During Brickland’s closure, its community is raising funds to help employees
East Sacramento restaurant Brickland, at 3301 Folsom Blvd., was vandalized on Christmas Day and forced to close. A reopening date has not yet been set, as owners Rahim and Sheila Amiri wrangle with insurance to pay for repairs.
Community support was immediately strong, with customers and neighbors commenting on their social media asking how they could contribute. On Instagram, user @morgannalanna_photography asked, “What [can] the community do to help? Buy gift cards maybe? Let us know and we will be there!!”
Brickland has a staff of 25 part-time employees. During the closure, they’re able to file for unemployment, but that doesn’t cover their full wages. Local community member and friend of the Amiris, Joel Ayres, stepped forward with a GoFundMe designed to help fill the payment gap.
The fundraiser seeks to collect $50,000, all of which will be distributed evenly to the staff.
“If we can get that much, that would be $2,000 for each employee. But whatever amount that can be fundraised, then that would just be evenly split between everyone,” said Suzan Amiri, daughter of the owners. “If we can fundraise more than that, we’d be ever so grateful. Because right now, we don’t have a definite timeframe for anything. So, any amount we could raise for them just to help them offset bills.”
In the one day since launching the GoFundMe, $1,600 had been raised from 20 donations.
The community’s outpouring of support marks a sea change in attitude for the restaurant.
Brickland faced backlash when it first opened in 2022. Some former patrons blamed the new owners for the loss of the previous restaurant, 33rd Street Bistro, which had closed after a rent dispute two years before the Amiris opened Brickland.
At the Bistro’s closing-night party, some customers called for an informal boycott of whatever restaurant would replace the longtime neighborhood staple.
Ayres was a longtime customer of 33rd Street Bistro. He heard from friends that they were boycotting the new restaurant, but he went anyway. He discovered he liked the food and the Amiris. Consequently, he managed to sway some locals to reconsider their thoughts on Brickland. Ayres and the Amiris became close friends.
Brickland serves a combination of American food and the dishes of the Amiri’s native Afghanistan. In September, the Amiris opened a small cafe concept, Brick Cafe, in the 3311 Folsom Blvd. space adjacent to the restaurant. The cafe is also closed during repairs.
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 12:24 PM.
