options.
Order the Feast
The Feast meal is highly recommended for sampling a variety of traditional dishes in generous portions.
Communal Dining Experience
Embrace the Ethiopian way of eating with your hands, scooping stews with injera bread.
Tips
from all over the internet
Wednesday Live Music
Enjoy live music on Wednesdays, but be aware that the volume can be quite loud.
Unique Beverage Choices
Try the Ethiopiano drink or hibiscus tea for distinct and refreshing beverage options.
Order the Feast
The Feast meal is highly recommended for sampling a variety of traditional dishes in generous portions.
Communal Dining Experience
Embrace the Ethiopian way of eating with your hands, scooping stews with injera bread.
What Travellers Say
Reviews Summary
Bunna Cafe is highly praised for its delicious and healthy vegan Ethiopian cuisine, offering a warm and inviting atmosphere with friendly service. Many highlight the communal dining experience and authentic flavors as major draws, though some find the portions small for the price. The traditional coffee ceremony and unique beverage options also receive positive mentions.
"This place is almost like being in a different place, the food is amazing, the staff are friendly and are open to questions. I really enjoyed the pieces of Ethiopian culture scattered around the room. The bunna "coffee" is so rich 😋 I recently tried their Ethiopiano drink and I have never enjoyed a cup of coffee so much. Bring friends and enjoy the amazing vegan food."
Kali A
"I had some business in the area and want something to eat and thought about Bunna! I had no reservations and had about a 20-30 minute wait on a Saturday night.
I am now convinced this is the BEST Ethiopian place for great vegetarian food! The place was packed even as late as I arrived. Very warm and accommodating staff.
The food was so on point! We ordered drinks as well and just as amazing as the food!
It is a little out of my normal area but I will surely go out of my way to get back here again."
Christopher Kong
"This was my first Ethiopian cuisine experience and I loved that they don't give you utensils for the full effect! The food isnt really a looker if you're not into pureed food, but the taste was delightful! Highly recommend and for any vegans or vegetarians craving some hearty food. I have gone 2 times now and they are just as good! The interaction (bread) they have is tangy and slightly sour."
jen k
What People Like
What People Dislike
Frequently Asked Questions
The Ethiopian coffee ceremony, called 'Bunna', is a traditional ritual involving roasting, grinding, and brewing coffee, often accompanied by incense and served in a communal setting. Bunna Cafe offers this experience.
Yes, Bunna Cafe is entirely plant-based and vegan, making it an excellent choice for vegans and vegetarians.
The Feast is a communal-style meal featuring a generous platter with seven or more vegan Ethiopian entrees, served with injera bread. It's ideal for sampling a variety of dishes.
While some reviews mention waits on busy nights, reservations are not explicitly mentioned as required. It's advisable to check during peak times or for larger groups.
Bunna Cafe offers unique drinks like the 'Ethiopiano' coffee, hibiscus tea, and various cocktails, including those featuring Ethiopian coffee.
Yes, it's traditional to eat Ethiopian food with your hands, using the injera bread to scoop up the delicious stews and dishes.
Yes, the restaurant hosts live music, particularly on Wednesdays, adding to the lively atmosphere.
Mentioned in
Featured in these publications
50 Best Restaurants in Brooklyn: All the Classics to New Favorites
What started as a pop-up and Smorgasburg vendor, Bunna—which literally translates to coffee in Ethiopian—takes inspiration from its ancestral roots and transports it to Bushwick. Not only does coffee play an integral role in the Ethiopian economy, but it also fuels its citizens and is a valuable part of their culture. But at Bunna Cafe, vegans and vegetarians also get excited for the spot’s plant-based food offerings with staples like their signature Feast meals in communal-style dining that includes seven entrees (choose from Gomen, Keysir Selata, Misir Wot, Yater Kik Alicha, and more) with injera served on the side; in addition to menu items like Lentil Sambusa.
Best Ethiopian restaurants in NYC for bayenetu, kitfo and more
Yep, the folks behind Bunna Cafe are serious about their coffee. The cozy, eclectically styled Bushwick outpost is centered around a massive hearth dedicated to performing the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony (called Bunna, appropriately) and ornate, decorative coffee pots line a hive-like network of built-in wall shelving. Aside from fantastic coffee, Bunna also serves a complete menu of vegan stews and sauces, from spiced beets and creamy lentils to juicy crimini mushrooms sautéed in an aromatic mix of berbere, rosemary, garlic, ginger and onion.
Restaurants in New York City
The best way to sample the diverse flavors of Ethiopian cuisine is by dining at this stellar restaurant that transports you to Addis Ababa through its decor, music, and above all, it's selection of traditional dishes. All dishes are plant-based and full of flavor, which aligns with most authentic fare, including chickpea-based shiro, lentil wot, and a mushroom version of tibs (a stir-fry with meat and vegetables). It's all served with injera, a sourdough flatbread used to scoop up the various stews, with your hands.
The Best Restaurants In Bushwick Brooklyn
Entering Bunna Cafe means you’ll eat the Habesha way: with your hands. The vegan, Ethiopian restaurant on Flushing Avenue celebrates the delicacy of eating without utensils: here, diners scoop mounds of stewed collard greens, red lentils and mashed yellow split peas with scraps of pillowy injera (a soft sourdough bread often served rolled up like towels). A host of cocktails rounds out the menu, along with bunna (Ethiopian coffee), brewed with cardamom and cloves.
Brooklyn’s 50 Best Restaurants
The best way to sample the diverse flavors, many quite spicy, of Ethiopian cuisine at this stellar restaurant are the combination platters—for one or to share—though you can also order individual dishes. If the delicious, seasonal duba wot (spiced pumpkin) is available, definitely include it in your platter. Everything is served with injera, a sourdough flatbread used to scoop up the various stews.
The Best Ethiopian Restaurants In NYC - New York
There are several ways to approach a meal at Bunna, a low-key Bushwick cafe that’s consistently packed. The easiest route is The Feast: a giant plate of every main on the menu, like miser wot, gomen, shiro, and kale salad with avocado. Everyone gets their own personal pile of injera, so no need to fight anyone for the last piece.
20 Best Vegan Restaurants in NYC with Secret Local Tips
This icon of the Bushwick foodie scene is renowned for its decadent, super sharable, family-style, Ethiopian cuisine. So, sit down in the low-lit dining room with as many friends as possible so that you can all share delectable entrees like split pea shiro, red lentil misir wot, and injera bread – although the Habesha Breakfast (duba firfir, butecha, and kosta)and the Kita as a side are my go-to orders. And if you’re lucky, you’ll even be treated to live steel drum music playing in the background as you enjoy this sumptuous, vegan feast.
Vegan Food Near Me: 6 Spots for Fantastic Vegan Ethiopian Food in NYC
This bustling all-vegan restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn started as a food truck years ago. This cozy establishment features wood finishes and low lighting at dinnertime that makes for an intimate date spot that’s also large enough to accommodate big groups of people. As for the food itself, you’ll find sambusas (a savory, triangular Ethiopian pastry filled with lentils or peppers), shiro (spice-simmered chickpeas), gomen (steamed and spiced collard greens), mushroom tibs, and more.
The Best Vegan Restaurants in NYC and Beyond
At this first-of-its-kind vegan Ethiopian restaurant, Bunna Cafe, feast on creamy, savory vegetable purees and pulses served on spongy injera flatbread. Expect to find colorful choices like gomen (steamed kale with carrots, ginger, and garlic), misir wot (red lentils cooked with a spicy berbere sauce), and Yatakilt Alicha (cabbage and potatoes with turmeric). The cafe also offers a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
10 Vegan Restaurants You Need to Try in Brooklyn
I’d recommend hitting up Bunna Cafe in Bushwick with a friend or two if you love or want to try Ethiopian food. Every time I’ve gone to or ordered from Bunna, I’ve switched up what I include in my beyaynetu order. For first-timers, I’d recommend the yatakilt alicha, which consists of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, coriander, and turmeric, and the yater kik alicha—yellow split peas cooked in onion and other spices.
8 Amazing Ethiopian Restaurants in NYC That You Will Love
At Bunna in Bushwick, Brooklyn, guests are welcomed into Ethiopian traditions and culture not only through the food, but also through the frequent demonstrations of Ethiopian coffee ceremonies at the cafe. Bunna, in fact, means coffee in Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia. Come day or night for the coffee, a glass of T’ej (honey wine), or a completely vegan offering of yummy dishes at lunch or dinner.
