Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant served its last tables Nov. 7 at 1114-1118 U St NW, ending a nearly three-decade run as one of D.C.'s first Ethiopian dining spots.
Family, friends and longtime customers filled the restaurant for a final celebration, first reported by the Washington Informer. Traditional Ethiopian music played as the founders' daughters, Lydia Tefera and Dr. Yoditi Tefera, said goodbye alongside their mother and co-owner, Hiwot Gebru.
The family declined to detail what led to the permanent closure, the Informer reported. D.C. Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George, who visited Dukem in its final weeks, wrote on X that the closing was "a personal family decision" and that the family "asked we make it a celebration versus something sad."
Tefera Zewdie and Gebru founded Dukem in 1997 as a carryout business that grew into a full-scale restaurant. Zewdie died in November 2022. His daughters and Gebru kept the restaurant running in his honor, Lewis George wrote in an Oct. 26 reply on X.
Gregory Jackson Jr., president of the Rocket Foundation, told the Informer he sat in the same spot where he first discovered Ethiopian culture after moving to D.C. 15 years earlier. He called Dukem a welcoming place where he felt like family, not just a customer, according to the Informer's account.
Jackson told the Informer that D.C.'s policy and tax structure is hurting small businesses. He said the city needs more tax breaks and incentives for small businesses to open and grow.
The closure adds to a steep trend. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) reported that 92 D.C. restaurants closed in 2025, up from 73 in 2024 and 48 in 2022, according to Nation's Restaurant News. Mid-priced restaurants took the hardest hit, with 72% reporting lower sales during summer months.
RAMW President and CEO Shawn Townsend said in a statement that neighborhood restaurants serving middle-class families are disappearing, and that policies working against affordability are hitting them hardest, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
Other high-profile U Street closures in the past decade include Marvin, which closed in 2019, and Alero, which closed in 2025, the Informer reported. The corridor is still home to at least 10 Ethiopian restaurants, some of which got guidance from Zewdie himself, including Amsterdam Cafe and Lounge at 1208 U St NW.
Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member elected mayor Nov. 3, dined with Lydia Tefera before the closing and encouraged supporters on X to visit.
Lydia Tefera, who works as a director of brand marketing strategy at AMC Global Media, told the Informer the sisters were never forced into the family business. They pursued their own careers and found their way back by choice.
Neither the family nor Lewis George has announced plans to relocate or revive Dukem, the Informer reported as of Nov. 7. Jackson told the Informer he hopes the community and the incoming mayor will rally behind the family and potentially find a new home for the restaurant.
