What happens when an entrepreneur says her favorite part of her business is interacting with customers? A great coffee shop is born. Dahlia Osman, owner of Mazag Café, says that she always dreamed of running a coffee shop, because she wanted to be in a business where she was always surrounded by people. “I love interacting with people, so I always wanted to own a shop. I was working in the corporate world, in insurance, and for several years I looked for a property to open a coffee shop but never found anything. But back in October of 2008, my son and I saw the sign advertising this place, and I made the call and it just worked out.”
Dahlia began Mazag Café, which in Arabic means, “Good mood,” and did what she does best, spent time getting to know people—especially her customers. She quickly learned that the people in her area, at 10th and Carpenter, are a mixture of middle-class families, hipsters, and young professionals. “There are always young families around, which is great, and plenty of hipsters. Some of them get offended if you call them that,” she says with a laugh, “but others love it!”
Although Dahlia, being from Egypt, may have a different background than her customers, she is very good at listening to what they’d like to have available at Mazag. “I alter the menu based on the season and customer suggestions. People tell me what they like, what they’d change. They say, ‘Why don’t you make this dish or combine those two?’ Recently I reached a great menu that all my customers have been really happy with, and I think that this time the menu will be there for good. Although, seasonal and special soups and drinks like apple cider, lattes with pumpkin spices, and other choices, will still change from time to time.”
And since Mazag sits across from a small park with a bocce court that hosts everything from pickup games to bocce leagues, Mazag loans bocce equipment to customers and features a hand-painted wall of bocce rules in the bathroom.
Mazag Café also knows that different customers want different options, so it has a variety of menu options. “In addition to our baked goods, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, salads, panini’s, espresso drinks, juices, and wraps, I provide a few healthy Egyptian dishes and drinks that fit into the coffee shop genre.” Mazag offers Egyptian lemonade that is blended with real lemon, rather than stirred, and many Egyptian dishes. “Every Wednesday we have a koshery dish—an Egyptian street food. It’s very authentic, and it’s vegan because it’s not made from any meat or butter, just oil.” Dahlia has run Mazag Cafe so that it fits in with and appeals to its surrounding neighborhood while adding its own distinctive flavor to the mix.
Take a Video Tour of Mazag Cafe Below: