Richardson | May 2026

Cultural corners From the cover

The background

The big picture

Habibi Market Plaza (future development) The Arabian Village 1 Yemandi Yemeni Cuisine 2 Salam Juice & Mutabbaq Restaurant 3 Arwa Yemeni Coee 4 50 Business Parkway (future development) Middle Eastern shopping centers

Within the last several years, The Arabian Village and Al Ameera Plaza have welcomed international businesses opening their rst American location as well as businesses already established in Texas or Richardson. Shawish also said he brought Texas’ rst Yemeni coee shop to The Arabian Village. “We wanted things that were dierent, things that people would drive [for],” Jibrin said. Jibrin said a woman ew in from California for the opening of Jordanian restaurant Khashoka Middle Eastern Cuisine, while Shawish said he meets customers who drive in from Oklahoma. Dania Allan, the listing agent for the planned Habibi Market Plaza, said that although the new development isn’t seeking specically Middle Eastern businesses, many have ocked to the center due to the nearby developments and neighboring Sara’s Market and Bakery, a 30-year Richardson staple.

When Adam Shawish moved to Dallas in 1998, he found just a handful of Middle Eastern restaurants. He said he dreamed of creating a center for Middle Eastern businesses in the area. “There is Little Palestine in Orange County, there is Little Arabia,” Shawish said. “My dream was to create something like that.” With its diverse residents and several established Middle Eastern businesses—including Afrah Mediterranean Cuisine and Sara’s Market & Bakery—Shawish said he knew Richardson could become that go-to destination. He bought the rst building in The Arabian Village in 2019 and began recruiting businesses. Kareem Jibrin said the same vision motivated his father Sammy to begin developing Al Ameera Plaza a few years later “We would go to all these Arab cities in other states—like for instance, if you go to New Jersey, all the Arabs are in Patterson,” Jibrin said. “We wanted people to come to Dallas and say, ‘We have to go to Richardson.’”

Al Ameera Plaza 5 Khashoka Middle Eastern Cuisine 6 Royal Roastery

CENTENNIAL BLVD.

W. SPRING VALLEY RD.

BUSINESS PKWY.

• Adam Shawish purchases irst building in The Arabian Village • Bigdash relocates to The Arabian Village • Sammy Jibrin purchases Al Ameera Plaza properties • Arwa Yemeni Coffee opens in The Arabian Village • Shawish purchases second Arabian Village building • Construction starts in Al Ameera Plaza • Development starts in Habibi Market Plaza • First business opens in Al Ameera Plaza • First business in Habibi Market Plaza expected to open

2019

2020

What they're saying

2021

2022

“It’s about creating spaces where businesses can thrive together, not just individually." AMIR OMAR, RICHARDSON MAYOR

“[The development] builds on the idea that we’re a foodie

2023

city, and that one step beyond that, we’re an international foodie city.” DON MAGNER, CITY MANAGER

2024

2025

2026

SOURCES: DANIA ALLAN, KAREEM JIBRIN AND ADAM SHAWISHCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Zooming in

excitement.” While Saif, who also operates businesses in North Carolina, said the shopping center growth makes it easier for business owners to nd a place to open in Richardson, he said he is also concerned about the growth in competition if too many similar restaurants open nearby. “Two locations, no problem, but if everybody around the area opens the same [thing], it’s going to be dicult,” Saif said.

Alashwal said, when they are able to eat food at his restaurant that they haven’t been able to nd in Dallas before. In addition to the Arab residents, Alashwal said that it was all of Richardson’s diverse and international communities that made the city the right place for his restaurant. “At rst there was a lot of curiosity from people who didn’t even know about Yemeni food,” Alashwal said. “Once they tried it, the curiosity turned into

Emad Saif said his new restaurant in The Arabian Village, Salam Juice & Mutbaq, is the rst place many Arab customers can try mutabbaq, a Yemeni crispy stued atbread, outside of the Middle East. “This is like a memory for them,” Saif said. Ammar Alashwal said the same is true for his Yemandi Yemeni Cuisine, also in The Arabian Village. “The Arab community feels represented,”

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