By Dena Mellick, Associate editor

The owners of Ebrik Coffee Room in downtown Atlanta are opening a second location in Decatur.

The coffee shop will be going in at 309B East College Ave. between Arepa Mia and Trackside Tavern near Agnes Scott College.

Basel Nassri, one of the owners along with Abbas Arman and Ruba Alhenawi, said the shop will have coffee, tea, and pastries, along with sandwiches and other ready-to-eat offerings.

Nassri said they will also offer Turkish coffee. The name of the business, Ebrik, comes from the Turkish word for coffee pot.

“That’s one of our most popular items — our Turkish coffee,” said Nassri. “It’s a coffee that is ground finely and they put the cardamom spice in there with it. You just brew it on a burner, so it’s really thick and really strong. It’s got sediment on bottom of the pot.”

Nassri said they get a lot of customers asking for the spicy coffee on the weekends when they have time to enjoy it, since it takes 10 minutes to make.

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Nassri said they also offer a cardamom-infused Persian tea, along with 12 other loose-leaf tea varieties.

Nassri said he and his partners aren’t Turkish, but experienced Turkish or Arabic coffee growing up. Nassri is Syrian, Arman is Palestinian, and Alhenawi is of Palestinian-Kuwaiti background.

“They make it in the Arabic world – it’s also called Arabic coffee. It’s amazing,” he said.

The theme of the coffee shop is “coffee, community, culture.” Nassri said the community aspect of building relationships with customers is really important. “Decatur’s a natural fit – it’s already got that vibe,” said Nassri, who also lives in Decatur.

Co-owner Alhenawi said they use the word “room” in the title “to convey a sense of coziness and relaxation.”

Alhenawi oversees the design of Ebrik. “A big signature at Ebrik Coffee Room is the kind of art we display here,” she said in an email.

The downtown coffee shop on the campus of Georgia State University is just about to celebrate its two-year anniversary.

Nassri said there’s no official opening date for the Decatur location yet, because they are still going through the permitting process. But he’s hoping to open in late February or early March. Nassri said he’s looking forward to Decatur residents getting a chance to experience Ebrik for themselves.

“The reason why I think this shop has worked is because of the relationships we build with our customers,” Nassri said. “They love us, and we love them back, and that’s what keeps bring people here. We have customers who come once, twice, three times a day even every day. I live in Decatur, so I want Decatur to experience what people downtown are experiencing here with us.”