10 Must-Visit African Restaurants in NYC
New York City has its fair share of Ethiopian spots, but in part what separates Bunna Café in Bushwick, Brooklyn from the pack is its strictly vegan menu. Although it might seem miraculous that a traditionally meat-centric cuisine has been able to go totally vegan and stay afloat, Bunna Café hasn’t only survived but thrived. Or as New Yorker reporter Nicolas Niarchos put it: “Bunna is well and rightly loved.
9 Black-Owned Brooklyn Restaurants We're Obsessed With
Co-owner Liyuw Ayalew helped open Bunna Cafe intending to celebrate a couple of treasures Ethiopia has to offer: coffee and food!. What began as a few pop up coffee events grew into a relaxed destination for Ethiopian plant-based cuisine in Bushwick. Beyaynetus are their specialty, known as The Feast on Bunna’s menu, a combination of several dishes on injera, a flatbread traditionally used as your utensil.
Brooklyn Best - Fathom
Everything at this lively, dimly-lit restaurant is fresh, delicious, and vegan. Order an Ethiopian feast (for two, three, or four) and receive the menu’s best dishes over a base of tart injera. For your buzz, there’s regular live music, Ethiopian beer, cocktails, and honey wine, and soul-warming Ethiopian coffee, which is poured as part of an elaborate and traditional coffee ceremony — for free.
Best African Restaurants in New York, USA (2024)
Bunna Cafe is an authentic Ethiopian culinary delicacy located in the center of New York City. Bunna Cafe, known for its vivid, savory dishes and warm, inviting atmosphere, welcomes both beginners to Ethiopian food and those who grew up with these traditional flavors. The menu is a feast of colors, tastes, and textures, with each dish elegantly presented and full of authentic ingredients.
The Best Restaurants in Brooklyn
If you enjoy traditional Ethiopian food served with Injera (a sourdough-like flatbread), head to Bunna Café, which lets you choose how much you want by the scoop. Lunch meals, for instance, consist of four scoops and two rolls of Injera bread and go up from there. Try the lentil sambusa, triangular pastries filled with lentils and a peppery mix, and save room for baklava for dessert.
Vegan restaurants, Brooklyn style: where the plant-based eat in New York
A serious favourite vegan restaurant in Brooklyn for many, Bunna Cafe brings delicious food to the table, Ethiopian style. The amount of food dished up for a trifling amount will actually blow your mind (and your waistband) here. Stacks of flatbreads, heaps of spiced lentil dishes, greens, split peas and kale how you’ve never eaten before appear before your eyes, and honestly?
Best Ethiopian Restaurants in Queens, NY: Discover Authentic Flavors – Kingsgate Lifestyle
Bunna Cafe is a popular spot for both breakfast and lunch in Queens, offering a taste of traditional Ethiopian flavors with a modern twist. The cafe has gained a reputation for its flavorful stews and generous portions of Injera, making it a favorite among locals and visitors alike. One of the highlights of Bunna Cafe is its commitment to using fresh, high-quality ingredients.
NYC Chefs Recommend Romantic Restaurants for Valentine’s Day
There’s a little corner booth by the door at Bunna Cafe in Bushwick, which I covet for a romantic night out. Tearing injera off of metal platters topped with slow-stewed tomatoes, aromatic sauces and savory greens is a lovely vehicle for romance (and a useful device for those who need to keep their hands busy to alleviate nervousness). Bunna checks all of my boxes.
Best Vegetarian Restaurants: New York
Bunna Cafe is a fully vegan Ethiopian restaurant and perfect for a feast!. It's best enjoyed with a couple friends so you can share one of their feasts and give all of their classic dishes a try. It's served atop a giant piece of injera (a spongey fermented flatbread), which is used to scoop up bites of the flavorful lentil, split pea, and vegetable dishes.
Best Cheap Eats in NYC Under $15
One of the best affordable restaurants in NYC, Bunna Cafe serves up incredible, plant-based Ethiopian fare in a beautiful bar and dining room. We recommend trying the lunch special, where you can choose 4 items from selections like Shiro (ground chickpeas), Fasolia (string beans and carrots), Keysir Selata (chilled sauteed beets) and Misr Wot (red lentils).
The last word on vegetarian food in NYC
At this vegetarian Ethiopian charmer, you’ll get a spread of traditional bites, including red lentils in berbere sauce, mashed split peas simmered with tomato, and a chickpea stuffing with kale. Cool the heat of the spicier flavors with a strip of injera. When you come here, count how many people you have in your party, and get a “feast” for that many.
