These coffeehouses are meeting demand for late-night spaces that decenter alcohol. During Ramadan, some are packed until 3 a.m.
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On a recent Saturday night, diners in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, took their rightful places at the natural wine bars, pizza shops and taquerias across the neighborhood.
Good luck finding a seat at the Yemeni coffee chain.
Qahwah House, a Yemeni coffeehouse with 26 locations in nine states, was standing room only just after 8 p.m. College students crowded around kettles of spiced coffee to study for exams and occasionally flirt. A group of fashionable women clinked tea glasses, having just come from a birthday dinner.
Behind the counter, the floor manager took a phone call: He was needed at the Qahwah House across town in Bay Ridge — a line had wrapped throughout the cafe.
Go ahead: Have that coffee after 2 p.m. Yemeni immigrants are making their mark on the U.S. coffee industry and shifting cafe culture late into the night. In the last decade, the number of Yemeni coffeehouses that stay open well after sundown has ballooned, beginning in Michigan and fanning out toward Texas, New York and California.
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