Nationwide Directory of
Iranian-American Restaurants

Message from the Editor

I don't know about you, but no matter what diet I am on at any given time, I have to have my chelo-kabab (and not the washed version, but the works:onion, doogh, somaagh,...etc.)at least once a week. So part of the reason we have decided to start this site, is to serve those of you who need to find Persian food, no matter where they are. The goal is to have every single Iranian (or Iranian owned)restaurant listed, along with all the relevant information about it. For example, you can find out what kind of food they serve, what the price range is, if they have live music, or if there is a Persian grocery store next door. You can make this list even more comprehensive by sending us the name of a restaurant we have missed, and have us add it to the roster.

Additionally,if you own a restaurant anywhere in the United States, make sure we have you and your dining establishment listed on our site and please let me know how we can help you in your pursuits. You can contact me at any time at IranianCameron@gmail.com.

One of Us :: Payam Tabibian

Burgers to go, with ambition on the side

Washington Post

By Thomas Heath

Monday, December 7, 2009

My favorite issue of Forbes magazine is the annual special edition listing the 400 richest people in the United States. I can't wait for it. I pore over each mini-biography that describes where the billionaires came from, how they got their start, where they got their big breaks, where they hit their home runs and where they struck out.

I find the stories aspirational and inspiring, and the magazine stays on my coffee table all year.

At 37, Payam "Peter" Tabibian is no billionaire. But the biography of this tenacious salesman and hamburger-joint junkie is as compelling as any on the Forbes list.

He and his family fled Iran in 1982 after getting word his father was going to be arrested. Tabibian, his sister and his parents left the country that night, leaving behind a profitable manufacturing business that gave them a comfortable life.

They paid smugglers to get them to Turkey. They dressed as farmers and hid under blankets in trucks to make their way. They landed in Switzerland, where an uncle was in the import-export business. They moved to Bloomington, Minn., in 1984, to live with an aunt.

Tabibian started his first business in a Bloomington middle school; he bought chocolate bars from his uncle's business for 50 cents and sold them to classmates for a buck. He sold as many as 50 to 60 candy bars a day.