Haraz Coffee opens its 30th store, in Corktown

Haraz Coffee House opened its second Detroit cafe on Wednesday, June 11, on the ground floor of The Brooke on Bagley at 1501 Church Street in Corktown. Mayor Mike Duggan joined company leaders for an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting. The opening came with live music, henna artists, and merchandise giveaways.

The Corktown shop is Haraz's 30th location in the country and its fifth in Michigan, where the chain also operates stores anchored by its original Dearborn cafe. Haraz had been quietly serving customers since a soft launch on May 16 before the formal grand opening.

Hamzah Nasser founded Haraz in Dearborn in 2021 and has grown it into one of the more visible Yemeni coffee brands in the United States. "We're incredibly excited to be part of Corktown's vibrant and diverse community," Nasser said in a statement provided to ClickOnDetroit. "Detroit is a city known for its soul, resilience, and innovation, all values that Haraz represents."

The menu leans on coffee tied to Yemen's Haraz region, brewed with hawaij, a warm spice blend built around cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. The company also pours Adeni-style spiced milk teas and sells pastries alongside its signature drinks, including the pistachio latte the brand has built much of its reputation on. In Corktown, Haraz pairs the coffee program with frozen treats through a partnership with JJS Custard Co., a Dearborn ice cream maker.

The Corktown opening closes out a development story that shifted along the way. In October 2023, Haraz was announced as an incoming tenant at Perennial Corktown, a Hunter Pasteur apartment project a few blocks east, alongside a bodega-style Corktown Market grocery. That pairing did not materialize as first described. Haraz instead landed at The Brooke on Bagley, a $23 million mixed-use building developed by Woodborn Partners through the city's Strategic Neighborhood Fund, with retail space on its ground floor.

Yemeni coffee has spread across metro Detroit over the past several years, with Dearborn's large Yemeni-American community building the early customer base. Haraz Coffee House is at 1501 Church Street.