Sameh Mahmoud is an Egyptian immigrant and prominent business owner across New York. Coming to America in 1997 at the age of 17, his story is one of relentless ambition. He details how he started as a humble dishwasher and worked his way up in the food industry while taking college courses. He tells me about the many obstacles he’s had to face over the years, surviving 9/11 while working near Ground Zero, and trying to open restaurants that COVID-19 forced him to shut down. Still, he continued unrelentingly.

For Sameh, the American Dream clearly exists for those who work for it. He proudly talks about how he used to work 70-80 hours a week and sponsored himself through college. His goals are simple: better education, a steady income, a family, and a child who understands life. And he says that, one day, though not yet, he will feel the full effect of these goals. Sameh also has a favorable view on American identity, strongly asserting that, now that he’s lived here a majority of his life, he’s as American as anyone else.

Sameh’s restaurants are the culmination of his Muslim-American identity. He tells me how, his goal in creating restaurants like Flaming Grill, was to undo the narrative that halal food means Arab food. ‘Halal’ simply means that the food is permissible for Muslims to eat, and so Sameh wanted to make food that represented the compatibility of Islamic values with American culture. At Flaming Grill, they don’t serve chicken over rice, they serve smash burgers. 

– Ismaeel El-Shafei

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