10:30 pm and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee is just starting to fill up

It’s 10:30 at night, and I should be tucked in bed. I’m also 10-plus hours beyond my usual last caffeine hit of the day. Yet here I am, about to order a high-dose coffee and, what the hell, a sugar blast of cake.

Welcome to Qamaria, Calgary’s first entry into the late-night Yemeni coffeehouse craze sweeping the U.S. Here, people often arrive around 10 pm and eat, drink and socialize till 1 or 2 am… or until they get kicked out.

Qamaria is a spacious space in Calgary’s Beltline

And there’s not a drop of alcohol to be found. Instead, the drinks of choice are spicy coffees and teas, consumed alongside desserts. Indeed, these Yemeni coffeehouses are designed as a liquor-free, late-night alternative for Muslims, particularly during Ramadan, when they fast from dawn to dusk.

Rose tres leche cake and pistachio latte

Qamaria is the first Canadian location of a U.S.-based franchise of the same name, started by two Yemeni entrepreneurs. The café’s coffee beans are sourced from small farms in Yemen, which boasts a 500-year history of producing and drinking coffee, beginning with Sufi monks seeking a stimulant.

A Turkish coffee for a late-night jolt

So, too, are the throngs of predominantly young Muslim women who, close to midnight, have filled every table in spacious Qamaria, many commemorating the moment with phone photos. It’s a vibrant, joyous mood, unlike anything I’ve experienced in a typical coffeehouse.

The pistachio latte and rose tres leche cake are delightful. But it’s the late-night people watching that makes this my best culinary visit of the year.

Qamaria Yemeni Coffee
1441 17 Avenue SW, Calgary
Open till 11 pm Monday to Thursday and 1 am Friday and Saturday
403-454-4123