A Dearborn, Michigan-born Yemeni coffee chain is setting up shop in Columbus this fall, with a Clintonville storefront on North High Street already posting job listings and a second location taking shape in Dublin. Jabal Coffee House has not announced an exact opening date for either site, but exterior work is visibly underway at its planned Clintonville space, signaling the chain's next major Midwest push is close at hand.
Jabal's Clintonville location will sit at 2761 N. High St., a stretch of North Columbus already packed with independent coffee shops and restaurants, according to Columbus Underground. The corridor runs along a major transit and retail artery linking central Columbus to Ohio State University and the northern suburbs, a detail noted by WhatNow. The chain has posted hire applications specifically for the Clintonville spot, even as the exact Dublin address remains unannounced.
Columbus Underground reports the two Columbus-area locations are expected to open in fall 2026, alongside two additional Ohio locations opening the same season. Beyond the capital region, Jabal has plans to open shops in Toledo and North Olmsted, expanding its Ohio footprint well past the initial Columbus rollout. The chain already operates in Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Canada, and it has plans to expand into Georgia, New York, California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Texas.
What's on the Menu
Jabal's menu leans into both traditional and trend-driven offerings. The chain serves Adeni tea alongside hot and cold drinks like iced lattes, ice matcha lattes and brown sugar shaken espresso, plus fruit-forward refreshers in strawberry acai and mango dragonfruit flavors. On the bakery side, expect milk cake, tiramisu, bee bites and what's described as a viral fruit cake.
Those trending fruit-shaped pastries and honey bread have become a signature at Jabal's other locations, part of a broader format that includes customizable app ordering, private soundproofed seating rooms with media screens, and operating hours that stretch past midnight, according to CBS News. The chain opened its flagship store on Mason Street in West Dearborn in November 2023, founded by brothers Saqr Waza and Gamal Waza. Its name comes from jabal, the Arabic word for mountain, a nod to the single-origin coffee beans grown on high-altitude Yemeni terraces and processed using traditional sun-drying methods, as 614NOW reports.
Joining an Already Crowded Field
Jabal is far from the first Yemeni coffee brand to stake a claim in central Ohio. Columbus has seen a wave of arrivals since 2022 and 2023, led by Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co., which opened stores in Hilliard, Lewis Center and Dublin, along with Haraz Coffee House, according to Breakfast With Nick. Haraz itself has scaled explosively since launching in Dearborn in 2020, growing to 59 U.S. locations by this month with more than 250 more in development, per Fresh Cup Magazine.
That growth mirrors a national trend. The number of U.S. cafes run by six major Yemeni coffee chains grew 50% in 2025 to reach 136 locations nationwide, according to restaurant industry consulting firm Technomic, as cited by Arab News. Industry analysis ties that expansion to shifting American social habits, pointing to 2025 Gallup data showing U.S. adult alcohol consumption dropped to 54%, a 90-year low — a shift that has helped position alcohol-free, late-night Yemeni cafes as social gathering spots for a new generation of customers.
A Heritage Rooted in Yemen's Mountains
The boom traces back to Yemen's long history as the birthplace of the commercial coffee trade. The country cultivated Arabica beans on mountain terraces and exported them globally for centuries through the ancient Red Sea port of Al Mokha, the origin of the word Mocha, according to background compiled by ReliefWeb. That heritage has become a central selling point for chains like Jabal, which market single-origin beans and traditional preparation methods as a point of cultural pride and differentiation.
The broader U.S. coffee market is projected to reach $25 billion in 2026, with heritage-focused and culturally distinct cafe models capturing a growing share of specialty spending, per a Yemeni Coffee in the U.S. Growth Report cited in the dossier. For now, the open questions in Columbus remain practical ones: no firm opening dates have been set for either the Clintonville or Dublin locations, and it's unclear exactly how Jabal will carve out space in a central Ohio market already thick with Yemeni coffee competitors.
