Harvard Square Welcomes Egyptian-Influenced Luxor Cafe

Visitors to Harvard Square are in luck with the opening of Luxor Cafe, an Egyptian coffee shop and deli that launched in May.

The cafe — which is at the Mt. Auburn Street location that once housed Darwin’s Ltd. and Roust Coffee — expands the Mediterranean and Halal options in the Square with its Egyptian-inspired cuisine.

The new establishment is owned by 22-year-old Abdelrahman Hassan, the son of Egyptian immigrants, who said he aimed to emulate the “community space” of cafes in his parents’ home country.

“I miss home, and I miss being there, and I love being there,” Hassan said of Egypt. “I feel like it's so special, and a lot of people don't get to see how special it is.”

In addition to carrying over menu options from Darwin’s, Luxor Cafe offers a variety of specialty sandwiches, breakfast foods, and beverages — including a baklava latte and Egyptian breakfast. The cafe also features Egyptian-influenced decor, with a hieroglyph mural and a scarab beetle — a symbol of ancient Egypt.

The cafe was remodeled within two weeks of the closure of Roust Coffee, which was open for just over a year before shutting its doors in early May.

“I texted on a group chat, like, ‘I need help. I need to put things together,’” Hassan said. “All of a sudden, there are like 20 people a day that are all coming, and they’re all just helping. Everyone has ideas.”

In addition to serving Halal food, the cafe aims to further serve its Muslim patrons by building a prayer space in the basement, which Hassan said would be complete by January or February of 2025.

Although the cafe opened just a few months ago, Hassan is already managing a robust catering operation and also hopes to start a coffee cart system — which he called his “biggest thing” — that would bring Luxor Cafe all around New England.

“I feel like that's really fun. Now, the world's endless. You can go wherever,” Hassan said about the coffee cart. “You really get to go outside. You really get to push the brand name.”

Several customers praised the new cafe, citing its menu offerings and the establishment’s ambience.

Balsam Mahfoum, a student at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, said she comes to Luxor Cafe often because of their halal food and its role as a “community space.”

“It’s super accessible to a community that’s not really reached by a lot of cafes,” Mahfoum said, adding that even though the restaurant is “a little bit on the pricey side,” she wants to support Muslim and Arab-owned businesses.

“I love also that they play Arabic music. It makes me feel at home,” she said.

Reham Harrati ’27 said she makes a special effort to go to Luxor in part because the “coffee is fantastic.”

“It’s not necessarily in the direction of anything, so I literally schedule it into my day to walk out of the way and get coffee,” she said.

Though it was her first visit, Cambridge resident Divya Gumudavelly was impressed by Luxor Cafe and said her latte “ended up being really good.”

“I’m going to tell everyone about it to come back here, because it feels super homey and I feel like you can spend a lot of time here and get a lot of work done,” she said.

Garrett Harris, a Belmont resident, said he prefers Luxor to the previous restaurants in the location.

“I like the Egyptian vibe,” he said. “The personality of the people who work here is way better. It’s unique.”