From Jordan to Tracy — The Story Behind Yafa Hummus

Afeef and I grew up together in Jordan. Best friends, cousins, neighbors — the kind of friendship where you finish each other's sentences and argue over whose turn it is to do the dishes. We never imagined that one day we'd be running a restaurant together in California. But here we are, ten years in, and honestly — we wouldn't change a thing.

I came to America when I was nine years old. Afeef followed years later at nineteen. We both eventually ended up in Tracy, California — a town that somehow felt like home from the beginning. After college we settled there with my brother, got to know the people, fell in love with the community, and noticed something. Tracy was missing a Mediterranean touch. Real Mediterranean food. The kind we grew up eating.

So we went for it.

We opened Yafa Hummus with two things — a lot of heart and my grandfather's recipes. The name Yafa comes from a city in Palestine where my grandfather first learned to cook as a teenager. He worked there, studied the craft, and developed the hummus and falafel recipes that our family has been making ever since. When we named our restaurant Yafa, we were honoring him and everything he passed down to us.

Growing up, we used to eat at his restaurant. What I remember most is his patience. He never rushed anything. The hummus was always made the same way — the same process, the same care, the same ingredients. There were no shortcuts because he didn't believe in them. Neither do we.

"In 2019, my grandfather came to visit us in Tracy. He walked in, tasted the food, and gave us his stamp of approval. That meant everything."

In 2019, something happened that I will never forget. My grandfather came to visit us in Tracy. He walked into our restaurant, looked around, tasted the food, and gave us his stamp of approval. For Afeef and me, that meant everything. It still does.

We are not a corporation. We are not a franchise. We are two cousins from Jordan who love to cook, love to feed people, and believe that good food brings people together regardless of where you come from. We have customers who have been with us since day one. We have regulars who feel like family. We have people walk in for the first time and tell us it reminds them of home — and that never gets old.

Our food is clean, fresh, and made from whole ingredients because that is the only way we know how to make it. That is what my grandfather taught us. That is what we bring to Tracy, Dublin, and Lodi every single day.

Thank you for being part of our table. We are grateful for every single one of you.

— Mohammad