For many Muslims and Arab Americans, Yemeni coffee shop Qahwah House feels like home

When you walk into Qahwah House, one of the first things you notice is a giant map showing the origins of the Yemeni coffee trade.

The place fills up with the sounds of Arabic music playing in the background, people catching up with old friends and making new ones or meeting with a potential spouse, and families playing card games.

But perhaps the most noticeable element is the smell of freshly ground Yemeni coffee. For many, this smell and atmosphere remind them of home.

Qahwah House (qahwah meaning coffee in Arabic) is a Yemeni coffee shop which brings people together in its locations in Dearborn, the greater Chicago area, New York, and most recently, New Jersey. The newest branch in Clifton, New Jersey opened in November 2022. 

"For practising Muslims who do not go to clubs or bars, there are few places to hang out other than restaurants. Qahwah House provides an alternative community space for people to socialise"

Ibrahim Alhasbani founded Qahwah House in Dearborn, Michigan in 2017, several years after moving to the US from Yemen. He noticed that Americans are obsessed with coffee, and came up with the idea of bringing Yemeni coffee into the picture. He believed that Yemeni coffee is the best coffee. 

Although many people doubted his idea, Ibrahim believed in it and in himself and invested a lot of his own savings to start Qahwah House. 

Growing up in a family of coffee farmers in Yemen, he found it important to continue this family tradition going back several generations and the long historic tradition of Yemeni coffee. 

“It’s not just a coffee cup,” Ibrahim tells The New Arab. “It’s a place you can socialise. A place you can [learn] more about Yemen, about our culture.” 

Ibrahim’s goal was to create a space that was welcoming for everyone, and not just one type of customer, though many customers are Muslim or Arab (or both). 

For practising Muslims who do not go to clubs or bars, there are few places to hang out other than restaurants. Qahwah House provides an alternative community space for people to socialise.

“Especially [for] young people, there is no place to go to hang out. There is no place to meet their friends,” he explains. “This is the best environment for them.”  

Qahwah House also stays open late, which tends to attract young Muslim and Arab Americans. One Friday night in February around 10 pm, the Brooklyn, New York branch was packed.

Waell Ali, co-owner of the newest Clifton branch in New Jersey, lives in New York and has been friends with Ibrahim since before the founding of Qahwah House. Waell started getting involved when the Brooklyn branch opened around three years ago.

“Qahwah brings something so different and so unique that I haven’t seen it in any establishment,” Waell says. “It’s been an amazing experience. It’s like home. I don’t know how to explain it.” 

Waell also says Qahwah House has an unparalleled social atmosphere and welcoming environment. “You got one person sitting [at] a table alone and then by the end of the time he leaves, he has 20 people sitting with him,” he says.

"Qahwah House’s sourcing of coffee beans directly from Yemen is part of their effort to educate people on this history and parts of Yemeni culture to be proud of"

Layaly and Heba Atta, two Palestinian cousins who come to Qahwah house a few times per month, say they love the Arab vibe of the place and that it feels like home. 

Noorehden Alsayidi, who works at the Clifton branch, grew up in Yemen and moved to the US in 2014. He started working at Qahwah House when the Brooklyn location opened after his cousin introduced him to the opportunity. 

He says many customers at the Brooklyn location have become friends that he still keeps in touch with. They have become like “brothers and sisters.” 

Noorehden says one of his favourite parts about working at Qahwah House, especially when he worked the morning shift, was the fresh smell of the coffee beans, which are roasted and brewed in-house after arriving from Yemen. 

“That alone just wakes you up and makes you feel good about your day,” he says.

Part of Qahwah House’s mission is to educate people about Yemen and the origins of coffee. Although many people think that coffee originated in Brazil or Colombia, there is some historical evidence that Yemen is the birthplace of coffee. 

There are many legends and theories about when coffee was first discovered, including an Ethiopian legend about a goat herder, Kaldi, who noticed his goats becoming energetic after eating from a coffee shrub. However, coffee cultivation and trade began on the Arabian peninsula, and the coffee bean was first consumed as a beverage in Yemen in the 1400s. 

In addition, the word mocha comes from the Arabic word Al-Mukha, the name of a port city in Yemen where it is believed the world’s first cup of coffee was brewed. 

Qahwah House’s sourcing of coffee beans directly from Yemen is part of their effort to educate people on this history and parts of Yemeni culture to be proud of. 

“To me personally, it brings out the best in Yemen,” Clifton branch co-owner Waell says. “Unfortunately, we hear a lot of just negativity in the media.” 

According to its founder Ibrahim, Qahwah House plans on expanding to 20 additional locations this year and eventually expanding outside the US in Canada and Europe. 

“When we open more locations, we create more opportunities for jobs here and also back in Yemen,” he says. Qahwah House sources its coffee beans directly from Yemen, which creates opportunities for coffee farmers. 

Ibrahim says Qahwah House is able to continue to expand because of the strong support from the community and from customers and believes that the continued success of Qahwah House is “because of them.”

Nada Shalash is an Egyptian-American writer based in New Jersey, with bylines in Business Insider, Times Union, Boston Political Review, and other outlets. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she works on projects on racial discrimination in the criminal legal system.

Follow Nada on Twitter: @Nada_Shalash_