SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – San Francisco’s Financial District has a new option for the post-work crowd. And it has a unique feature, rooted in Yemeni coffee culture, that makes it stand out from the crowd.
Sana’a Cafe recently opened at 27 Drumm Street, near the Embarcadero. The new Yemeni coffee shop is currently listed as open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. — a 15-hour stretch that makes it a genuine evening destination, not just another place to grab a rushed morning latte.
That long-day format is part of the appeal, and the cafe’s standout feature. Yemeni cafes have become increasingly popular across the Bay Area in part because they offer an alcohol-free place to gather well into the evening, whether that means catching up with friends, working on a laptop, meeting after dinner, or lingering over something sweet.
Across the country, Yemeni coffeehouses have embraced late-night hours as a defining feature, sometimes staying open much later during Ramadan. Some are even open until 3am, after many bars in sleepy SF have closed.
At Sana’a, the menu combines familiar coffee-shop orders with Yemeni specialties. There are pistachio, rose and Yemeni lattes, plus qishr, a traditional drink made from the dried husks of coffee cherries. Customers will also find Adeni chai, Arabic light roast coffee, mofawar, honeycomb pastries, baklava, milk cakes and savory turnovers.
The opening is part of a larger San Francisco expansion for Sana’a Cafe. The growing chain has locations in various stages of development at 27 Drumm St., 388 Market St. and 689 Townsend St., all in former Starbucks storefronts.
It also arrives during a much larger Yemeni coffee boom around the Bay Area. KQED reported last month that more than 20 Yemeni coffee shops have opened across the region since Delah Coffee became San Francisco’s first Yemeni cafe in 2022.
For FiDi workers, nearby residents and anyone looking for a late-night alternative to a bar, Sana’a’s newest location may be especially welcome. Downtown San Francisco has plenty of places for an early espresso. A cafe where the coffee, pastries and conversation can last until 10 p.m. is still a relative rarity.
