Almoká brings coffee from above the clouds in Yemen down to Rockford
By Helen Karakoudas
Special to the Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Almoká Coffee House, Illinois’ first Yemeni coffee shop north of Chicago’s suburbs, is now open.
The new business, which has been generating buzz for nearly a year, brings to Rockford the coffee craze percolating in large cities nationwide and creates a regional late-night destination for alcohol-free drinks and cooked-to-order desserts.
Local entrepreneur Hussain Abdulhafedh, who transformed the former Jimmy John’s space in the Perryville Commons shopping center, began welcoming customers at noon Sunday. Almoká is a corner spot at 753 Highgrove Place, two doors down from Countryside Meats & Deli in the strip behind David’s Bridal.
The soft opening has limited hours of noon to 8 p.m. through Thursday, Feb. 20. After a two-day break this week for the baristas to recharge, full hours for Almoká will start Sunday, Feb. 23. The shop will then be open daily: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
“I’m one of many people of my nationality who have thought this idea would be the greatest thing to bring to their hometown,” said Abdulhafedh, referring to how Yemeni coffee shops that opened in Michigan in 2017 have since been multiplying as chains and independents across the United States. “This is culture. This is history. This is our opportunity to start telling it here.”
Abdulhafedh, a Rockford-born Belvidere resident known to friends as Hussain Abdul, is so intense about telling the story of his parents’ homeland being the birthplace of coffee he’s steeped shop décor in artful explanations: place-setting paintings and lettering by muralist Brett Whitacre, a detailed relief map of Yemen, and descriptive decals.
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You can trace coffee’s origins to Yemen, a mountainous country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and learn what’s special about Yemen’s port city of Mocha.
“Right now, I can cry just talking about the subject. All this will save my voice,” Abdul said Friday afternoon, pointing to the walls shortly after the last decal was installed.
Almoká is a second job and passion project for the idled Stellantis team leader and father of three. Also owner and manager of GreenCity Lawn Maintenance, Abdul kickstarted work on the coffee shop last spring while waiting for the Belvidere Assembly Plant to reopen. He’s since immersed himself in learning about coffee science. Asked his age, Abdul smiles and proudly puts 36 in terms of a coffee extraction fact: “Eighteen grams of whole coffee beans should yield 36 grams of espresso.”
Though he is relieved to have completed the longer-than-expected buildout in time for the Muslim month of Ramadan, so that people observing the daily fast will have a gathering spot to break it starting Feb. 28, Abdul hopes Almoká can be everyone’s place for togetherness and tradition.
“I want to meet people from all races,” he said. “I want to attract people who appreciate culture and new things, and know that what we could do together is better than what we can do apart.”
What’s on the menu
In addition to lattes, macchiatos and other better-known coffee drinks all made with coffee from Yemen, expect Yemeni specialties like Mufawar, a medium roast with cardamom and cream, and Qishr, spiced coffee husks with cinnamon and ginger. Also on the menu are Yemeni teas, including the popular Adeni chai, a milky drink known for its notes of cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.
“The Mufawar coffee here, I swear to God, it’s better than the ones in Chicago,” said Magda Mohamed, a Loves Park resident who is a doctoral candidate in Islamic studies. “A lot of times on the weekends, we’ll drive Skokie or to Lombard, to go to a Yemeni cafe. And now to have one in Rockford is such a big deal. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s all over social media. That it’s going to be open late is a huge deal for people that don’t drink to have a place to go hang out at night.”
Mohamed, the key presenter at Roscoe’s first interfaith Iftar dinner in 2024, had spoken at that event of the joy and happiness in sharing communal meals at sunset of the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. She sees Almoká being part of local Ramadan joy this year. “Oh, yeah,” Mohamed said, seated in a corner of the shop on Sunday. “Break the fast and come over here for dessert and coffee. Just a place to hang out with friends.”
Other favorites on the menu were the pistachio latte and pistachio affogato, both featuring a pistachio milk blend which is housemade. That’s a point of pride for Abdul, who notes this isn’t the case for pistachio drinks served at a well-recognized national chain.
Keeping with the Middle Eastern theme, Turkish coffee is also on the menu. It’s served on in a traditional ornate pot on a tray with an equally ornate demitasse set.
Noncaffeinated drinks at Almoká include fruit smoothies and refreshers, plus a Yemeni limeade. Several drinks, including the Almoká signature smoothie, are made with Vimto, a fruity tonic that’s a beverage tradition in Arab countries, where people don’t drink alcohol.
