A steady stream of customers flows in and out of Baklava Bakery & Coffee’s front doors Saturday morning. Some have plates of fresh pistachio baklava in tow while others carry lattes — brown, green and topped with carefully layered foams. As the Arlington shop marks its first year in business, multiple members of one family are stationed behind the counter, moving between roles as they prep drinks, manage orders and check in on regulars who have made the space part of their weekly routines.
For co-owner Lisa Kammaz, the cafe represents the culmination of years of conversations with her husband and business partner. The business is run by Kammaz, her husband and their three sons, operating alongside a wholesale bakery specializing in pita and baklava that has been in the family for over two decades.
The bakery side of the business traces back generations. Kammaz’s husband, Rajai, and brother-in-law, Amir, grew up in Syria, where their father ran a business not only making pita but also designing and building industrial ovens for large-scale production. After relocating to Arlington, the brothers set up an operation similar to their father’s, with a family-made oven to get them started. The bakery has now scaled up to wholesale distribution to grocery stores and Middle Eastern restaurants across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The cafe came later — not from a long-term business plan but inspired by an unused storefront connected to their building and a shift in the next generation’s interests. As Adam, Kammaz’s eldest son, began a personal journey into homemade espresso, experimenting with equipment and brewing techniques, the family decided to renovate their empty space into something usable and profitable. The shift took the business in a different direction, while keeping it rooted in a family structure.
Son Zach and Lisa Kammaz work together on an espresso machine. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
That change is visible in how the business operates day to day. In the back, Adam focuses on its new foundation, roasting beans in-house each weekend, producing 40 to 50 pounds of espresso beans to be sold retail from behind the counter.
Those bean sales, Adam said, create “a whole other avenue of people you can reach beyond just the shop itself. Your home baristas, or anyone who just makes coffee at home.”
While the ratio of beans and roasting builds consistency, the front of the shop is shaped by a different approach. Drinks are often developed seasonally with new and fresh ingredients and an emphasis on creative presentation, a practice that has become part of the shop’s identity.
Rows of in-house roasted beans sit for sale on shop shelves. (Joseph Morgan | Fort Worth Report)
“My favorite thing is to come up with the original, crafted recipes and make the drinks look as pretty as I can,” another son, Zach Kammaz, said, describing his new menu additions like the triple berry matcha and other springtime offerings.
That balance — between control over the product and attention to detail in presentation — is something that customers notice, even on a first visit. Arlington resident Jenna Ventura, who stopped by the cafe for the first time during its anniversary weekend, said the food and drinks stand out for their simplicity.
“It tastes really clean and authentic, like it’s all homemade,” Ventura said. “Nothing tastes like it came out of a box.”
Ventura said she and her family tend to look for local businesses close to home, adding that smaller shops often feel more intentional in how they prepare their food and drinks.
Joseph Morgan is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at joseph.morgan@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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