Qisa Coffee plans second Sacramento cafe in North Natomas

Qisa Coffee is planning a second Sacramento cafe at 2121 Natomas Crossing Drive in the North Natomas Place shopping center, with a September opening targeted if inspections stay on track. The move pushes the Curtis Park shop from a one-location success story into a larger test of whether its neighborhood following can carry into a busy retail corridor.

The first Qisa opened in Curtis Park in 2024, and the new site shows a brand that is leaning into demand rather than broad chain-style growth. Owner Abdul Aziz has said he wants a cafe close to home in Natomas and believes the neighborhood does not have enough good coffee shops, a detail that helps explain why this address matters. North Natomas Place sits on the hard, signalized corner of Truxel Road and Natomas Crossing Drive and is already home to tenants including Starbucks, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union and Baskin-Robbins/Togo’s, placing Qisa directly into a coffee-heavy retail strip. A Starbucks is also listed at 2121 Natomas Crossing Drive, underscoring how competitive the corner already is.

What makes Qisa stand out, and what the second shop is expected to carry forward, is its Peshawar-rooted identity. Qisa’s own site describes the brand as offering “the rich tradition of Peshawar” through freshly roasted, ethically sourced specialty beans, and says the name “Qisa” means “story” in Pashto and Arabic. Coverage of the concept has described it as a Yemeni and Peshawari fusion cafe, with drinks and food tied to Aziz’s background in Pakistan. Menu items associated with the brand include cardamom drinks, pink chai, savory sandwiches, iced pistachio latte, iced Turkish coffee and iced rose latte.

That distinct point of view is part of why the expansion feels more like proof than buzz. The original Curtis Park location was planned as a 931-square-foot cafe with a 576-square-foot patio in The Amalia mixed-use development, a smaller and more intimate footprint than a second shop in a shopping center built for higher traffic. Qisa’s Natomas move suggests the formula is flexible enough to scale without losing the character that made the first shop notable.

For Sacramento coffee drinkers, the bigger story is not just that Qisa is adding a second door. It is that a cafe built around Peshawar-inspired flavors, house-roasted beans and a strong neighborhood identity is now headed into one of the city’s most active commercial corners, where it will have to keep the original voice intact while giving Natomas something new.