Gulfport · Florida
A Taste of Yemen

SOCOTRARestaurant & Café

مطعم وكافيه سُقطرى
2025 49th St S · Gulfport, FL 33707
Our Story

From the Island of Dragon's Blood

Socotra is Yemen's legendary island — a place once drawn at the very edge of ancient maps, where umbrella-shaped dragon's blood trees have stood for a thousand years and hospitality is a way of life. We named our kitchen after it because that is what we serve: food worth crossing an ocean for.

Our recipes come straight from the Yemeni table — lamb haneeth slow-roasted until it falls off the bone, fragrant mandi rice, bubbling stone-pot fahsa, and charcoal grills done the old way. Everything is prepared fresh, seasoned with the spices of the southern Arabian coast, and served the way our grandmothers would insist: generously.

Now we're bringing that table to Gulfport, Florida — and you have a seat at it.

أهلاً وسهلاً
Ahlan wa sahlan — you are welcome here
Dragon's blood trees on the Diksam Plateau, Socotra, Yemen
The Island We're Named For

Where Dragon's Blood Trees Grow

Socotra, Yemen — a UNESCO World Heritage island where a third of the plants exist nowhere else on Earth. These thousand-year-old trees are its crown.

A lone dragon's blood tree on Socotra
The Dragon's Blood Tree
Dragon's blood tree forest, Socotra
Firmihin Forest
Bottle tree in bloom, Socotra
The Bottle Tree in Bloom
Detwah Lagoon, Socotra
Detwah Lagoon
Qalansiyah fishing village, Socotra
Qalansiyah Fishing Village

Island photography: Rod Waddington, Valerian Guillot, Gerry & Bonni — CC BY-SA 2.0 / CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

From the Clay Oven & Charcoal

The House Signatures

Slow fire, old spice routes, no shortcuts. These are the plates our regulars cross the bridge for.

Lamb Haneeth

Lamb Haneeth

حنيذ لحم

Lamb slow-roasted for hours until it surrenders, over seasoned rice.

Lamb Mandi

Lamb Mandi

مندي لحم

The pride of the Yemeni table — smoky, tender lamb on fragrant mandi rice.

Fahsa

Fahsa

فحسة

Shredded lamb stew served bubbling in a stone pot, crowned with whipped fenugreek.

Charcoal Chicken

Charcoal Chicken

دجاج على الفحم

Whole marinated chicken grilled over real charcoal — crisp skin, smoke in every bite.

Kofta Kebab

Kofta Kebab

كفتة كباب

Hand-seasoned minced meat skewers off the grill, juicy and charred.

Masoub Fattah

Masoub Fattah

معصوب

The beloved banana-bread dessert — warm, sweet, finished with honey and cream.

Dish photography: Omar Chatriwala / Al Jazeera English, Moheen Reeyad, غسان السقاف, andrusdevelopment, Lesya Dolyk, SharabSalam — CC BY / CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons

Café Socotra

Coffee Was Born in Yemen

Before Paris, before Vienna, before anyone — the world's first coffee was brewed from beans shipped out of Yemen's port of Al-Makha. That's where the word "mocha" comes from.

We honor that five-hundred-year legacy with traditional Yemeni coffee and spiced qishr, fresh juices, and sweets made for lingering. Come for dinner, stay for the coffee — that's the Yemeni way.

قهوة
Qahwa · Coffee
Visit Us

Find Your Seat at the Table

Socotra Restaurant & Café

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Address2025 49th St S
Gulfport, Florida 33707
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Hours
Sunday – Thursday11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Friday – Saturday11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
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Good to knowFamily friendly · Halal kitchen · Dine-in & takeout
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