By Valerie Wencis Globe correspondent,Updated March 25, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
Aficionados of Darwin’s — the beloved coffee shop with multiple Cambridge outposts that closed its doors at the end of 2022 after 30 years during the pandemic — cautiously eyed its flagship location on Mt. Auburn Street as it changed hands multiple times since. But the current iteration, Luxor Café, seems to have staying power.
Walking through its doors, one feels transported to Egypt, from the expansive stone wall of hieroglyphics to the evocative vocals of Umm Kulthum playing overhead. Wander downstairs, and you’ll find an intimate space reminiscent of an Egyptian tea salon, with poppy and pomegranate cushioned benches, dangling mosaic lamps, and iridescent sadaf tiled tables. It appears no detail was spared in the rebirth of this space, down to the stunning, sadaf-tiled double-sink-and-mirror bathroom.
But perhaps what most harkens back to the motherland is the name itself — the capital of ancient Egypt, Luxor is known for its abundance of monuments, temples, and tombs — as well as the scarab logo. Holding a to-go cup adorned with what he calls the “cartoon version” of the scarab with a coffee bean for a body, owner Abdelrahman (“Abdel”) Hassan explains that the oval beetle “symbolizes rebirth, health, rejuvenation — basically a lot of stuff that food and coffee does for you.”
