The conversation starter.
He loves meeting guests, swapping stories, and making a new face feel familiar. For Eihab, being part of the neighborhood is the point.
Our story · From Palestine, with love
A world of coffee.
A little piece
of home.
Some places start with a business plan.
Ours started with a feeling.
with company. ♡
01 / The feeling we brought with us
Long before Sahara,
there was the ritual.
Eihab Sarabi was born in Jenin, Palestine. Life took him across countries, to the United States for university in the mid-1980s, and into a career in engineering and business.
Through busy days and new places, a good cup of coffee was a familiar comfort. Over travels to more than 67 countries, he kept finding the same thing: coffee and tea gave people a reason to slow down, sit together, and talk.
After returning to the U.S. from Dubai with his family in 2018, he began imagining a coffee house of his own. A place that could hold all those stories—and feel like home.
Places in our story
A few places.
A lifetime of stories.
Palestinian roots. A chapter in Dubai. A coffee house in Phoenix. A little of each lives here.
Jenin
Where Eihab’s story began. Family, embroidery, and the flavors of home.
Our roots. ♡
Dubai
A chapter of family life before the return to the United States in 2018.
A chapter we carry.
Phoenix
Where those memories became Sahara. A place to share a cup and feel at home.
Room for one more.Photography credits
Jenin (2010): Qasrawi 2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. Original photograph, displayed in a fitted frame. Dubai Creek: Kate Trysh. Phoenix: Scott Money. Dubai and Phoenix photographs used under the Unsplash License.
A memory under the stars
Different countries.
Different songs.
The same pot of coffee.
Eihab remembers nights in the Arabian desert, sharing coffee, tea, and songs with people from different parts of the world. That simple feeling of togetherness stayed with him.
And found its way to Phoenix.
02 / Made of memories
Home is in
the little things.
As a child, Eihab helped his mother with embroidery for their home. Today, the artwork at Sahara carries that memory forward.
The colors, the wall art, and the mana’eesh on the menu draw from his Palestinian upbringing and the lessons of parents and grandparents. They’re our way of sharing a culture through the things you can see, taste, and feel.
Find a new favorite03 / A family endeavor
Two personalities.
One very warm
welcome.
The recipe perfectionist.
Zain brings dedication to getting the flavors right and a connection with a new generation of coffee lovers. Eihab is proud of what they’ve built together.
Different approaches, plenty of learning, and a shared belief in taking care of people.
Why Sahara?
A name with roots.
Sahara means desert. To Eihab, it holds resilience, simplicity, and the connection between the landscapes he has known—from the Arabian desert to Arizona.
Here in Phoenix, it also means a table, a cup, and room for one more.