A new coffee shop is coming to Somerville's Main Street, bringing centuries-old Yemeni coffee traditions to a downtown corridor already crowded with cafés. Moka & Co. will occupy 15 W. Main Street, marking the brand's second New Jersey location, and it arrives with a menu built around spiced brews, frozen blends, and pastries that trace back to Yemen's role as the first commercial producer of coffee.
The Somerville shop lands in a commercial district that already hosts more than 50 food and beverage businesses, according to the Downtown Somerville Alliance, including local coffee spots like Ambee Coffee Co. and Bliss Coffee Lounge alongside a Starbucks. It is Moka & Co.'s second stop in the state, following its first New Jersey café at 34 W. Palisade Ave. in Englewood, and part of a broader expansion that has carried the brand into Astoria, Bay Ridge, and Lower Manhattan, according to Moka & Co.
Moka & Co. is a coffee shop dedicated to Yemeni coffee traditions. The company was founded by a group of friends. NJ.com also reports that the company uses some beans from Yemen, according to the company. NJ.com also provides background on the brand.
A Name Rooted in Coffee's Origin Story
The company was named after the historic port of Mokha in Yemen, which it describes as the gateway through which coffee first reached the world, according to the company. That claim tracks with the broader history of the trade: Yemen was the world's first commercial exporter of cultivated Arabica coffee, shipping beans through the Red Sea port of Al Mokha starting in the 15th century, a legacy that permanently introduced the word “mocha” into the global coffee vocabulary, per Podium Coffee Club.
Moka & Co.'s site mentions fair trade and working with farmers. Coffee cultivation in Yemen dates back centuries. The beans are grown on mountainous terrain and sun-dried on rooftops, according to the same account. That natural drying process, done on flat roofs or stone terraces with the fruit left intact, is what gives Yemeni coffee its complex fruity and chocolatey character, according to Sufi Monks research on the region's processing traditions. Yemeni coffee also comes from terraced mountain farms.
What's on the Menu
The Somerville café's menu spans frozen blends, refreshers, and brewed coffee, along with traditional Yemeni coffee and tea brewed with spices, signature lattes, matcha lattes, and standard espresso drinks, per the NJ.com report. Traditional Yemeni coffeehouse menus can include spiced coffee and tea. The Somerville café's menu also includes pastries.
Moka & Co.'s founders wanted to create a concept that honors coffee's origins while providing gathering spaces, according to company information cited by NJ.com, and the company aims to position itself as a cultural experience centered on Yemeni heritage and coffee culture. The company describes its spaces as gathering places centered on Yemeni heritage and coffee culture.
Rapid Growth Beyond New Jersey
Moka & Co. already operates locations in Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas, and the company has locations coming soon in Connecticut, Kansas, and Washington, according to NJ.com's report. Hoodline previously covered the chain's expansion, part of the same nationwide push that has also seen the brand convert a former Starbucks drive-thru on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn.
The Somerville opening reflects the scale the brand has reached since its launch: company background shared with Vogue Michigan credited founder Dr. Mohamed Elgahmi and CEO Numan Ali with expanding Moka & Co. to 24 locations nationwide within its first two years. Whether Somerville's Main Street, already dense with independent coffee lounges and a Starbucks, will sustain another entrant remains to be seen, but the shop's scheduled August 29, 2026, opening will put it in direct company with a corridor that has become one of the state's more competitive coffee markets.
