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Freshly Prepared Mediterranean & Persian Specialties and Deli Bazaar

Fawaz Hamed has been working in the restaurant industry for over three decades. He got his start as a teenager when he opened a Middle Eastern deli with his father in his native country of Jordan. He left his first business to pursue opportunities in other parts of the world, making stops in Kuwait and England before settling down in Germany where he spent 18 years working in an Argentine steakhouse. He started off there as a waiter and left as a chef, getting his big opportunity to cook professionally when all the chefs were out sick one day. Fawaz had studied how the kitchen worked and told the owners that he fill in for the chefs. By the time he left the steakhouse, their menu featured a number of Middle Eastern specialties that he introduced to the owners during his time there.

Casablanca’s Café is Fawaz’s third business and second in the United States. His first American business was a neighborhood grocery store and deli that he owned with his brother in Minnesota for almost ten years. Minnesota was too cold for him so it only took one encounter with California weather to convince him to move to San Jose. After selling his business in Minnesota in 2004, he moved to Willow Glen and opened Casablanca’s Café. He has four daughters and one son. His three oldest daughters can often be found helping out around the café when they’re not busy with school.

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Not Your Fast Food Falafel. Try a Finer Falafel or Gyro.

My favorite lunch stop!

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