Yemeni chai is almost here for downtown Boston. MOTW Coffee & Pastries is still aiming to open at 45 Broad St. in the Financial District in mid-October. That was the target What Now Boston reported in September, and Boston.com repeated it in an Oct. 2 roundup of upcoming openings. We could not find an exact opening date, so check before you go.
The café sits a short walk from Quincy Market, in a ground-floor space that Hoodline reports used to be a Starbucks. It will be run by Kader Kapadia and Salwa Zakaria, the Shrewsbury husband-and-wife franchisees who already run MOTW's café on Maple Avenue in Shrewsbury. Mass Halal first reported their plans in September: https://masshalal.com/articles/8e5b619e-5d01-4a84-8ee3-261d2fc8552e
Licensed and nearly ready
The Boston Licensing Board granted the café a common victualler license in August, according to the board's Aug. 6 agenda. The application listed hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to midnight on Friday, 8 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Opening hours may be different, so confirm them before you visit. The application listed 23 seats, and What Now Boston described the space as having seating for about 25, along with murals and high-speed Wi-Fi.
What's on the menu
According to What Now Boston, the downtown café will carry Shrewsbury favorites, including MOTW's signature Yemeni chai, specialty lattes, matcha, a variety of empanadas, tres leches and tiramisu. The owners are also developing a few new items for this location but have not announced them yet.
About halal: MOTW's own website does not make a halal statement. The halal directory Zabihah lists the Shrewsbury café as fully halal with no alcohol, based on what it describes as staff's verbal assurance. We found no halal statement specific to the new Boston café, so ask when you visit.
From Instagram to coffee bar
MOTW stands for Muslims of the World. Sajjad Shah started it as an Instagram page in 2014, and it later grew into a nonprofit that funds humanitarian work in places including Yemen and Ethiopia. Shah and his wife, Fatimah, opened the first MOTW café in 2021. The Broad Street café will be the brand's third in Greater Boston, after Shrewsbury and Quincy.
Sources: https://whatnow.com/boston/restaurants/motw-coffee-pastries-to-open-new-cafe-in-bostons-financial-district-this-fall/ https://www.boston.com/food/restaurants/2026/10/02/best-restaurant-openings-october-2-2026/ https://hoodline.com/2026/09/yemeni-chai-chain-motw-coffee-plants-flag-in-boston-s-financial-district/ https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/2026/08/Voting%20Agenda%208-6-26.docx_0.pdf https://www.zabihah.com/restaurants/08dd4922-37c5-41ae-846e-984e364107b8/motw-coffee-pastries-shrewsbury-ma https://motw.coffee/ https://masshalal.com/articles/8e5b619e-5d01-4a84-8ee3-261d2fc8552e