Columbia coffee trailer opens its first brick-and-mortar in Baltimore

Highlandtown has a new destination for cardamom lattes and croissant-waffle hybrids.

Qaffee House’s coffee shop at 328 S. Highland Ave. is the first brick-and-mortar location for the brand, which also has a coffee trailer in Columbia. But its owners have ambitions that extend well beyond their East Baltimore storefront.

“Our inspiration is to be a competitor to Starbucks,” said Nabeel Razzak, who cofounded the business and bakes all the pastries. They hope to add new locations in Baltimore and the rest of the state.

The North Laurel resident owns Qaffee House with married couple Rehma Khan and Shehab Hady. The shop is inspired by its three owners’ travels and international backgrounds — Khan is Pakistani and Indian while Hady is Egyptian and Guyanese. Razzak is a mix of Arab, African and South Asian heritages.

Across their cultures, Khan said, one commonality is a passion for coffee and tea. “We could be drinking coffee or tea all night long,” Khan said.

The owners are all Muslim, and Khan said she and Hady started the business during Ramadan 2 1/2 years ago to bring coffee to local mosques as worshippers were breaking their daily fasts. The trailer, usually parked at 5840 Banneker Road in Columbia, also caters weddings and special events.

Qaffee House customers in Baltimore will find a range of Middle Eastern-influenced espresso and tea drinks, such as a cardamom latte and karak chai. Snacks include cookies and an assortment of “qroffles,” Razzak’s take on croffles, which are made by pressing croissant dough in a waffle maker. Toppings can be sweet or savory, with the signature version glazed in orange blossom and topped with pistachios and vanilla custard.

The business’s logo features a mug with an Arabic letter qaf, which is the first letter in the word for coffee. Decor inside the shop includes a mural of the logo painted by Khan and Muslim-style latticework crafted by Razzak’s wife. “There’s nothing cookie-cutter about the cafe,” Razzak said. “This was built by human hands.”

Middle Eastern coffee shops are having a moment, with Yemeni coffee houses a fast-growing trend. While Qaffee House isn’t a Yemeni concept, it does share some of its DNA, with an Arabic-influenced atmosphere meant to offer an alternative to bigger chains. “We have our eye on Starbucks,” Razzak said, and he wants to open everywhere the Seattle-founded chain might be.

Before starting the shop, Razzak said he spent 15 years in the U.S. Air Force — where he nurtured his caffeine habit — while Khan was a stay-at-home mom and interior designer who had previously worked in nonprofits. Online, she has shared videos detailing the ups and downs from behind the scenes of her quest to open a business. Her goal, she said, is to make viewers feel like “they are part of the journey.”