A café known for saffron-laced Kashmiri chai and halal South Asian fare has planted its flag on Hackensack's Main Street, marking the first Bergen County location for Khyber Coffee & Tea House. The new spot at 264 Main Street opened as the brand's second outpost, expanding beyond its original New Brunswick roots and into a downtown corridor that's been drawing new food and beverage concepts all year.
According to Boozy Burbs, the Hackensack café is open six days a week, closed Tuesdays, with later hours on Fridays and Saturdays. The menu leans into specialty coffee, matcha, and tea drinks alongside pastries and light food options, all built around flavors like cardamom, rose, and saffron that nod to South Asian café culture, the outlet reports. Khyber's original location opened in 2023 at 110 Church Street in New Brunswick, founded by a group of first-generation American friends with Pakistani and Afghan roots, according to the café's own account.
A Name Rooted in the Khyber Pass
The café's name traces back to the Khyber Pass, the historically significant mountain route connecting Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with Afghanistan. That heritage shows up on the menu, which per Zabihah includes parathas, chai sets for two, croissants, and South Asian desserts like ras malai tres leches. The Hackensack location operates as a fully certified halal, alcohol-free establishment, the same report notes.
Bergen County issued congratulations on the grand opening in a post. No evidence was found that Hackensack Councilman Phil Carroll attended the grand opening.
Main Street's Revolving Door of Cafés
The address at 264 Main Street has seen its share of turnover among coffee and bakery tenants. The space previously housed Stimulatte by Bond, a specialty coffee shop that opened in January 2023, according to Boozy Burbs's earlier reporting on the property.
Khyber isn't the only new name on the block. In August, wellness-focused independent café Burst Beans debuted its first storefront inside The Forte complex in Hackensack, adding to the city's expanding specialty coffee scene. The clustering of new cafés along and near Main Street reflects a downtown corridor in the middle of a multi-year rehabilitation plan, one that has introduced more than 1,000 newly built or planned residential units aimed at boosting foot traffic for ground-floor retail, according to a LoopNet listing on the area.
Tapping Into a Diverse County
Khyber's move north also lines up with the region's demographics. That broader demographic context suggests a potential audience for a café built around South Asian traditions, certified halal menus, and chai sets meant for sharing.
For now, Khyber's Hackensack café stands as the brand's first Bergen County outpost, a bet that Main Street's redevelopment push and the county's diverse population can support a second home for the flavors it first served in New Brunswick.
