Tacoma’s first Yemeni cafe serves cardamom-infused coffee, exclusive pastries

A shuttered Tacoma Starbucks has been transformed into a sunny new Yemeni cafe — among the first of its kind in Washington state — specializing in subtly spiced coffee and Adeni tea, accompanied by locally made desserts.

Sana’a Cafe, a California-based coffee and dessert shop, officially opens Thursday, Aug. 21 at 2505 S. 38th Street, joining Pho Saigon House and the also-new Kona Hawaiian Barbecue at Lincoln Plaza. It’s steps away from the Islamic Center of Tacoma, which moved to a 70,000-square-foot former fitness center in 2022.

“The idea is to attract the Middle Eastern community, but also everybody else,” said Adam Saleh, who owns and operates the Tacoma cafe in partnership with the company’s founders.

Bassary Alreyashi opened the first Sana’a Cafe in San Francisco just two years ago. It was a smashing success that quickly led to an expansion across the state — to Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Orange County, with several more on the way. Saleh is already working on a second location in a prominent Seattle neighborhood, he said, and anticipates a third “between SeaTac and Kent.”

Yemeni cafes first took off in the U.S. in Michigan, especially in Dearborn, home to one of the largest Arab populations in the United States. They have since flourished in other cities with prominent Muslim communities, including in New York, Texas and California. Their allure is multifaceted, appealing not only to Yemenis and the broader Arab American diaspora but also to anyone in search of something different or as a nonalcoholic alternative to bars. Nearly 4 million people of Arab descent live in the U.S., according to the Arab American Institute, including around 80,000 in Washington state. The Yemeni population is generally estimated to be around 200,000.

Nearby examples are limited, but One Million Cafe in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood runs ‘til 11 p.m. daily. Taste of Yemen in Kent and Cafe Yemen in Renton offer a full-service Yemeni dining experience.

In the Puget Sound, Asian dessert cafes have become increasingly prevalent for similar reasons. See: Jade Lounge by the Target in Central Tacoma, One Day Cafe in Lakewood, Onit Cafe in Federal Way or any number of bubble tea shops along the Interstate 5 corridor as proof.

Gamal Alaqel flew in from Los Angeles to train the Tacoma staff, already more than a dozen people. The cafe he manages in Lake Forest, south of Irvine, stays open until 11 p.m. on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends — and it’s busy, he said, especially during Ramadan.

The Tacoma cafe will likely operate 6 a.m.-midnight, said Saleh.

Yemen is considered the birthplace of modern coffee, the plants cultivated by monks in the 15th century and the beans shipped across the Middle East and Europe. Today, the war-torn country’s rich history with the crop has deflated, but a band of young entrepreneurs in America has worked to change the course. At just 33 years old, Saleh, who is also a real estate agent, is one of them. His brother Burhan Saleh opened B’s Hot Chicken (formerly a franchise of Al’s Hot Chicken) in University Place, while the pair plus a third brother also own Outdoor Recreational Gear off Sixth Avenue.

In an interview this week, Saleh noted the history of Mokha, a once-bustling port in Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a known for its naturally sweet coffee. Every drink at Sana’a Cafe is brewed with freshly ground Arabic coffee, sourced directly from Yemen and roasted in San Francisco. You can order a standard espresso drink (Americano, latte, etc.) but you’ll want to try one of the Yemeni specialties ($4.49-$5.99).

“Everything you’d find in a regular coffee shop you’ll find here, but we also have Yemeni specialties,” said Saleh, whose family emigrated from a small village in Yemen to Tacoma in the 2000s.

The flagship Sana’ani features a medium roast with cardamom, while the Jubani adds coffee husks (finely ground), ginger and cinnamon to the spice mix. Another highlight is the Adeni chai, a classic Yemeni black tea “cooked” to order with cardamom and evaporated milk; visit with a group to enjoy it straight from glass pot to pretty teacup ($9.49-$19.95).

Most options are also available iced. Other sips include “refreshers” (lemonades, fruit teas and spritzers) and smoothies — ask for the mango swirled with Vinto, a currant and black carrot cordial. There’s also matcha, which, Saleh laughed, isn’t Yemeni at all, but the whisked green tea is too popular these days not to have it.

Since early July, the Tacoma cafe’s Instagram has been brimming with enticing videos of traditionally prepared Yemeni coffee and tea poured from ornate carafes into delicate cups. More recently, the shop has shared another exciting reason to visit: a pastry case full of cakes, breads and other treats made exclusively for Sana’a by an undisclosed Pierce County bakery.

They include a variety of fatayar (handpies but here more like a snack wrap) and flavors of cheesecakes, tres leches-style cakes with the likes of saffron or pistachio-infused cream, croissants and muffins.

Finding a local bakery willing to learn to make the Yemeni treats was the most challenging part of opening the first cafe, said Selah.

“There are two things you will find in a Yemeni cafe: honeycomb and sabayah,” he said.

The first refers to khaliat nahl, a fluffy, kind of pull-apart bread — little puffs filled with cream cheese, soaked in honey or condensed milk after baking. The second is also called bint al-sahn — here a pizza-shaped slice of layers upon thin layers of yeasted bread, also slightly sweet and finished with honey and habbat al sawda, or Nigella seeds.

The white-marble and gold-accented space feels brand-new, although the shape of the ceiling is leftover from its corporate coffee days. Selah secured the location last fall and construction started in February. Now he is eager to introduce Tacomans to Yemeni coffee culture as he and Sana’a eye building a real footprint in Western Washington.

Sana’a Cafe - Tacoma

• 2505 S. 38th St., Tacoma, sanaahousecafe.com
• Anticipated hours: daily, 6 a.m.-midnight
• Details: first WA location of California-based Yemeni cafe, serving Yemeni coffee drinks and Adeni tea, plus exclusive pastries and snacks

Correction, 9/5/2025: This story has been updated to reflect the founder of Sana’a Cafe as Bassary Alreyashi.

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.