At 9 p.m. on a recent Friday in the Southwest Management District, one of the Hillcroft strip malls looks like a street party. South Asian families share egg rolls at Halal Wok, shop at India Mart, and curb-sit with kulfi in front of Kwality Ice Cream. On the sidewalk, two young men video-chat on a phone while eating from dinner plates.
But the liveliest spot of all is recently-opened FiLLi Café, an airy, olive-green tea shop whose owners dream of making it a Starbucks for chai. Its founder, Kerala-born entrepreneur Rafih Filli, launched the first Filli in Dubai in 2004 and has expanded to FiLLi café in 11 countries in the Middle East and Asia. Now, with five local partners, he’s turned his attention to Texas. The first U.S. FiLLi opened in Sugar Land in 2022, followed by the 2400 square foot space on Hillcroft this March.
The idea of a tea date in the U.S. can seem precious. The choices are limited: teabags or fluffy dessert-like concoctions at coffee shops, expensive high tea at hotels or Zen-tinged interludes at Path of Tea.
Indian tea culture differs from all of these experiences, says Mohd A. Hussain, one of Houston co-owners. In India, where Hussain was born, “drinking tea is the biggest part of our daily life,” he says. “We grow up watching our elders drinking tea. After dinner and dessert, tea is a must.” It’s a group experience, a ritual for relaxing with family and friends. And oftentimes, it takes place at night, in lieu of a glass of wine or a stop at a bar. Which is why, at 9 p.m. on Friday night, FiLLi is swinging.
“We wanted to provide an ambience where the younger generation and older generation can be together,” Hussain says. With its unhurried mood and company motto – “Tea ‘n’ Talk” — FiLLi is designed to be a community gathering spot, he says. Like Starbucks. Starring tea.
The project may be working. Late on Friday night, a steady flow of families and young adults head to the counter, but no one takes their drinks to go. Instead, they settle in at the tables.
At one table, a group of 30ish men are animatedly telling stories over saffron-colored paper cups. Behind them, a father in Western clothes lovingly focuses his phone on his wife, who wears a head-covering. Two children wolf their French fries from as an older woman in a peach-colored salwar kameez dedicates herself to making them laugh. At a pair of tables near the window, a young woman stares at her laptop while 30-year-old software engineer Srinivas Emmadi sits alone and just sips.
“I’m a tea lover,” Emmadi says. A native of Hyderabad, Emmadi came to Houston about a year ago for work. Now he and a group of Indian friends meet here at least twice a week. “We’re used to having tea daily,” he says. During the workday, he orders FiLLi’s ultra-caffeinated karak tea. In the evenings, he drinks the café’s signature zafran chai — tea with saffron. FiLLi’s version is a deep shade of gold, with an astringent, almost medicinal taste. “Indians adore saffron,” Emmadi says, adding that its color often illuminates Indian art and its health propertiesdraw increasing scientific attention.
Emmadi could brew a good cup of tea at home, he says. But he admires the quality of Filli tea, brewed from leaves packaged in Dubai. He also likes the atmosphere, with its convivial swirl of friend groups, families, and individuals like himself. Tonight, Emmadi’s friends couldn’t make it for their usual cup. No matter. He feels at home. “And I had to have my tea,” he says.
