A cup of coffee, centuries deep
Walia Market & Cafe is part specialty market, part neighborhood café, and entirely rooted in Ethiopian food culture. This is what it looks like when a place is built with genuine intention.
Walia Market & Cafe | Our Story
How Walia came to Burien
Burien holds one of the most diverse communities in the Pacific Northwest — the kind of place where a market rooted in Ethiopian food culture doesn't just survive, it belongs. Walia was built here as a gathering point for East African and Middle Eastern culinary traditions.
The green coffee
Ethiopian coffee isn't just where Walia starts — it's where coffee itself starts. Walia carries specialty Ethiopian green beans, sourced for home roasters who know what they're looking for and can rarely find it anywhere else.
Shelves stocked with intention
Every product here was chosen because it matters — berbere, shiro, teff flour, specialty dates, and the hard-to-find ingredients that transform a home kitchen. Nothing on these shelves is filler.
The café opens
The café was the natural next step: vegetarian wats on injera, the full ceremonial experience — sit down, slow down, and let the food do what it's always done.
More than a market
People who've been to Walia describe it the same way — it feels like being welcomed into someone's home, not just a store. That's not an accident; it's the whole point.