Mokafé opens in Hicksville

Inside the old Dunkin' Donuts at the Hicksville Long Island Rail Road station now sits a spiffy green cafe with coffee drinks from Yemen.

Queens-based chain Mokafé has opened its second Long Island location next to the station, nearly nine months after it took on a larger 3,200-square-foot space in Melville. Unlike the Melville store, this does not have a drive-thru, but it's location primes it for foot traffic, proved on a recent afternoon visit.

Co-owner Youssef Mubarez says he signed the lease back in June 2025, but was held up by permitting and construction. 

"It’s an iconic location. The Dunkin' by the Hicksville train station, everybody knows it," he said. "As soon as I saw that space was up for lease, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity."

Mokafé serves coffees from Yemen as well as Guatemala, plus halal food items like honeycomb bread and avocado toast. The new location focuses more on grab-and-go, and the pastry case was filled with pistachio knafa brownies, multiple varieties of baklava as well as several types of Turkish bagels called simit.

The plain simit ($7.50) is slightly more elongated than a bagel, giving it a rustic appearance. When ripped open, it had a consistency like fresh supermarket bread; airy and fluffy and piping hot. It was great with the za'atar cream cheese. 

Mubarez says that they got a lot of inquiries for franchising after the Melville location opened last year. And the chain now is now expected to open their first two franchise stores, in New Hyde Park and Stony Brook, in the coming months. 

"Especially in the halal food space, on Long Island, there’s so much more opportunity out here," he said. 

Mokafé, 22-26 N. Newbridge Rd,, Hicksville, mymokafe.com. Open 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.com

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.