Baltimore's Black-owned Mama Koko's dishes out community and culture

CBS News

26-02-2025

Coffee, culture and cocktails are what you will find at Mama Koko's inside the historic James E. Hooper House. The Black-owned business is a coffee shop by day and cocktail lounge by night.
Drawing inspiration from his mother's kitchen, co-owner and general manager Angola M. Selassie named the cafe after his mother, Dr. Kokahvah Zauditu-Selassie, who is affectionately known as Mama Koko.
"She's this force of a personality, and one day, I was chilling in her kitchen and I just kind of took a glance and I was like, 'OIh man, all these little inspirations that are right here," Selassie said. "I thought about the hospitality that I grew up with in her house."
Mama Koko can usually be found in Hooper House in her literary salon or downstairs conversing at the café.
"She comes in here quite frequently and will just chat up people, talk to people, share some of her stories and that helps people also feel welcome to share theirs," Selassie said.
Mama Koko's is located at 100 E. 23rd Street in Baltimore.
What about Mama Koko's
Bar Director Jacob Eyer said Mama Koko's builds a community quickly, not just with the staff, but the customers, too.
"I think at this point, (we) really know most people who walk through the door by name, and that community is just growing and growing," Eyer said.
Mama Koko's has two bars in the space with a draft cocktail bar at the front and a specialty cocktail bar in the back. It's not just alcoholic drinks served, but mocktails as well.
"I hate the idea that somebody wouldn't come here just because they don't drink alcohol, so having a really well-developed and thought-out mocktail program is super important to us too," Eyer said.
What's on the menu?
Whether you're pescatarian, vegetarian or eat meat, the menu serves everyone for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu includes sandwiches, like the Smash Burger and Tuna Melt, salads, like Garlic Kale and Siracha Chicken Salad, and late-night bites, including Liberian Meatballs, Smoked Collard Greens and Red Beans and Rice.
"Our recipe, Ms. Jackson's Red Beans on the menu, my grandfather won it in a poker game in Los Angeles from the queen of gospel Mahalia Jackson, so we called it Miss Jackson's Red Beans," said Mama Koko.
The space provides not only more food options for neighbors in Old Goucher but also a place to gather.
"We provide kind of an oasis in the middle of town where people gather and feel comfortable with our hospitality, which is a unique model, people over money, community over profit," said Mama Koko.