Mission, Kansas welcomed its first authentic Yemeni coffee shop this weekend as Moka & Co celebrated a grand opening on Sunday. The New York‑based franchise, known for importing beans from the historic port city of Mocha in Yemen, transformed the former PepperJax Grill into a bustling café that blends Middle‑Eastern coffee traditions with modern specialty drinks.
Local excitement and community roots
Franchise owner Ahmad Aly and co‑owner Tawfiq Habashi, whose family runs the popular Habashi House restaurant in Kansas City’s River Market, said the opening reflects months of hard work and a desire to share Yemeni coffee culture with neighbors. “Everything here you taste is authentic Yemeni beans,” Aly told the opening crowd. “That’s where coffee culture and tradition all started, and then it spread throughout the world in different ways.”
Customers lined up early Saturday for Biscoff lattes, Adeni chai lattes, fruity refreshers, and classic cold brews. The menu also features traditional drinks such as mufawar—a medium‑roast coffee brewed with milk, cardamom and other spices—and qishr, a light‑roast black coffee infused with ginger and cinnamon. Signature lattes flavored with pistachio, salted caramel, Dubai chocolate and the ever‑popular Biscoff round out the offerings.
Drive‑through adds convenience
One standout feature of the Mission location is a drive‑through lane at the back of the building, a convenience that Aly and Habashi say sets Moka & Co apart from other Yemeni coffee shops in the area. “We wanted to make it easy for families and commuters to grab a quality drink without leaving their cars,” Habashi explained.
The café also serves a variety of tea options, including chai lattes, matcha lattes, fruit‑based refreshers and smoothies, catering to a broad range of tastes.
Supporting local entrepreneurship
The opening of Moka & Co adds to Mission’s growing small‑business landscape, providing new jobs and a unique cultural offering. Local residents expressed enthusiasm for the addition, noting the blend of authentic international flavors with a familiar neighborhood setting.
“Seeing the first ones walk through the door and sip their first drinks after months of hard work is both exciting and a relief,” Aly said. “It’s been heartwarming. We put our hearts and souls into it. Seeing this response makes me feel happy about the product of our hard work.”
About Moka & Co
Moka & Co sources its beans directly from Mocha, Yemen, a historic hub that helped popularize coffee as a global commodity. The beans travel from Mocha to the company’s New York warehouse before being distributed to its locations across the United States.
With this new Mission storefront, the franchise expands its presence in the Kansas City metro area, joining other coffee shops that have begun offering Yemeni‑style beverages earlier this year.
Original reporting: Johnson County Post (Overland Park) — read the source article.
