(In First Look, we visit a new restaurant or bar in Central New York to give readers an idea of what to expect. If you know of a new place, email me at cmiller@syracuse.com or call/text me at 315-382-1984. If I take your suggestion, I just might buy you a meal.)
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North Syracuse, N.Y. — Opening a coffee shop in Sweetheart Corner might sound like a gamble. Starbucks couldn’t make it here. Tim Hortons fizzled out a decade ago. Even Café Kubal eventually pulled the plug before its second birthday.
But Zaman Coffee House, which opened Aug. 10, is already rewriting the script. Since its soft opening, this family-run café has seen a steady stream of customers, some traveling from as far as Oswego for their daily cup.
Tiffany Smith drove nearly 40 miles from Oswego just for an iced pistachio latte ($6.75). “This is my favorite coffee shop,” she said. “I always get the pistachio latte. Anytime I’m driving by or coming through, I always stop.”
The café is owned by the Almaliti brothers, who all emigrated here from Jordan: Anas, 39; Musa, 37; Saddam, 34; and Mohammed, 21. They weren’t deterred by the string of past failures or even by the shiny new 7 Brew Coffee chain that just opened across the street.
“When we told people we were opening here, everyone thought we were crazy,” Musa said. “But we wanted to offer something completely different, an experience you’d have to fly to the Middle East to get.”
That experience includes Turkish coffee: brewed twice, dark, slightly sweet, and not-so-slightly potent. It’s served in a setting that encourages you to slow down. In fact, “Zaman” is an ancient word used across more than two dozen languages. It means “time” or “a time long gone.”
On the café’s wall, a poem by Elia Abu Madi serves as both décor and mission statement: “Oh Zaman, slow down just a bit … The voice of Zaman speaks in my ear. ‘Yesterday is gone … tomorrow isn’t here.’”
The Almaliti brothers emphasize quality. Their matcha is ceremonial grade (the first tender buds) whisked with precision at 175 degrees until it forms a smooth foam. Their coffee beans come directly from Yemen, widely considered the birthplace of Arabica coffee more than 1,200 years ago. Their Turkish coffee comes straight from Turkey.
“This is bold coffee flavor with a hint of sweetness,” Anas said. “It’s not like other places that hide the espresso in sugar. We want people to taste real coffee.”
And they’re serious about hospitality: Zaman doesn’t accept tips. “We pay our employees fair wages,” Anas said. “The best tip is a good review and seeing someone walk through the door again.”
They wanted, he added, just a space to unwind, connect, and feel at home: no alcohol, no loud music. Just good drinks and food that feels like a treat.
Speaking of treats, I tried the pistachio cream cake ($8.99), a towering square layered with vanilla cream and crushed nuts that’s quickly become Zaman’s bestseller.
But the Turkish milk cake ($8.99) stole my heart. Each slice arrives soaking in its own pool of sweet milk, as if the cake brought its own sauce to the plate. It’s almost like the sponge floats in a creamy moat, daring you to drag your fork through every last drop.
For now, the pastries are made by a local baker, but in the coming months, the brothers will open their own bakery in Eastwood to expand offerings.
Even in its soft-opening phase (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.), Zaman is drawing a mix of customers. Some linger for hours over Turkish coffee; others zip through for a quick latte. A drive-thru and earlier hours are coming soon.
And while a few skeptics still bet against the location, the brothers say the community response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Said Musa: “We wanted to bring people together the way coffee does back home in Jordan. That’s the culture we missed, and now we’re sharing it here.”
Time, as the Almaliti brothers say, tastes better here.
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The Details
Where: Zaman Coffee House, 3911 Brewerton Road (Route 11), North Syracuse, (315) 440-6666
Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. (Soon to be opening at 6 a.m.)
Parking: Plenty of parking in the lot.
Menu: You can order online here, and it’ll be waiting for you when you arrive.