In a quiet Overland Park shopping center this past weekend, one storefront stayed bright when the lights flickered off after dinnertime in other nearby windows.
Inside, unlike other late-night destinations, coffee was served instead of cocktails. By the end of the new shop’s first weekend open, its owners said some customers had already been back multiple times.
Their new Arabic coffee shop, Turath Coffee, began its “soft opening” phase on Friday, welcoming in an already-loyal following.
Turath Coffee opened at 9916 College Blvd.
- The coffee shop opened inside a space just off College Boulevard and U.S. Highway 69, near Italian eatery Garozzo’s and Chipotle.
- The site was previously occupied by breakfast eatery First Watch.
- Turath Coffee is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Turath Coffee serves specialty Arabic coffee drinks
Brothers Loai and Waseem Nasser co-own Turath Coffee with their sisters-in-law, Sarah and Sawsan Awwad.
The space sat vacant for years after First Watch’s closure. By the time the Nassers took it over, they said, it was little more than a shell.
Turning it into what it is now — a cafe with architecture and interior details nodding to Arabic culture — was a painstaking process.
“It was bare, pretty much, when we took over; just concrete,” Loai said. “The (rebuild) was literally from scratch.”
The Nasser brothers said the family’s idea for the shop came from the desire for a gathering spot that differed from the typical late-night options, typically limited to bars serving alcohol.
The goal, they said, was to build a place where Arabic coffee culture (including its emphasis on community and its late-night hours) could take root.
Not just in terms of environment, but in flavors. The menu at Turath Coffee leans into ingredients more commonly found in Middle Eastern kitchens than in Midwestern coffeehouses.
Throughout the menu, spices and flavors like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, dates and pistachios are woven into the list of signature drinks.
One of Turath Coffee’s early standouts, the Nassers said, is the knafeh latte, inspired by the popular Middle Eastern sweet with the same name. The latte is made with pistachio cream, vanilla, cold foam and a knafeh topping.
Another hit so far is the fig matcha, Turath Coffee’s take on the trendy green tea drink that incorporates fig and pistachio.
Though the shop is the first coffee venture for Waseem and Loai, it’s not new for the shop’s other two owners.
Sarah and Sawsan, who the Nassers say “run the show” at Turath, both spent time working for multiple coffee shops in the area before crafting a menu of their own.
“They built up these drinks from scratch,” Waseem said. “That’s what made our specialty drinks special.”
Arabic coffee is on the rise in Johnson County
A bit further south in Overland Park, Mocha Point Yemeni Coffee opened in March, which also saw a busy first few weeks.
Another Yemeni coffee-focused shop, R Qahwah Cafe, is gearing up to open its doors, too, later this spring.
As far as Loai was concerned, the demand for Arabic coffee was already clear before their new shop even opened its doors, but the steady buzz of his family’s new shop is still a pleasant surprise.
“We expected a big response, honestly, but not this big,” Loai said. “The community has been great. We’ve had people already coming back the next day and the day after.”
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