- [Sheldon] Sam is a fifth generation Lebanese butcher
that immigrated to Detroit 42 years ago.
He found success in many businesses
but after Detroit's recession hit he lost it all.
He decided to turn back to what he knew best
and opened what is now one of Dearborn's
most beloved meat markets.
(urban music)
- [Sam] We sell the raw meat in here for
the customers, they ask for rib eye, New York,
filet, short ribs.
And in the meantime we have a grill in the back ...
Goin' back there.
So the customer's they come, pick up whatever they like
they take it back there to the grill
and we are now the most busiest meat market
in the city of Dearborn.
- [Sheldon] That's amazing.
- [Sam] We do well in here.
It was started for my kids.
They say let's have a grill back there
for them and their friends and my family.
And then it started growing too fast
and then boom!
It's booming!
(upbeat music)
- [Sheldon] This style of cooking
is very reminiscent of what ethnicity?
Mediterranean, it's a mix of all really
in the Middle East but our concept is different
because it's an all natural concept.
Somebody came from the New York Times
and they wanted one skewer of kafta.
I was kind of backed in here, busy.
Runnin' around, runnin' around.
And all of a sudden one guy come from outside
he said "I've heard about you, I wanted
to buy one skewer of kafta."
I said "One skewer?"
and he says "Yes, one skewer."
I say "I ain't got no time for you, get out of here."
(laughter)
And all of a sudden I seen the guy grab his iPad
out of the car and start taking the photos
I said "Ah well, I guess I get in trouble."
You never know right?
You never know.
Then I called him back inside
he says "I am from New York Times,
and I heard about you too much
but I just want a skewers to taste
what it looks like."
- [Abe] So sure
- [Sam] And he start eating and he loved it.
They compared my Dad to the Soup Nazi
but they called him the Meat Nazi.
Yeah because I was kind of a ...
Too pushy on him.
I told him get out of here I ain't
got no time for you.
(upbeat music)
How old were you when you left Lebanon?
18 years old.
And then I came here, I grew up here.
You been in meat your whole life though.
In Lebanon you ...
I live it my ...
Your father was a butcher.
My father's a butcher, my grandfather's a butcher
my grand grandfather's a butcher.
They're all the family ...
My name is Hussein Saad, when you see a Saad's
in my town, that means meat.
That's the sharp knife, this is the hook.
We're gonna go and cut it now.
This guy throwin' around knives.
Come with me.
This is the whole cows in here.
Is a lot of work but it's worth it.
It's worth it.
This is like a nice rib eye.
Look at that.
Beautiful.
New York, filet, everything we have in here.
New York strip, let's go outside
and cut the bones and de bone it.
(urban music)
- [Abe] So all our meat is halal meat.
It's hand-slaughtered by the neck.
We get the jugular which drains all the blood
so halal meat is cleaner meat.
- [Sheldon] You're putting it to the tenderizer.
- [Sam] Tenderizer so it's easier to put on skewers.
This is the seasoning here; salt, black pepper,
Syrian spice and the seasonal salt.
This is the kafta.
Kafta is a ground beef mixed
with three different seasoning, parsley and onion.
(upbeat music)
And squeeze it a little bit right on the skewers.
Are you done with it?
I did one and you did three!
I do ten maybe.
(laughter)
I'll slow down a little bit.
(laughter)
Good kafta takes time you know.
(laughter)
You goin' put me out on national ...
Look at that, look at that.
So when we kill the cow we literally
get the whole entire cow
from the organs to the meats to the bones to the fat.
We got liver, kidneys and the heart.
Let's go to the back to the grill.
(urban music)
First you start off with the bread,
here's a piece of pita.
So take a kafta and just put it in your pita.
(upbeat music)
We have one recipe since we open up
up to now still.
The spice's just perfect come through.
Take our New York steak.
Yes.
That's something.
That is ...
(laughter)
I'm speechless.
I didn't expect it to be like tender like that
you just bite right through it too.
I'm gonna make a pita with all of the ...
Organs, let start right here.
... all three of 'em.
Are you gonna like that?
Filipinos we eat everything but the hair.
(laughter)
This is the liver, straight up.
You get the full flavor of it.
Irony, beefy but again the key ...
- [Abe] Is the char.
- [Sam] Is the grill
Man that's some of the best liver I had right there.
This is the kidney right here.
That's interesting how you like the organs.
I grew up eating all of this.
We're taught to eat this and celebrate all of this.
Kidneys is the sweetest organ in my opinion.
And then the last one.
This is the heart.
So tender.
(laughter)
People need to learn how to eat organs
Yeah.
and just appreciate it.
I left Lebanon and I flew for 18 hours
I came here my first job was slaughterhouse.
Oh man, you're runnin' away
and you're facing it somewhere else.
It was a slaughterhouse, big one, big plan.
Where they used to kill like 14 000 hogs a day.
Shoo, how many employees then?
There're 4000, 4000 people.
I started in there and then I couldn't take it.
Everybody works with knives.
Everybody get upset and you know ...
It's a crazy atmosphere.
It's a crazy atmosphere, too much stress.
So people are killing each other.
One of my friend's get killed in there
and when we left I said I'm not going back there no more.
I opened a meat market.
I was the first meat market
and Lebanese people open on Warren Avenue at that time.
In 1979 we grew up too much, the store was too little for us
and one of the customers he said "Why don't you buy
the building down the street?"
We bought the building within two hours.
We were partners, my brothers, we were big.
Butcher shop, everything.
Butchers shop, grocery store, dairy, everything.
And then what happened?
And then, you know, brothers couldn't take each other.
That was the disaster of my life, when brothers split.
So the market closes then you open what?
I had an oil change and a car wash.
I got one of my friend he does clubbing
He said "Why don't you go and buy that building
there up for sale?"
When I walked in there I see their equipments
the dancing floor, the hookah place, the coolers.
Beautiful so I rushed to it ... I ran!
I wanted to buy it, I bought it.
I spent like $300,000, $325 000
just for remodeling the place.
It was a restaurant during the day.
And then?
It failed.
The recession hit, all gone.
But you chose to stay here in Detroit City.
You chose to stay in a city that was in rumble
and in a recession.
I got my cousin he came to me he says
"Let's go to Arizona to do the same thing as here"
And I said no, I want to stay here
because my family, my kids, my sisters,
my brothers, my friends, my communities
the people that I know.
I grew up in the area.
I'm not going to give it up just like that
and go somewhere else.
So walking around he discovered this place.
We live literally two blocks away.
Right across the street.
2007 we're still in the recession.
But I know I can do it.
When did this place really start generating popularity?
Slowly with my friends, and word of mouth
we started marketing on Instagram
and Instagram was a hit in like 2013, 2014.
People couldn't believe that this type of business
was existing, you know a guy cutting your meat
in the front and literally grilling
that same meat for you in the back.
It's like you're sitting in your backyard you know.
- [Interviewer] It's very unique, unique restaurant.
I'm gonna sit down and eat the rest of this.
I'm glad that you came.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Mahalo.
Nice meeting you, what is it?
Mahalo.
That's how we say thank you.
Thank you mahalo.
(upbeat music)
- [Interviewee] We are in the Thai temple in Michigan
in Detroit it's called (foreign language), Midwest.