09/30/2026
Dear families and friends of Café Lalibela,
I have started this letter many times and stopped because I could not find the words. After 30 years, Cafe Lalibela is permanently closing. I am heartbroken to share this news.
Since COVID, we have struggled to keep the restaurant open. My family, our team, and I gave everything we could, but we can no longer afford to continue. I wish with all my heart that I had different news to share.
As many of you know, Cafe Lalibela began in Phoenix in 1996 with nine partners who were family and close friends. We worked together, cooked together, and did whatever needed to be done. In 1997, we moved to Tempe. In 2012, I became the sole owner. We could never have imagined how many people would come through our doors or how much this community would come to mean to us.
To the people of Tempe and our entire Arizona family: thank you for welcoming us. You gave an immigrant family the opportunity to build a life, raise children, share our traditions, and belong. To us, America has been a land of opportunity and a welcoming home. Here, I can be proudly Ethiopian and proudly American at the same time. I am deeply grateful for that gift, and there are no words large enough to thank the people who made us feel at home. May God bless America, the country that welcomed us and became our home.
To me, Cafe Lalibela was more than a restaurant. It was a place to share the food and traditions of Ethiopia and to welcome people as though they were coming into my home. I have always believed that if you cook for a stranger, you should feed them with the same care you would give your own child. That is how I tried to serve every guest.
We were proud to take our food beyond our restaurant, too. For more than 10 years, people could find Cafe Lalibela’s food at Whole Foods Market in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Hawaii, as well as at Natural Grocers in Arizona. It meant so much to see the food we made reach families we might never meet at our tables.
I want to thank the City of Tempe for honoring us with Cafe Lalibela Day on August 5, 2017, and Tempe Tourism for including us among the 21 places to visit in Tempe. Thank you to The Arizona Republic/azcentral, Phoenix New Times, KJZZ, Phoenix Magazine, Check, Please! Arizona, and every other journalist and media outlet that took the time to tell our story over these three decades. I also want to remember the late Ty James Largo of AWE Collective, whose creativity helped so many people discover us, and thank Kayla Sutter of Social Sutter for helping us share our story. Thank you to Devour Culinary Classic for giving us the chance, year after year, to share our food with more people. Every invitation, kind word, and recognition meant more to us than you may know. We felt seen, and we were grateful.
Most of all, I want to honor our staff. Some have worked beside me for 12 years; others for as many as 27. They came in day after day with a dedication I will never forget. They are my family and the heroes of Café Lalibela. When you felt welcomed here, it was because of them.
To everyone in Tempe and across Arizona who supported us: thank you for bringing your children, parents, and friends to eat with us. Thank you for celebrating with us, recommending us, and standing by us through difficult years. We have watched some of your families grow up, just as you have watched ours. I will always remember one family who named their daughter Lalibela after our restaurant. That touched my heart and reminded me that Café Lalibela had become more than a place to eat.
Closing is painful beyond words. I know this place holds memories for many of you, and I am truly sorry we cannot keep our doors open. Please know that serving you has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will carry your kindness with me always.
With love and deep gratitude,
Atsade Desta
Chef and Founder, Cafe Lalibela
