Kahawa Coffee House

Kahawa opened in September 2025 in a low, rectangular building on 21st Avenue North, hemmed in by the brick of Vanderbilt and Ascension and looking nothing like either of them: the frontage is styled as a tropical hut, a large circular sign marks the door and a pair of golden lion statues sit outside it. Owner Zahran Almawali built the room around East African hospitality, and the name is simply the Swahili word for coffee. The Vanderbilt Hustler covered the opening in January 2026 as a piece of East African culture arriving in the neighbourhood, and The Infatuation added it to its Nashville coverage in October 2025, describing rose and saffron-tinted espresso drinks served alongside Swahili street food.

The menu is worth reading in two halves. The specialty-coffee half is what you would expect - espresso, cortado, cold brew, matcha - but the flavour line is distinctly its own: Africano with coconut milk, Heaven with rose, Signature with saffron, Velvet Vanilla with rose and vanilla, Pink Lady with rose and strawberry. The East African half is the reason to make the trip: Kahawa Chai, a traditional spiced tea sold by the cup or by the pot for a table; Zanzibar Dirty Chai, which is that chai pulled with espresso; Zanzibar black tea; Dallat Qahawa, Arabic coffee; and Turkish coffee, also available by the pot. There is one drink built like a cocktail, the Kahawa Mojito, made with mango, passion fruit, strawberry and sparkling water. Food runs to sambusas, golden-fried kaimati with dips, and spring rolls stuffed with spiced chicken and vegetables. Nothing on the menu contains alcohol. The hours are what make it useful for an evening rather than a morning: 7am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am to 10pm at weekends, which is later than almost every other coffee bar in Midtown, and the pot service is designed for a table of people staying a while rather than a takeaway cup.