Atlantic Avenue is home to some stores that have been selling Middle Eastern goods for the better part of a century. Before moving to Atlantic Avenue, the Arab community of New York was based in Manhattan. About 100 Arab families from Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan were living by the waterfront on Washington Street in lower Manhattan by the turn of the century. It was a community known as “Little Syria.”
“They enjoyed a rich cultural life that was in many ways like the one in the old country, with Arabic newspapers, coffee houses and festivals where they danced the old dances.”
The shops and restaurants in the Atlantic Avenue area served as a link to the old country for the children and grandchildren of immigrants. For children who were born and raised on this side of the Atlantic, the pictures they had of their home countries came from the replicated life on the Avenue.
Although the exterior structure of 176 Atlantic Ave has remained constant throughout the years, the interior has changed vastly and is now home to the Yemen Café. The décor of this restaurant immerses customers in the Yemen culture while they dine. Take a look inside the Yemen Café.
To learn more about the owners of the Yemen Cafe, click here.
The interior of Yemen Café allows you to get immersed in Yemeni culture from its authentic Yemeni food to pictures of Yemen. Once you exit Yemen Café, you can see a world full of different cultures integrated together, as seen by the Arabic presence in stores such as Sahadi’s from across the street, to the newcomers in the neighborhood shopping in upscale businesses such as Barney’s. The overlap of so many different cultures in one area relates to immigration in New York City as seen by the sheer diversity in this international city.
To learn more about the neighborhood surrounding the Yemen Cafe, click here.
