Sami’s Kebab House, other location at 35-57 Crescent St. in Astoria (Photo: Facebook)
March 12, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
The owners of an Afghan restaurant in Astoria plan to open a similar venue in Long Island City this summer.
The restaurant, which will be called Sami’s Kebab House, is slated to open at 47-38 Vernon Blvd. in August–where the now-shuttered Four Winters ice cream store was located. The restaurant will operate under the same name as their Astoria venue and offer Afghan dishes such as kebabs, stews, dumplings and meat plates.
Sami Zaman, who co-owns the business with his wife Sharifa and son Yusuf, said that it will be the family’s third restaurant. They opened their Astoria restaurant on Crescent Street in 2017 and a location in Glen Cove, Long Island, last year.
Four Winters location at 47-38 Vernon Blvd. where Sami’s Kebab House is slated to open in August
Zaman, who immigrated to the United States in 1988 from Afghanistan, said he has worked in the food industry since he arrived in the country.
He started off by selling food as a street vendor.
He said that his family is excited to open their third restaurant but they have much work to do.
The family will be overhauling the space that was occupied by Four Winters, an ice cream store, which closed in March 2020.
The family will be installing a new kitchen and a dining area that will seat around 20 people, he said.
There are no plans for sidewalk dining, given the narrow frontage.
The restaurant will be open Mondays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to midnight and will also offer takeout and delivery.
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