Haraz Coffee House

Hamzah Nasser, born in Yemen's Juban district and raised from age six in metro Detroit, opened the first Haraz Coffee House in April 2021 at 13810 Michigan Ave in East Dearborn, converting a former insurance office he'd begun renovating in 2019. Before coffee, he ran a gas station and spent seven years as a truck driver crossing 43 states — experience he's said shaped his read on what a real "third space" needed to feel like. The shop opened during Ramadan on evening hours and quickly became a neighborhood fixture a block from the Arab American National Museum.

The program is alcohol-free by design, built around Yemeni coffeehouse tradition rather than a bar substitute: Mufawar (cardamom cold brew with creamy evaporated milk), Adeni (cold brew tea with the house Haraz spice blend and evaporated milk), and Turkish- and Saudi-style cardamom coffees sit alongside an espresso bar of spiced lattes — Haraz Latte, Pistachio Latte, Saffron Latte — plus fruit refreshers like Iced Hibiscus with blackberry or lavender, matcha "Cloud" drinks, and pastries such as Bee Bites and tiramisu.

The New York Times profiled Haraz in a June 24, 2025 business piece on the broader boom in Yemeni coffeehouses, framing shops like this one as filling demand among Americans — Muslim and non-Muslim alike — for late-night gathering spaces that don't revolve around alcohol. The East Dearborn location keeps that community-first character: Edison-bulb lighting, Yemeni-heritage artwork on the walls, Arabic music, a prayer area, and kid-friendly seating.

Since 2021 the concept has expanded from that single Dearborn storefront into a national franchise with dozens of locations and more in development, but the original Michigan Avenue shop remains the flagship and the clearest expression of Nasser's founding idea for the brand.