10 of the best restaurants for vegan food in Brooklyn, New York
A post shared by Bunna Cafe (@bunnacafe) on Oct 3, 2019 at 7:02am PDT. While most veggie samplers at any Ethiopian spot are already vegan, Bunna Cafe in Bushwick stands out for being an entirely vegan restaurant that serves a special tea service and brunch. The flavors are superb and the eatery is hip, spacious and often filled with live music.
16 Top Vegan Restaurants in Brooklyn
Bunna Cafe is another great option for vegan Ethiopian food in Brooklyn. As one of the best Brooklyn vegan restaurants, they offer live music and a lively dining experience in addition to great cooking. If you’re new to Ethiopian food, they also show people the right way to eat their traditional dishes, so it’s a great option for any vegan
Vegan Restaurants in NYC: 15 Essential Spots
The Amharic word for “coffee,” Bunna is no ordinary Ethiopian coffee shop. This Bushwick vegan restaurant is one of the best Ethiopian eateries in the city. First timers should get the Feast: seven different items, all laid out in front of you on a platter of injera, the spongy bread that is ubiquitous in Ethiopia.
The 16 most popular Ethiopian restaurants in New York City
Only serves traditional Ethiopian coffee, made in the authentic Ethiopian style. The author of this piece expresses their admiration for the Ethiopian food they recently tried. They mention that all the dishes were vegan and plant-based, and they were delivered in environmentally friendly cardboard boxes.
Brooklyn Restaurants | Top Spots in 2025
For some of the best Ethiopian food in NYC, check out Bunna Café in Bushwick. This bustling Brooklyn restaurant specializes in plant-based authentic Ethiopian dishes that are sure to excite vegans and non-vegans alike. Sharing dishes is the move here, so this is a great spot for a group dinner.
The 11 Best Vegan Restaurants in Brooklyn (Latest Ranking)
It is a blend of Ethiopian cuisine made with plant-based and injera. This is the best vegan restaurant in Brooklyn. They celebrate the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, which means “The coffee ceremony is an integral part of social and cultural life in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and even in part of Sudan”.
13 Best Takeout Restaurants in NYC( Mainly Brooklyn)
Takeout and delivery of some of the sweetest Ethiopian meals are now available in your city!. Located along Flushing Avenue, Buna is open on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 12 to 10 pm. And on Friday and Saturday, the restaurant is open from 12 to 11 pm.
Halal Restaurants in New York
For those looking for a vegan halal option, Bunna Cafe is a great spot. This Ethiopian restaurant serves up delicious vegan dishes that are packed with flavor. Their injera, a spongy Ethiopian bread, is the perfect accompaniment to their flavorful stews and curries.
A New Yorker’s Guide to Cheap Vegan Food in Brooklyn – Alternative Travelers
Our experience eating here was so memorable, it persists in my mind’s eye. Here is a place that will impress anyone, carnists and vegans with everyone in between. This food is no joke authentic; not some vegan Bushwick posers attempting some fusion nonsense.
Maharaj’s Food Guide To Vegetarian Food in New York
If you’re into exploring different cuisines then you must check out Bunna Cafe in Brooklyn for Ethiopian food. This was my first time trying it and quite liked it. The ingredients were familiar and the preparations were simple.
12 Black-Owned Vegan Restaurants and Black Vegan Chefs in NYC
Bunna Cafe is an Ethiopian vegan restaurant located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It was founded by Sam Saverance and his partner Liyuw Ayalew. They opened this restaurant as a way to share the food they love with New York.
The Best Restaurants In Brooklyn Unlike Anything I Had Before
Address: 1084 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237, United States. No, I didn’t forget my vegan friends. How about some Ethiopian rolls of injera, chickpeas in a ginger-based broth, or toasted injera?
27 Best Vegan Restaurants in NYC
1084 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237Phone: 347- 295-2227 Visit Website. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Bunna Cafe (@bunnacafe)
12 Vegan Restaurants NYC Locals Don't Want to Share
6 | Bunna Cafe | If you ever find yourself in Brooklyn with a hankering for Ethiopian food, come on down to the Bunna Cafe!
Social
from TikTok, Instagram & Reddit