Yemeni coffee shop opening in North Oakland

Shibam Coffee, a Michigan-based Yemeni coffee company, will open on the corner of Melwood  and Centre Avenues.

Colliers, a Pittsburgh real estate agency, announced in April 2024 that they leased a space to Shibam Coffee and planned to open during summer 2024, but it has not announced an official opening date. 

Shibam Coffee’s online menu details their offerings, including traditional coffee shop options like lattes, cappuccinos, hot cocoa and a variety of tea options. Its tea and coffee comes in a variety of sizes, offering both single and kettle servings. 

The coffee shop also has a small portion of its menu dedicated to its refreshers that come in a variety of flavors such as a dragonfruit, strawberry mojito and qishr. 

Shibam also sells pastries, including their signature honeycomb and sabaya pastries.

Naomi Weiss, a sophomore public and professional writing and history major, lives on upper campus close to where Shibam Coffee will be.

“If it’s close enough, I’ll go there,” Weiss said. “Usually, I take a coffee and study. So wherever I’m studying, if there’s a coffee shop nearby, then that’s where I’ll go.”

The opening of Shibam Coffee will provide Pitt students, specifically those living in North Oakland, with more coffee shop options. Currently, Starbucks, Saxby’s and Dunkin’ Donuts all have multiple locations throughout Oakland, though the Starbucks in Amos Hall is temporarily closed for renovations.

Several smaller coffee shops are also located close to campus, such as Divvy Coffee and Buns on Forbes Avenue and Redhawk Coffee Roasters on Meyran Avenue.

Senior Spanish and English writing major Lily Undercofler said of the coffee options in Oakland, she really only goes to Divvy — the “cute coffee shop”  — or Saxby’s due to its proximity to her classes in the Cathedral.

“The options are kind of limited,” Undercofler said. “It’s Divvy, Starbucks, Saxbys.”

Undercofler said though she believes it’s expensive, she wishes there were “more little coffee shops like Divvy.”

At Starbucks, Divvy, Saxby’s and Shibam, prices for a hot latte with no extra flavors or alternative milks are comparable. At both Divvy and Starbucks, a small plain latte costs $4.75. A small latte costs $5.25 at Saxby’s and Shibam. Additionally, both Divvy and Shibam charge extra for iced lattes.

“It’s expensive no matter where you go,” Undercofler said. “Starbucks, Saxby’s and Divvy are all expensive.” 

Undercofler lives in South Oakland, which is farther from where Shibam Coffee is located, though she said she would be willing to walk over from campus.

“If I’m already on campus, [then] it’s not much farther,”  Undercofler said. “I would totally check it out.”