Something new is brewing in the Lehigh Valley this summer, as a luxury Michigan-based Yemeni coffee shop makes its local debut.
Caffeena Coffee House will open at 502 E. 3rd St. in the former Starbucks space and will be operated by Jasmine Hasni.
“We’re very, very proud. The fact that this location is woman-owned and operated, this just gives us so much pride and it’s exciting for us,” managing director Simon Saleh told What Now Philadelphia.
In addition to the Bethlehem location, the cafe operates in western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, along with Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Delaware, New Jersey and Florida. With 13 locations open now, the company aims to expand to 50 within the next five years.
The coffee shop will mirror the brand’s other locations, featuring its signature luxury design.
“We make sure our locations are really nice. When you walk into our coffee shop, you’re going to feel like you’re walking into a hotel. We want to make sure that we share the experience with a luxury, high-end type of environment, but at the same time very affordable,” Saleh said.
It will also include a conference room for meetings and remote work, equipped with WiFi, a TV, a printer and a scanner, along with a private room and a multi-faith room available for guests to rent.
“Private rooms and multi-faith rooms, it’s very rare to find and I think we might be the only ones in Pennsylvania to have them. Whether you’re Christian, you’re Jewish, you’re Muslim or non-religious and just want to use it for meditation, we have the rooms that are open to the public,” he said.
What sets Caffeena Coffee House apart is the coffee it serves, which is stronger in nature than Colombian coffee.
“Yemeni coffee was founded back in the 1700s. The coffee naturally grows on mountains, and it’s harvested by hand, and it’s bought from the farmers directly to Caffeena. There’s no distribution. There’s no third party. The Port of Mokha is where the coffee is being exported from,” Saleh said.
Beyond the coffee, the cafe will serve pastries, including Sabayah, a soft, layered Yemeni pastry baked with butter and soaked in honey, and Honeycomb Bread, a fluffy pull-apart bread filled with cheese and topped with honey.
Saleh said he is eager for the community to experience a new taste.
“I’m really excited for the community. It’s going to be very different. We want the community to experience something they never had before,” he said.
The shop plans to partner with local organizations and nonprofits while hiring individuals with disabilities and bilingual staff to diversify its workforce and give back to the community.
An official opening date has not been set, but Saleh said the lease was signed in April and the team is targeting a late-summer opening. Visit the Caffeena Coffee House website and follow along on Instagram and Facebook.
