Arwa Yemeni Coffee

Arwa Yemeni Coffee started in Richardson, Texas, where the original store - billed by the company as the first Yemeni coffee shop in the state - roasts on site in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs and pairs the counter with an outdoor courtyard. From there the chain expanded across Texas and into Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and California, with several of its rooms built around a private Arabic jelsa space for traditional low floor seating. The Chicago store sits at 1953 N Milwaukee Ave in Bucktown, on the diagonal that carries most of the neighborhood's bar traffic, which puts an entirely alcohol-free room directly in the path of a nightlife corridor.

The menu is organized the way the category tends to be. A Traditional Drinks section carries jubani, qishr, red tea, mofawer, adeni tea and sana'ani coffee - the spiced teas and husk infusions that Yemeni coffeehouses are built on, several of them milk-based and served hot. An Ice Refreshers section lists the Dragon's Blood Refresher, limeade, a manga smoothie and ginger lime. The Arwa Signatures list holds the house-specific drinks: a Yemeni latte, a date matcha latte and the Sand Dune latte. Behind that sits a full classics list of drip coffee, americano, cappuccino, chai latte, matcha latte, espresso, pour over, latte and steamed hot chocolate, so a group that splits between traditional and familiar can order from one counter. Nothing on the menu contains alcohol. The room runs until 10pm Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday, which is late enough to work as an actual destination rather than a daytime coffee stop - the reason this category has become one of the most reliable sources of genuinely alcohol-free nightlife in large American cities. Because the room runs until midnight on Friday and Saturday it works as a late stop on a corridor otherwise given over to bars, and because nothing behind the counter contains alcohol there is no menu to interrogate before ordering. The company sells its beans and gift cards through its own site, and several of its stores are built around a private Arabic jelsa room for traditional low seating, with at least one adding a dedicated prayer and reflection room.