The sound of coffee brewing and the hum of chatter can be heard in coffee shops across Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Dearborn, Michigan is home to the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East and a special facet of Arab culture is coffee.

Various Arab Americans in the Dearborn community have ventured into their own café endeavors, bringing forth the coffee culture of their roots. It is one of socializing and one of connection. Sharing a cup of coffee with a friend or a co-worker can be a catalyst for profound conversation or prolific ideas or even the seed to fruitful relationships.

With the emergence of new cafes across the two cities, customers have an array of options, including Qahwah House, Jabal, Newora Coffee, Detroit Perk Coffee, Galata Sweets, Black Box Coffee, Qamaria Yemeni Coffee, Haraz Coffee House, City Coffee House and more. While the products may differ slightly, they all exist as community hubs and bridges between people. 

Galata, a coffee shop in the heart of West Dearborn off of West Village Drive and Mason Street, serves Turkish products. Owner Imad Mohamad told The Arab American News how the establishment has introduced an entirely new cuisine to the city. 

Open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, the corner café can be seen buzzing with life into later hours of the night. Filled seats, coffee cups lining the tables, echoes of conversations and the influx of walking traffic outside give rise to the bustling café environment. As I drove by, I was met with the distant sound of laughter and live music displaying a vibrant environment. 

“Galata has brought a new culture to the city of Dearborn and served new dishes and drinks that were once not available before,” Mohamad said. “With that, we’ve brought new customers to the area from different counties and even states to come experience this new cuisine.”

Photos courtesy of Imad Mohamad.

Galata also offers live music and entertainment in efforts to enhance the customer experience. Mohamad said they host musicians with various backgrounds, including Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian. He said live music is offered at brunch time as well as at night with the musicians adding “a great touch to the vibes of the store.”

Mohamad said they are expected to expand to other cities with a new location on the horizon in Sterling Heights. 

Newora Coffee

Mohamed Jaber, the owner of Newora Coffee, said his café intersects various countries through pieces of them, including Italy and parts of South America. Located in Dearborn Heights at Ford Road and Telegraph, Newora Coffee is an embodiment of Jaber’s vision to blend cultures. 

Pulling inspiration from South American espresso drinks, he also uses Italian espresso machines. The touch of each country mixed with the Arab coffee culture stands as a bridge for all walks of life. 

Photo: Newora Coffee Instagram Page

“We blend both cultures of Italian machines and South American drinks, both environments mixed with the Arabs socializing altogether,” he said. “I want them to feel that they’re out of Dearborn; they’re out of the concrete jungle.”

Newora Coffee offers a social area with community tables, a quieter space allowing people to focus on their work, and a prayer room. 

Jaber shared that the café has become a space of growth for individuals as they form new connections and share their ideas — with some even leading to the inception of a new company.

“There are people here that met here and got engaged; there are people here that started a company, a software company together,” he said. 

He also touched on how people from out of state visit Dearborn wanting a taste of the Arab American experience. He said people from all walks of life have visited his café.  

As he began serving people, he said he learned that many of the café-goers are looking to escape their stressors, to relax and take in moments of respite. 

A picture of inside Newora Coffee. Photo: Newora Coffee Instagram Page

Jaber studied in Italy while in college and recalled a moment at a café there that struck him. While at an older coffee shop there, he saw a plaque of an Arab politician who ventured into Italy and was on the hunt for a café that mimics the coffee culture of the Middle East; one of socialization and connection over politics, poetry, conversation. 

“I feel like it’s a really big part of culture here, it’s a way for us to really just have another outlet of socializing and is a resource that we can just take advantage of.”

He emphasized the café culture in Europe, the public squares that are the central parts of the café scene adding to the ambiance of the experience as a whole. He said he drew inspiration from this concept. 

“Bridging all the cultures,” he said. “Coffee is really international, so you know we got the Italian, the South American and we have the Arab, you really feel that it’s this own niche vibe in here.” 

Photo: Mustafa Ajami

Detroit Perk Coffee

Mustafa Ajami opened Detroit Perk Coffee at Ford Road and Outer Drive in Dearborn Heights in March. Coffee products include refreshers and espresso drinks, Turkish coffee on hot sand and pastries. 

Ajami shared upcoming plans for a brunch house next to the coffee shop. He said they plan to add a “grab and go” menu allowing customers to grab various food items, including sandwiches and salads, on the go when stopping for a coffee. 

Photo: Mustafa Ajami

A bookshelf stands at the front of the café with tables filling the open space and picture-framed mirrors lining the wall. An indoor fire pit and a chess table sit in the center, yielding a space for conversation and activity. The warm ambiance creates a comfortable space whether customers plan to work, study, socialize or simply enjoy a cup of coffee.

“The idea behind this coffee shop, we were looking for a small community hub, people can come have their meetings, do their homework, network,” Ajami said.

“Me and my wife are from this community, born and raised here,” he added. “That’s why I want to make sure our first one was here. We welcome everybody; we’re from this community; we do everything for this community; we would love everybody to come and give us a try.”

Lama Baydoun, Dearborn resident and avid cafe-goer, told The Arab American News that the plethora of cafe options are an extra special touch of the city’s community and interconnected way of life.

“As someone who loves coffee, especially the social aspect of it, having a vast variety of coffee shops in Dearborn is definitely what makes this city so special,” she said. “The coffee shops in the city gives you a sense of home and comfort. From being a regular and the baristas knowing your order to running into friends that you rarely see.”

She said a few of her favorites are Detroit Perk Coffee, Qahwah House, and Black Box Coffee.

From Galata Sweets to Newora Coffee to Detroit Perk Coffee and all of the others, the sense of community and connection is byproduct of the café experience that can be found at each.