Qamaria Coffee serves up coffee, pastries and community to Eden Prairie and beyond

The new Qamaria Coffee location in Eden Prairie is open late into the night, with hours extended even further during Ramadan, serving coffee, tea and pastries with a side of community.

Mohamed Hagi, managing partner and co-owner of the Minnesota Qamaria locations, was inspired to bring Yemeni coffee culture to Minnesota after visiting a Yemeni coffee shop in New York in 2021. He and Ibrahim Haji-Said, his cousin and business partner, looked at a few options for brand partnerships, but they landed on Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co. after visiting the company’s headquarters in Michigan. The pair opened their first location in Little Canada last year, and they’ve quickly expanded with shops in Blaine, Eden Prairie and Rochester. 

“We’ve been opening at a very fast pace and scaling large in 2025,” Hagi said. “Each month so far we’ve opened a different location, so we opened Blaine in January, this location in February, and then Rochester this last week.”

It’s been the most stressful time of their lives, largely due to the success of the shops so far. The first location in Little Canada had two- to three-hour wait times when it opened due to the sheer volume of customers. Their new locations – Eden Prairie, especially – have also seen long lines. Social media and word of mouth are behind much of the hype.

Selecting new storefronts

The decision to open an Eden Prairie location came, in part, from market research and, in part, from their customers. They were looking for locations near highways in densely populated areas, as well as storefronts that required minimal construction. They also wanted to bring their brand closer to many of their frequent visitors.

“The need for the south metro really came from our customers,” Hagi said. “A lot of customers were driving from Eden Prairie, from Burnsville, from Lakeville, and they were coming almost every other day, and they were making the drive out to Little Canada.”

The closing of the Starbucks that used to inhabit their space on Prairie Center Drive made it perfect for Qamaria. Since the shop was already set up for coffee and food service, the cousins knew it would be a good fit and an easy transition. 

They implemented the classic Qamaria décor with bright white walls, bamboo light fixtures, and the classic portrait of a woman that adorns the walls of each of their shops. Hagi said they try to include unique touches at each location, so in Eden Prairie, one wall features a floor-to-ceiling depiction of historic buildings in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital and largest city.

The demand for their products confirmed Hagi’s suspicion that Minnesota was an untapped market. They wanted to bring the type of gathering place that Muslims and others in Arab and African communities were missing, while also spreading the word about the history and culture behind the tradition.

“We knew that the broader-scale Muslim community knew about this type of coffee shop, but Minnesota is very diverse,” he said. “A lot of people don’t necessarily know about that, so we wanted to make sure we introduced this concept to other communities.”

Coffee culture in Yemen and nearby countries is more about the connections with other people than the food or drink itself. It gives Muslim people a place to gather outside of their homes in an alcohol-free environment with hours that suit their prayer schedule.

Hagi recalls growing up in San Diego with seven sisters and two brothers. The Adeni chai remains his favorite item on the menu because it helps him conjure a feeling of nostalgia for time spent with friends and family over a cup of tea after visits to the mosque.

“I grew up where I started drinking tea at the age of 8, so this, to me … just feels like home,” he said. “It feels like every time I have a cup of tea or just hang out with someone, or share the Qamaria story with someone, it feels welcoming and that’s something where I want to have people feel an extension of my family.”

Celebrating Ramadan with extended hours

Hagi hopes Qamaria will give customers a similar opportunity to build memories of their own. He said many Muslim customers have already expressed gratitude for providing a place that feels safe, comfortable and familiar. 

That’s especially true during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, which runs from Feb. 28 to March 29 this year. Qamaria Coffee’s EP location is usually open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight on weekends, but during the month-long celebration, they’ve extended the closing time until 2 a.m. 

“The time for Ramadan, for us as Muslims, it’s a really spiritual and religious time where not only are you the most religious, but you’re in tune and try to be in touch with your family and friends and whatnot,” Hagi said. “After prayer, which typically ends around 10 or 11, they’ll drink tea or coffee at home and congregate and hang out, where now they have another place to go to.”

Quality and culture at Qamaria

Hagi said Qamaria emphasizes the quality of its food and drinks. Many of the shops’ ingredients are imported from Yemen and neighboring countries. They do test runs for each pastry before launching and partner with Marc Heu Patisserie Paris, a pastry shop and distributor in St. Paul. 

The recipes and ingredients they use also provide an opportunity to highlight what’s beautiful about Yemen and places like it. Though it’s a nation heavily impacted by poverty, civil war and other social issues, it also has a rich heritage and multifaceted culture.

“We want to paint a picture of Somalia, of Yemen, of the Middle East and Africa, in a different light than people see on social media or their local news and national news,” Hagi said. “It’s not just a war-torn country. There’s history behind it. There’s culture behind it.”

Hagi is half Somali and half Yemeni, which is part of what brought him to Minnesota. He feels that “no matter where you live in the world, you always have a family member.” The large Somali population, along with the entrepreneurial opportunities in the state, made it a good fit.

Hagi is focused on engaging with the community. The shops have done many pop-up events during Ramadan.

“We just really want to tell the story of what Qamaria is about,” he said. “We want to make sure the community understands what we offer. It’s not just a latte (or) cappuccino. We have exclusive drinks, a lot of cultural drinks, that they might not be aware of.”

Their biggest sellers include the iced pistachio latte, iced Qamaria latte and the Dubai chocolate strawberries cup. The Qamaria latte includes espresso, milk, cardamom, cinnamon and honey, which can be adjusted to the guest’s preferred level of sweetness. The Dubai chocolate strawberries cup layers Belgian chocolate, pistachio spread and crunchy kunafa – shredded pieces of pastry.

Creating a cohesive team

The staff is also a big part of what defines the business. Hagi said he wants employees to feel welcome and proud of where they work. He wants everyone who visits the shop to get a dose of warmth.

Assistant manager Ahmad Afanhe quickly rose through the ranks after starting as a barista last month. He went from barista to lead to supervisor, and now assistant manager, giving him insight into the Eden Prairie location’s inner workings from the start.

Afanhe has lived in Minnesota only a short time, after moving from his home country of Jordan about eight months ago. Qamaria Coffee is his first job in the United States, and he said it’s a good place to be.

“My team now is the best,” Afanhe said. “I believe in my team.”

The shop has been consistently busy thanks to the recent opening and extended Ramadan hours, but the peak times are around 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., he said.

He has plans to improve the shop but is waiting until the busy Ramadan period is over to implement them.

“I like it busy … morning, night shift, afternoon,” he said.

Looking toward the future of Qamaria Coffee

While Hagi and his cousin have slowed their scaling efforts, they still have big plans for the future of Qamaria in Minnesota. Their Blaine location will soon share space with Baba Saj, a Mediterranean restaurant originally based in Chicago. Hagi said they hope to have the restaurant open next month. 

They also have a Burnsville location in the works, set to open toward the end of this year or early next year. The newest shop is expected to partner with a brunch restaurant serving American classics like French toast and waffles, as well as Arab-style breakfasts like shakshuka – an egg-and-tomato dish with an array of spices.

It’s been important for the business partners to diversify and spread out, and Eden Prairie has been an important piece of the puzzle.

“The EP community has really embraced us,” Hagi said. “We didn’t know that there was really a need for something like this out here to this extent, so we’re definitely proud to be out here. The Eden Prairie community has been great.”