History:
A couple of years ago, AlNaimi cafeteria was popular because of its delicious karak that was served in the petrol station behind Landmark Mall. The location was not only popular because of the karak, but because people treated this location as an assembly point to meet before going out anywhere or just to chat. The place eventually created an organization of young adults where they would challenge each other in drifting skills as rumors say. I found a video on YouTube that actually proves that people actually were drifting there:
The cafeteria eventually became popular and opened a couple of different branches, and here came the competitor: “Tea Time.” AlNaimi owner did not know that the place will become what it is now, but Tea Time owner had a plan to compete against AlNaimi and beat him. Tea Time’s managing director, Mr. Abdulkareem, was very smart when he opened his first branch at AlMerqab Street, in AlNasr, located closer to the center of Doha than AlNaimi and capturing a wider variety of customers (because of the location). “Our inception was in 2002 at Al-Nasar, Doha. Since then we never looked back and we are still continuing our triumph successfully.” – Tea Time Website.
Tea Time also had a wider selection of beverages, and snacks, with Soufflé as its leading top product; this delicious cake was the main reason many people went to Tea Time instead of AlNaimi cafeteria. Take a look at their menu here. Tea Time overtook AlNaimi cafeteria, but still there are some common things we can notice in both of these chains of restaurants: They both follow Ritzer's theory of McDonaldization - efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. They both also stick to the popular culture, like the things that the consumers' love. The simplest example I can think of is how they stick to the "1-Riyal" karak, which is what the customers' expect when they go for a drink.
It is our Bar! (without the alcohol):
Aside from Sheeshas and Hookah Lounges, Tea stalls have sort of become our "bars" in the sense of gathering with friends, or alone, and drinking until you figure out your plan for the day. The good thing is that you can have your breakfast there, lunch, dinner, and even a midnight snack. These places are usually crowded by middle aged Qataris, 16-28 years old, from different classes of people, elites, middle classes, and lower classes, you can clearly identify them by their cars.
Beyond the Karak...
Karl Marx believed that it is the social conflict that drives the change in society. The government and the police hate these gatherings because it makes people want to drift and show off their skills. To stop that, cops often pass by to make sure everything is in order.
In addition, Karak sort of became the youth's most consumed drink; they drink to think, play, hangout, study, smoke, and to think about drinking karak.
To a certain degree, Qataris have been stereotyped as being karak-addicts; indeed it is a nice hot drink that you wouldn't mind enjoying any time of the day, but to Qataris, this has become their identity and that's how they feel as a part of the society they're in.
Don't believe me? I will let this annoying guy share his aesthetic feeling: P.S. This kid is not Qatari; his expressions about simply drinking karak tells us about his feelings of belonging to the society.
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