Money pours into Davis restaurant’s GoFundMe after owner’s heartbreaking death

Sam’s Mediterranean Cuisine has been a beacon for hungry and homesick UC Davis students since Samir and Suhad Abughannam — Sam and Sue, to most — opened 25 years ago. Now it’s the community’s turn to give back.

Davis residents, students, alumni and well-wishers have donated more than $157,000 via GoFundMe to keep the restaurant afloat after Sue’s unexpected death due to leukemia in December. As Sam struggles with the loss of his wife, it’s the comments more than the money that keep his spirits up, his daughter Juanne said.

“As someone who’s been in business for 25 years, he’s built so many relationships with everybody. Most of our customers are friends,” Juanne said. “There’s been so much support … we just scroll and see the comments (on the GoFundMe), and that’s what gives us hope these days.”

Sam and Sue opened their cash-only restaurant at 301 B St. in 1995 after immigrating from Palestine to Fairfield. It was just the two of them to start, and the business wasn’t successful for the first five years, Juanne said.

Sam and Sue’s hospitality slowly won over locals, who became friends, who brought others out. The family remembered regulars and their orders, and Sam greeted all customers with “How are you, my friend?”

Customers frequently came over to the Abughannams’ house for Sue’s home cooking on Sundays when the restaurant closed, said Juanne, who still worked at Sam’s Meditteranean Cuisine with her three adult siblings (one more is in high school) before the shutdown in March.

“(Sue) was one of those people that just welcomes you in like you’re hers,” Juanne said. “She was someone you went into and didn’t want to come out of. She would take the shoe off her foot and give it to you if you wanted it. Her home was your home, her restaurant was your restaurant.”

Regulars ate for free or wrote IOUs when they forgot cash. Donors wrote about their affection for shawarma and kebabs, but more about their love for Sam and Sue. The affordable prices — $5.99 for a falafel sandwich — and location across from Central Park didn’t hurt Sam’s popularity with UC Davis students, either.

“My Arab mother passed away from cancer a few years before I attended UCD, and your restaurant was the closest thing to feeling like I was back home in her kitchen while I was a student” one donor wrote. “I hope you receive an outpour of love and support from the community that your beautiful family helped nurture throughout the years.”

Sam’s Mediterranean Cuisine has been closed since March as the family dedicated time and resources to Sue’s care, and rent hasn’t paid for the last 10 months as a result. Whether the restaurant will reopen is unclear; no one in the family is ready to return, Juanne said. New landlords recently took over after 23 years and told the family last month it has 90 days to pay, Juanne said.

The money raised will cover that debt, Sam said. He’s grief-stricken and unable to sleep, furious at Stanford Hospital for Sue’s perceived ineffective care.

“They need to be exposed. I want to find out if it was just us or if other people had to go through the same miserable situation we went through,” Sam said. “It was harsh. Harsh. No other word to explain it.”

Patient privacy laws prevent Stanford from commenting on individual cases, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Kim wrote in an email.

“Stanford Health Care always endeavors to provide the safest, highest quality care and experience to every patient and family,” Kim wrote in an email. “We recognize that each patient’s and family’s journey is unique. Our Patient Relations team is available to anyone who wishes to discuss their care or experience.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.