{"id":2847,"date":"2025-09-24T06:49:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T06:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/yemeni-cafe-bun-chai-opens-on-state-street\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T06:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T06:49:07","slug":"yemeni-cafe-bun-chai-opens-on-state-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/yemeni-cafe-bun-chai-opens-on-state-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Yemeni cafe Bun Chai opens on State Street"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\">\n<figure><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\"><i>Madalyn Braun\/DAILY.<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/store.pub.umich.edu\/michigan-daily-buy-this-photo\/\">Buy this photo.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"519\" alt=\"People look at the menu and display inside a coffee shop.\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-559581\" data-id=\"559581\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=780%2C519&amp;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?w=2400&amp;ssl=1 2400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=1024%2C681&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=1536%2C1022&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=2048%2C1363&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=1200%2C799&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=2000%2C1331&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=780%2C519&amp;ssl=1 780w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?resize=400%2C266&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mjb.NEW_.BunChai.9.23.25005.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">People order coffee and food at Bun Chai Yemeni Coffee &amp; Tea Tuesday Afternoon.<br \/>\n<i>Madalyn Braun\/DAILY.<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/store.pub.umich.edu\/michigan-daily-buy-this-photo\/\">Buy this photo.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"\/><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"\/><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At<a href=\"https:\/\/www.toasttab.com\/local\/order\/bun-chai-ann-arbor-306-south-state-st\"> Bun Chai<\/a>, a new cafe bringing Yemeni traditions to the Ann Arbor community, co-owner Ghazi Alsafari can often be seen manning the register and encouraging customers to try something new. Since the cafe opened after Labor Day, Alsafari continues to recommend unique flavors to visitors \u2014 from the pistachio latte, which features a bold, nutty sauce imported from Turkey, to qishr, a decaf drink made from coffee husks, ginger and other traditional spices.<\/p>\n<p>Bun Chai\u2019s drinks are flavored with Yemeni spices including cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Alsafari said importing ingredients like their coffee beans directly from Yemen is what makes Bun Chai stand out from other chain cafes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur coffee is imported from Yemen direct,\u201d Alsafari said. \u201cIt\u2019s organic, single source, single origin. We get them directly. We roast them ourselves \u2026 so we can control it from the farmer to your coffee. That\u2019s the beauty of what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark Loyzer, a software engineer from Seattle visiting Bun Chai for the first time, told The Daily he found the cafe through a local friend\u2019s recommendation and enjoyed both the cafe\u2019s more popular drinks as well as the qahwa, a traditional Arabic coffee with<a href=\"https:\/\/ich.unesco.org\/en\/decisions\/10.COM\/10.B.32\"> ties<\/a> to hospitality and generosity.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cSo for the matcha, it\u2019s nice,\u201d Loyzer said. \u201cI like the sweetness level on it. \u2026 The other traditional brew coffee was delicious, though. It envelops your mouth, so it was very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bun Chai also offers seating on two different floors, with a chattier upper level and a quieter basement. Alsafari said this was an intentional choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe community really appreciates what we have, and we kind of built a place for campus,\u201d Alsafari said. \u201cWe have a basement study-hall area for the students, and upstairs is what it is. It looks beautiful, and everybody enjoys coming in for their drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, LSA sophomore Simran Kaur said she appreciated the cafe\u2019s atmosphere and felt it contributed to Bun Chai\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy favorite thing about this is honestly the ambiance,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cI really like their furniture. They have nice couches and statement walls. I think that really draws people in.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Kaur also said the cafe\u2019s menu and location helps attract new customers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have good drinks, and their specialty is Yemeni coffee,\u201d Kaur said. \u201cI think that does make them stand out a little bit from the local shops, and their location (is) right on State Street, so (it) definitely draws everybody in for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alsafari said he and his business partner Dr. Ali Luqman opened Bun Chai in Ann Arbor because of its coffee culture and diverse community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe both like the community of Ann Arbor in general,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s a coffee hub, but we looked around and we knew that campus didn\u2019t have anything (like this) yet. And what better way to bring it to the world than (to) bring it to the Ann Arbor campus, which is a representation of the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Anuttara Lath can be reached at anuttara@umich.edu.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madalyn Braun\/DAILY. Buy this photo. People order coffee and food at Bun Chai Yemeni Coffee &amp; Tea Tuesday Afternoon. Madalyn Braun\/DAILY. Buy this photo. At Bun Chai, a new cafe bringing Yemeni traditions to the Ann Arbor community, co-owner Ghazi Alsafari can often be seen manning the register and encouraging customers to try something new. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[3000,2593,3001,152,361,663,2999],"class_list":["post-2847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bun","tag-cafe","tag-chai","tag-opens","tag-state","tag-street","tag-yemeni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}