YPSILANTI – A specialty coffee house serving unique blends spiced with cardamon, cinnamon and coffee husks is bringing a taste of Yemen to Ypsilanti.
Sana’a Coffee House opened at 2227 Ellsworth Road in mid-March – the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“My family and friends and everybody was asking me, ‘When are you going to open? Will you be open for Ramadan?’” Co-owner Abrahim Abdallah said. “They’ve been fasting all day, so they want something that brings them together and that they can go out and enjoy.”
Abrahim, his brother Ameen Abdallah and their business partner Shaif Alduais opened the cafe in a corner storefront of the shopping center that’s also home to Alez Market, Yaya’s Pizza and McShane’s Irish Pub. They gutted the space, formerly Vanilla Bean Cafe, remodeling with a a bright, white-and-gold aesthetic.
The coffee house serves traditional Yemeni spiced coffee, including its signature Sana’ani Mofawar, a blend of traditional coffee and mofawar – a Yemeni specialty light roast brewed in an ibrik similar to Turkish coffee but with milk and spices. The iced version of the drink features traditional coffee, cream, cardamom and house-made syrups made from honey or pistachios.
In addition, Sana’a serves popular Yemeni drinks like Adeni chai – a black tea blended with cardamom and cream – and qishr and jubani – traditional hot drinks made with spiced coffee husks, ginger and cinnamon. The beans sourced for each roast are directly imported from Yemen, where the Abdallahs have family ties.
“They’ve been growing coffee the same way for thousands of years,” Abrahim said. “That’s where the first cup of coffee originated from.”
The restaurant also serves traditional espresso drinks, teas and iced refresher-style juice drinks.
Sanaa also offers a variety of cakes and pastries, ranging from traditional honeycomb bread and flaky sabaya, to a creative assortment of flavored Yemeni-style milk cakes.
“It’s like an Arabic twist on a tres leches cake,” he said.
So far, community response has been positive, Abdallah said, with the cafe’s later hours attracting students from Eastern Michigan University and Washtenaw Community College, as well as University of Michigan staff who live nearby.
“We’re here for the Arab community, but we’re also here for everyone,” he said. “We like to introduce people to our coffee, to our culture, and it’s been pretty well received.”
The restaurant is open 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. during Ramadan until April 10, after which it will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
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