Garland cafe offers special Ramadan hours to serve the Muslim community
GARLAND (CBSNewsTexas.com) — It doesn't happen often, but this year, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan overlap on the calendar.
During Ramadan, you may see some businesses across North Texas offer special hours to accommodate Muslim members of the community who mark the month by fasting from sunrise to sunset. One Garland coffee shop is doing just that, and sparking conversations between people of different faiths.
Like millions of Muslims around the country, Judy Maktabi and her family are celebrating Ramadan.
"We start fasting from sunrise and then we break our fast at sunset," said Maktabi, who works as a barista at her family's coffee shop, Bloom Café.
For Muslims worldwide, the holy month of Ramadan is a time to fast, pray and grow closer to God. For this Syrian-American family growing up in Garland, it was hard to find things to do after breaking their fast.
"Growing up we never really had anywhere to go after we prayed, after we broke our fast for Ramadan. So, at night, we just went home after prayer and if we wanted coffee there was nowhere to go. So, we were like, why not open it up for the community?" Maktabi said.
So when the Maktabi family opened Bloom Café in Garland last November, they knew they wanted to create a place where Muslims could come together with their family and friends after they break their fast.
"Most coffee shops close around 9-ish, 8-ish and our prayer time is from 9:30 to 11 p.m. So, we decided to start opening up from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. which is around the time where everyone likes to go out and drink their coffee that they missed in the morning," said Maktabi.
On Friday and Saturday nights during Ramadan, this coffee shop becomes a place for the community to come together to celebrate not only Ramadan but also the rich diversity of this community.
"A lot of the Muslim community is around this area like Richardson and Garland and they were so glad and they were like 'we finally have a place to go during the weekend' to grab a cup of coffee, a pastry, and sit with their family and friends," said Maktabi.
The Ramadan After-Hours are about more than sharing a cup of coffee with friends as you break the fast. This coffee shop has inspired people of other faiths to learn more about Ramadan.
"It's almost like a party because they finally get to stop fasting and you learn quite a bit about what they're going through every single day," said Bloom Cafe regular Nijee Cooper.
Cooper isn't Muslim, but he loves coming to the Ramadan After Hours to meet new people. Through new friendships he's learned so much about Ramadan.
"I feel like whenever you learn new things and you introduce yourself to new people and open your mind up to new people it teaches you lot about the world," said Cooper.