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Cooked-to-order sweet and savory crepes are the house specialty for dessert.
Among six sweet crepe options are a Nutella crepe and a Dubai chocolate crepe, which is topped with kinafa (syrup-soaked shredded phyllo), a pistachio spread and milk chocolate. There’s also a Yemeni cheese crepe. Ready-made desserts range from the viral Dubai strawberry cup to milk cakes and cheesecakes, including a towering baklava cheesecake and a Dubai chocolate cheesecake.
‘Coffee from Above the Clouds’
Almoká coffee is made from coffee beans Abdul brings in from farmers in Yemen and has roasted locally.
Just like the coffee is single-source and organic, so is the way Abdul is promoting it. On the paper cups, the store window, and decorative script by Brett Whitacre on an arch over a long row of tables, you’ll see “Coffee from Above the Clouds” — a nod to coffee plants cultivated on terraces in Yemen so high that you can look down and see clouds below the crops.
That elevation, often cited for Yemeni coffee’s richness, was a point Abdul had wanted to catch people’s attention but hadn’t initially found a way to get across.
“I like to create logos and get inspired by things. Very funny story how that slogan came to fruition,” Abdul said, referring to Rock River Current’s March 21, 2024, article that a Yemeni coffee shop was coming to Rockford. “In the interview, I said to Kevin Haas, ‘Literally, this coffee is grown above clouds.’ When we read that, my brother said, ‘Bro, I love how you said that. It should be like a slogan.”
Knowing how quickly Yemeni coffee chains are expanding — three chains account for more than 30 franchise locations across the U.S. — and to get ahead of competition from a chain or another indie, Abdul promptly applied for a trademark, which is pending.
The Arabic translation of the slogan is in neon at an Instagrammable spot at the back of the shop.
How to experience Yemeni coffee
Coffee comes in single 12- and 16-ounce cups and, if you call ahead and need to caffeinate a crew, you can get a 96-ounce container to-go. You can also pick up a 12-ounce bag of Yemeni coffee beans, like the rare Mocha Peaberry, to take home. But there’s more to Yemeni coffee than grabbing it and going.
To enjoy this coffee the Middle Eastern way, order it in a medium or large kettle to share. Under the largest mural is a majlis, the low-rising Arab sofa bench meant for sitting back and relaxing.
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Abdul said a group of Saudi students from Rockford University recently drove up, noticed the seating and came to the door to learn about a setting so reminiscent of home. “They’re like, ‘Yeah! That’s Arabic, for sure.’ The next thing, they just started talking, and then they hung out.”
Abdul hopes Almoká will be an intergenerational hangout, from teens checking out a new vibe to people his parents’ age and older finding a natural fit. “My mother and father never had a place to really kind of go out and hang out. Now, I find them coming here almost on a daily basis to get their cup of coffee.”
Collaboration, not competition
The coffee beans Abdul brings in from Yemen are roasted by Ben Chauvin and his team at Rockford Roasting Co., the downtown coffee shop inside the Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront hotel.
“I never had the honor or opportunity to roast coffee from Yemen before this,” Chauvin said after placing his order at Almoká on Sunday afternoon. “So having someone source it and just kind of handing us the green coffee, and then us doing what we do best with coffee, has been a joy of a journey for us.”
Chauvin said his company has done some wholesale and roasting for other clients over the past decade, but it’s always been under the Rockford Roasting brand. “This is a first,” Chauvin said. “It’s a fun partnership and it’s great for the coffee community.”
Abdul knows Almoká is adding to Rockford’s coffee culture and takes that role seriously. He’s planning on joining GoRockford’s Rockford Area Coffee Trail, a visitors bureau promotion that already includes a dozen shops in Winnebago County.
“There’s a lot of coffee shops here and so many different types of concepts. There’s plenty I respect and I hope are going to be in business forever. Everybody has something to offer. I have education to offer,” Abdul said. “I feel like this concept is already so successful in other locations, I just gave it a little twist and added my flair to it.”
About | Almoká Coffee House
Where: 753 Highgrove Place, Rockford; in the Perryville Commons shopping center, in the strip behind David’s Bridal, two doors down from Countryside Meats & Deli.
Hours for the soft opening, Feb. 16-20, 2025: 12 to 8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday
Hours starting Feb. 23, 2025: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 9 a.m. to midnight Friday, Saturday
On the web: almokacoffee.com
On Facebook: Almoka Coffee House
On Instagram: @almokacoffeehouse
This article is by freelance journalist Helen Karakoudas. Email feedback to news@rockrivercurrent.com.
