‘We’re blessed’: Halifax Persian restaurant celebrates 20 years, new fans thanks to granddaughter’s online videos

Thanks to social media, a whole new generation is enjoying Shiraz Restaurant in downtown Halifax.

Shiraz restaurant in downtown Halifax has been a staple in the community for almost two decades, but recently a new generation has been discovering its flavours, thanks to the owner’s granddaughter.

“My grandparents immigrated from Iran around (2005) and that was when I was about five years old as well, and they definitely decided they wanted to stay here for as long as they could,” Doanya Gholami says.

“They started this restaurant with hopes to share the tradition with the community here and have stayed for almost 20 years now.”

Gholami says she loves to share videos of her grandparents’ restaurant on social media.

“This past Christmas I made a TikTok with my sister; we came to visit my grandparents and have a little dinner with them,” she says.

“It got a lot of response; tons of people that said they knew the restaurant and shared their lovely feedback and it’s always great to support small businesses as well, so a lot of people were happy to just see that.”

Zahra Tabesh, co-owner of Shiraz, says her granddaughter’s support means everything to her.

“That’s the reason we came to Canada, to take care of them, but now, after years, they take care of us. It’s very wonderful, it’s a good feeling for us, we’re blessed,” she says.

Gholami says, after she posted her TikTok video, many of her friends told her they didn’t even know Shiraz was owned by her family.

“If you come, say hi to them. They’re very kind people,” she says.

“It’s not been an easy time necessarily and its definitely a hard time back at home, so for them to have the strength to continue to persevere all this time has been amazing.”

“We love Halifax. After we moved from Iran, it was home for me,” Tabesh added.

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