A Dubai-born tea chain known for its saffron-spiced chai and halal street food has planted its flag in Carrollton, opening a new cafe at 1205 W. Trinity Mills Rd. #101. The shop marks Filli Cafe's debut in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, bringing a menu of karak chai, shawarma wraps, and loaded fries to a stretch of North Texas already known for South Asian and Middle Eastern dining.
The Carrollton location is run by Sajid Iqbal, who leads a group of friends and family operating the franchise, according to CultureMap Dallas. Iqbal told the outlet he plans to open at least one or two more Filli Cafe locations in the DFW area, suggesting the Carrollton shop is just the opening move for the brand in North Texas. State construction filings show the storefront was registered as a 1,700-square-foot renovation valued at $100,000, passing its required accessibility inspection in June, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, with property owner FM Investments LP leasing the space to Iqbal.
A Familiar Playbook From Houston
The franchise group behind the Carrollton opening isn't new to the Filli Cafe brand. The same operators first introduced the chain to Texas with a Sugar Land location near Houston in March 2022, then expanded across the Houston metro with shops on Hillcroft Street and Westheimer Road in 2024, per the Houston Chronicle. That earlier expansion was co-led by Zeeshan Shaikh and Mohd Ahtesham Hussain, who launched their Filli Cafe partnership after regularly meeting for weekend tea, the paper reported.
Sugar Land also happens to be where the brand made its broader U.S. debut in 2022. Filli Cafe now counts nine U.S. locations, including additional shops in Chicago, New York, Virginia, and Columbus, Ohio, on top of the new Carrollton store, per CultureMap's report.
From a Dubai Cafeteria to a Global Chain
Filli Cafe's origin story traces back to founder Rafih Filli, who took over his father's small cafeteria in Dubai and rebranded it in 2004. The chain's rise from that single tea stall into an international operation was significant enough to become a Harvard Business School case study in 2018, the same year Filli was featured as a TEDx speaker discussing the brand's global growth, according to Filli Cafe. The company describes its motto as “uniting cultures, one cup at a time.”
The chain's global footprint has kept expanding since. Corporate infrastructure records reviewed by Oracle NetSuite show Filli Cafe had grown to 114 locations across 13 countries by February, spanning the U.S., U.K., Canada, Qatar, Oman, India, and Pakistan, with the company using AI-driven enterprise software to automate more than 30% of its global administrative workload as it manages multi-entity franchise finances across borders. CultureMap's own count put the chain at more than 74 cafes across 14 countries as of its report on the Carrollton opening.
What's on the Menu
The Carrollton menu leans on the brand's signature Zafran chai, made with milk tea, saffron, sugar, and what the company calls secret spices, alongside masala chai, Kashmiri chai, espresso drinks, matcha lattes, and frozen mocktails, per CultureMap's rundown. The cafe also pours karak chai, a strong spiced milk tea common across the Gulf. Unlike traditional Indian masala chai, which leans on ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, Gulf-style karak chai uses a simpler profile of cardamom or saffron simmered with black tea and evaporated milk, according to CultureMap Dallas, which notes the drink is a staple social beverage across the Arabian Peninsula.
Food options range from paratha rolls, samosas, chaat, rice bowls, and loaded fries to oblong pizzas, including an Indian butter chicken pizza, and sliders in five varieties. The shawarma jalapeno melt pairs marinated shawarma chicken with jalapenos and cheese. Beverages run $2.50 to $8, while food items are priced between $8 and $20, per the CultureMap report. The entire menu is halal, and official directory filings confirm the Carrollton location is 100% Zabiha Halal-certified, meaning meat is hand-slaughtered and prepared according to Islamic dietary practices, with the shop open daily from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., according to Filli Cafe's own listings.
Landing in a South Asian Dining Corridor
The Trinity Mills Road location isn't an accident of geography. The strip sits alongside Al Markaz Restaurant and Groceries, placing the new cafe inside a long-established North Texas corridor for South Asian and Middle Eastern dining, according to Desi.Net. The area has functioned as a regional hub for that kind of dining for years, the outlet notes.
That positioning tracks with the city's demographics. Asian residents make up 17.8% of Carrollton's population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, with Asian Indians representing one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the city and surrounding suburbs. It's the kind of customer base that gives a brand built around South Asian street food and Gulf-style tea an obvious foothold.
Riding a Bigger Wave in Specialty Tea
Filli Cafe's suburban push also lines up with broader shifts in how Americans drink tea. The global chai tea market is projected to hit $13.23 billion this year, with North America accounting for roughly a quarter of that market as specialty tea drinks now appear on more than 60% of urban cafe menus, according to Business Research Insights, which found 55% of American tea drinkers are interested in flavored specialty teas. The broader global tea market is expected to climb from $74 billion this year to $115.2 billion by 2033, with North America the fastest-growing region, per Grand View Research, which reported black tea held 53.3% of global market share last year.
Whether Filli Cafe becomes a fixture in North Texas the way it has in Houston may depend on how quickly Iqbal's group follows through on its stated plans for additional DFW locations. For now, the Carrollton shop stands as the brand's opening bid in a market where saffron chai and Gulf-style karak are still finding their footing next to more familiar coffeehouse staples.
