Emma's Torch Café — Restaurant in Washington

Wish I lived closer, this would be one of my neighborhood spots to go to on the weekend.

I knew nothing about this place when I walked in, but wanted to try the hawaij mocha which I've never seen before.

There was some confusion when ordering and I noticed the cashier was having a hard time understanding me and I couldn't figure out why at first.

But It finally dawned on me that the staff was learning English and I saw this place helps refugees.

I made sure to speak a little slower and use more common words. Learning a new language is really hard and it's easy to get overwhelmed so I get it.

The owner was really nice and caught me staring off into space when I was waiting for my coffee so she wanted to make sure I didn't have a bad experience. I thought that was really kind of her, I forget I get lost in my own head sometimes and it probably looks weird to other people.

I didn't get a chance to try the food, but if I'm ever in the area I'd like to try it.

The hawaij coffee had a very hearty flavor to it. Hawaij spices are often used in soup, so it almost reminded me of a hearty soup with coffee. I'm happy I tried it, but I think I'll try something else next time.

Overall I wish I had a place like this closer to me. They take feedback really well and everyone is so nice. I go out for brunch every weekend, it would be amazing if every place had a good cause like...

Emma's Torch is more than a coffee shop. They employ refugees and asylees, providing culinary and employability training. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., some items on the menu are inspired by flavors from around the world- homemade chai, hawaij (a Yemeni spice blend) mocha, shakshuka, chai spiced donuts. There are open seats and WiFi.

My little family of three went Sunday around 9 a.m. and there wasn't a wait despite a few other customers in the cafe. We ordered the donut, blueberry muffin, and banana bread. My wife got the hawaij mocha and I the latte. (They use Zeke's coffee beans.) Everything was great! Not loving sweet drinks, my wife really enjoyed the hawaij mocha.

The cafe has water for everyone...

The avocado was so stale and almost brown, spread thinly over a quarter-sized piece of bread. I never thought avocado toast could go so wrong—until my visit to this place.

Even the picture they posted doesn’t look like it’s worth twelve dollars!

So, that’s all about the avocado toast.

As for the other items, we ordered two coffees, which are apparently made using ZEEK’s COFFEE beans (they tried to hide it, but we spotted the name on the bean pack) 😂.

They have the audacity to use their neighbor’s coffee beans and sell it in their shop!

Overall, they completely ruined our Sunday morning with their $12 stale...