Dearborn has a Yemeni neighborhood dotted with crumbling homes and curious faces.
If traveling as far as the Middle East isn’t an option, visit the Middle American city, Dearborn in Michigan—home to one of the most concentrated Arab American population in the United States. Many businesses, like McDonald’s, even cater to the large Arab-Muslim population by serving halal meat. At two of its Dearborn locations, the Golden Arches offer halal McNuggets and McChickens.
We drove through West Vernon Highway near Dix Avenue into the Southside neighborhood—a Yemeni neighborhood dotted with crumbling homes and curious faces. The tight-knit community is friendly—stopping our car with amiable greetings and welcoming glances.
On Warren Avenue Beirut found us while we enjoyed Lebanese grape leaves stuffed with grains and dipped warm pita bread into creamy babaganoush. Perhaps if smoking hookah wasn’t so dizzying for me, we would have tested the shisha at one of the many Arabic signed cafes that lined the street.
Dearborn also houses one of the last traditionally-American drive-in movie theaters in the country—illustrating that the city’s diverse demographics do not negate its inherently American charisma, rather it adds to the beauty of the already charming city.
Article written by Nadia Sikander.
