When Mokhtar Alkhanshali finally made it out of Yemen in 2015, navigating a war zone with his first coffee samples in tow, he had a simple pitch for the roasters and buyers he was about to meet. Yemeni coffee, he told them, was something they’d never tasted before. Their response, almost uniformly, was that they already had. Once, years ago. And it had been the best cup of their lives.

In cities across North America, Yemeni coffee houses are shaping a different kind of café culture—one built around community, cultural memory, and traditional flavors. These spaces are designed for people to linger, often late at night, drawing on the tradition of coffee houses across the Middle East, where cafés have long served as sites of social exchange and conversation.

In less than a decade, Yemeni coffee has gone from being largely absent in North America to becoming part of mainstream café culture, moving beyond diaspora communities. Much of this growth traces back to Dearborn, Michigan – home to one of the largest Arab-American communities in the US – where early players like Qahwah House, Qamaria, and Haraz House helped establish a model that has since spread across the continent. 

Today, this new wave of Yemeni cafés is expanding at a pace that contrasts with the stagnation of global coffee brands. Across North America, around 30 Yemeni café brands now operate, with leading players expanding to dozens of locations in cities such as Dallas, New York, and Toronto.

BRINGING YEMEN TO NORTH AMERICA

Arwa Yemeni Coffee, a family-run business, opened its first location in Dallas in 2022, becoming the first Yemeni coffee shop in Texas. Less than four years later, it has grown to 11 locations, with another 40 in development across the US and Canada.

Co-founder Faris Almatrahi moved to the US when he was seven. 

“Over the last decade, there has been a resurgence of Yemeni coffee, and we wanted to be part of reintroducing it to the world,” he says. Their approach extends beyond coffee, shaping how Yemeni hospitality is experienced across North America.

Seating is communal, encouraging groups and longer stays rather than quick visits. The interiors draw on Yemen’s rich heritage, with arches inspired by the historic Queen Arwa Mosque and geometric inlays that are inspired by traditional Islamic design found across Yemen. 

Moka & Co., which launched in New York in 2023 and now operates in 22 locations, follows a similar playbook. Its founders describe it as a cultural bridge, built to bring Yemeni coffee to a wider audience.

“Yemeni coffee is considered premium, and by many, the best in the world,” say Moka & Co.’s Nauman Ali and Donald Walker. Part of that comes down to scarcity, but also to where and how it is grown. High-altitude farms and their surrounding environments produce a flavor profile distinct from the darker, more uniform blends common across large chains.

Drinks like Adeni chai, a slow-brew mix of tea, milk, and spices, or mofawer, a lightly spiced coffee, offer something new, and that distinction is what’s driving momentum.

SHIFTING CONSUMER HABITS

The rise of Yemeni cafés reflects a mix of shifting consumer habits. Walker says there’s broader fatigue with standardized coffee experiences, particularly among younger consumers who are more deliberate about what they buy and where it comes from. There is increasing interest in brands that speak to origin, ethical sourcing, and a clear set of values.

At the same time, changing consumer sentiment toward large corporations, shaped in part by labor concerns and boycotts, has created space for smaller operators to grow.

Another factor is the growing demand for late-night, alcohol-free spaces that offer a sense of community in a post-pandemic landscape. Many Yemeni cafés stay open well past midnight, functioning as “third places” – spaces beyond home and work where people can connect. 

“That sense of shared space has been missing in individualized Western settings, and people are now actively seeking it out,” Walker says.

REBUILDING A SUPPLY CHAIN 

Yemeni coffee, grown at high altitudes and exported under challenging conditions, now sits at the center of a café boom led by diaspora entrepreneurs. This moment is built on years of groundwork. Mokhtar Alkhanshali, ‘The Monk of Mokha,’ was among the first to take on the challenge of building a supply chain where little infrastructure existed. 

Drawing on his family’s roots in coffee farming, he founded Port of Mokha, a premium B2B coffee brand to revive a declining tradition. He was in Yemen when the civil war broke out and had to leave with his first coffee samples. 

“When I started speaking to buyers and roasters, they described Yemeni coffee as a ‘unicorn’ – the best they had ever tasted. But only once, years ago,” Alkhanshali says. “It was too difficult to access it from Yemen; there were language barriers, the supply chain wasn’t reliable, and the quality was inconsistent.”

Outside specialist circles, there was little awareness of Yemeni coffee. 

That gap required a lot of education on both sides, not just in the US, but back home as well. Part of it was about shifting perceptions through branding, packaging, and storytelling to draw people in. 

At the same time, he was building trust with farmers, learning how to communicate within local contexts where relationships and respect carry weight. He spent time in majlis gatherings with village elders, making the case for why Yemeni coffee still mattered – its history, its potential, and the opportunity ahead. 

“I wanted them to see what was possible,” he says.

Today, the work of Port of Mokha and Alkhanshali Estates spans the full chain, from farming and processing to export, with a focus on restoring quality at the point of origin and building a system that can sustain it. That process includes training farmers, refining harvesting and processing methods, and creating incentives for higher quality production.

Many of the Yemeni coffee houses are built by people from the diaspora, raised between cultures, with access to Western markets and a direct connection to producers back home.

“Growing up, all I heard about Yemen in the mainstream media was war and destruction. I wanted to show a different narrative,” Alkhanshali says. “And we’re the bridge – we have an opportunity to tell our stories better than anyone else.” 

That authentic connection to culture, he believes, also allows entrepreneurs to build more equitable supply chains, in which value flows back to the communities that produce it.

Now, when he asks people what they know about Yemen, the dialogue has shifted. 

“They’ll say: ‘They have nice cafés.’ That kind of change doesn’t happen overnight.”