Up for some Coffee Heist?
Coffee Heist Café pictured on October 5, 2023 in Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Coffee Heist is a tale of an art café that mimics the riveting crime series 'Money Heist.'
- Hamad Maalim, the owner of the shop, says he decided to make his coffee shop stand out.
A coffee café in Nairobi's Mombasa Road, inspired by the popular Netflix series ‘Money Heist’, is attracting foodies and onlookers alike.
Here, freshly brewed coffee blends with the fun of watching the waiters dressed as "Money Heist" actors.
Coffee Heist is a tale of an art café that mimics the riveting crime series 'Money Heist' which won best drama at the International Emmy Awards in 2018.
Hamad Maalim, the owner of the shop, says to tap into the growing coffee consumption culture in Kenya, he decided to make his coffee shop stand out.
“I am a coffee lover, and it being one of the booming businesses in Nairobi, I was looking for something that did not need big capital and was easy to manage,’’ he told Saturday Magazine.
Mr Maalim has combined a rusty brown wooden interior feel with red and black colours. The hand-crafted wooden wall tags have the legendary "Money Heist" character names encrypted on the wall.
The ambience at Coffee Heist is as thoughtful as its menu. A heist-ful breakfast, for instance, is a combination of Professor Breakfast and Nairobi scrumptious waffles.
"Anyone who watched the movie knows the professor’s role, which measures up to why breakfast leads the day," Mr Maalim says.
I had an experience of tasting their buttered-crunch heist sandwich toast bread, served with a very tasty warm chicken cheese, bacon, tomato and avocado. It comes with potato fries if you like accompaniments. Mouth-watering!
Mr Maalim started the business started in September 2023 and says the strategy has paid off.
Heist sandwich served with fries and Frappuccino iced coffee along with Vanilla strawberry milkshake.
"Almost everyone loved the movie, and when starting a business, aside from cash flow, you need to have your unique identity that will maintain the relevance of making the business different. I'm not selling any extraordinary coffee, but I have an extraordinary concept," he adds.
He is also courting people who are now working from coffee shops, following the changes in work cultures after the pandemic.
“Coffee shops have now become the meetings board rooms. I have had to expand space due to the high demand of customers flocking in," he says.
They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes, alongside a variety of milkshakes and coffee shades.
His other customers are people who come from all parts of Nairobi and just want to experience the ‘Heist’ service.
“We also get lots of people who work along Nairobi's Mombasa Road, especially those at the airport and SGR terminals who exchange shifts. They come here to just enjoy our delicacies before heading home after work or are on their way to work," he says.
Coffee Heist is his first coffee business, but he is looking at expanding it outside Nairobi. Besides the coffee business, he is also a farmer.
‘’I grow herbs, chilli and French beans for both local and import markets in my Kitengela Himilo Agro Farm. That is what I do best when not handling coffee," he says, adding, "The farm also has a picnic space for those escaping city crowds and chaos."
This tale of creativity has a demand for expansion despite their short business service span, the café is looking to expand to other parts of Nairobi to share this unique experience with heist lovers.
