Ann Arbor now has its own location of one of Dearborn’s most popular coffee shops, Bayt Almocha. Just a five minute drive from Central Campus and walking distance from the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Bayt Almocha welcomes its customers to grab something to go or sit in the cafe, with a menu offering a range of coffees, teas, snacks and sandwiches.
“Bayt Almocha” directly translates to “House of Mocha” in Arabic. Founder Abdulla Alysofi and operating partner Rafed Al-Serri, grew up near Mokha, Yemen, a Yemeni port known for its coffee trade during the 16th to 19th century. The pair said they wanted to bring the Yemeni coffee culture to the United States.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Al-Serri said the design of the coffee shop — filled with large cushioned seats and navy blue and gold accents — is intentional.
“I think it’s a place where you can actually sit down, have a conversation for hours and drink coffee and tea,” Al-Serri said. “If you just want to grab something and go, you can do that too. … It’s a very welcoming, homey, local coffee shop. We want it to feel almost like you’re inside your own house.”
Two best sellers are the adeni chai,a spiced black tea with evaporated milk, and the mufawar, a Yemeni coffee brewed with cardamom and cream.
The cafe also strives for affordability, offering deals including a $1.99 all-day drip coffee, a 20% student discount and a rewards app. U-M alum Farhana Sajh, who works as a barista for Bayt Almocha, said maintaining accessible prices is important to the cafe in an interview with The Daily.
“Not many people have the opportunity to get their daily coffee as prices are hiking up because of the new administration, impacting not only the middle class, but the lower class especially,” Sajh said. “It’s important to let people have the cafe experience without them having to risk their bank account for it.”
In an interview with The Daily, Engineering sophomore Gregory Busuioc, who also works as a barista, said he feels the cafe has had a successful first few months.
“I see students, people who work around here, professors and, of course, families too,” Busuioc said. “I’ve seen people do all kinds of things here. On Sunday, a group came in with board games and stayed for a couple of hours. Of course, there are always people studying and others just having conversations.”
Sajh also said the staff focuses on providing customer service that encourages customers to come back.
“The workers will notice if someone’s studying or if someone just got a drink and, sometimes, we’ll just keep offering them something for free,” Sajh said. “The owners want people to come in here and try new things and be involved in Yemeni cafe culture. A lot of the locations are open late, so people are hanging out into the night and the workers are there to support and just make sure they’re given good service.”
Rackham student Ingrid Flaspohler and her mother visited Bayt Almocha for the first time from the nearby farmers market. Flaspohler spoke about her interest in continuing to explore the menu in an interview with The Daily.
“I think next time I will definitely try some of the more traditional drinks,” Flaspohler said. “(Bayt Almocha) is not your typical coffee house… Definitely a hidden gem.”
Sajh said Bayt Almocha is very open to customer feedback and is eager for their customers to have positive experiences.
“Anything that customers have to say, give an opinion, give your thoughts on it, to help improve the cafe,” Sajh said. “The owners say that anything to improve the cafe, they’ll accept; they’ll really do anything to make the experience better.”
Daily Staff Reporter Talia Varsano can be reached at tvarsano@umich.edu.
