Room for more

By Sarah Kittle

Osama (Sam) Gulli is a first-generation American. His father Walid and mother Fadia (Kenaya) Gulli hoped that a new country would offer a better life for their family. They gambled and won.

Osama, his parents and his brothers Ouse and Naseem took their dad’s gas station at 12 Mile and Coolidge in Berkley and used it as a platform to launch a new family business and a brand-new kind of restaurant. The small station (just three gas pumps) also had a small parking lot, but it had a garage. And room to grow.

He didn’t want to expand into the hospitality business. He wanted to work on cars with his dad. But his brothers had an idea. They saw there was room for more inside the station and wanted to provide another service. Why not food?

It was the beginnings of a new kind of partnership. Why go to a gas station to fuel up your car, and then go to a fast food place to fuel your body? Why not do both, at the same place and the same time? But what kind of food to offer?

Inquiries were made, discussion were held. Tubby’s Famous Submarines said, “yes”; Subway said, “no.” Bellacino’s Grinders and Subs was interested. However, a look at the parking situation led to the thought process of wait time. Something quicker was needed. Couldn’t they just provide a simple selection and serve half orders and full orders of meals that could be ready in seconds? Mr. Kabob was born.

You may have heard of Mr. Kabob. They’ve won awards, even been named “Best Gas Station Food in the Country” by Thrillist. But they might not exist if they’d had to pay rent in the first year. Being the site owner made is possible to experiment. Now their franchise includes C K Mediterranean Grille and Mr. Kabob Express, and their catering business does most of the work.

Osama began his business career at age 17, landscaping for his neighbors. At 19, he had moved on to computers, repairing hardware and software. Now at 40, he is the co-owner of a thriving restaurant and catering business.

Growing up, he had the entrepreneurial spirit that he hopes he’s passed on to his children. Creating budgets and sticking to them is a life lesson he wants his kids to get. Osama has no expectations for them to take over the business, he just wants them to be happy and productive members of society.

“Of course, you want your children to have everything you didn’t,” says Osama. But he also knows they must make their own mark. “No one is going to tell the boss’s daughter to mop the floor.” He hopes they have a multitude of job experiences, like he did.

Family is everything to Gulli. Cousins AJ and Wes Kenaya run C.K. Mediterranean Grille in Southfield, one of five operating restaurants. Two years ago, his other cousins Azao Rofail and Fadi Kenaya joined the group.

It’s a long-term retirement goal to someday end up in Arizona, so Osama’s brother went west to set up two locations. His parents purchased a home there, but his father Walid still runs the original gas station in Michigan. He may never retire.

As far as ‘paying it forward,’ Osama says, “I can always do more.” He tries to always be a good neighbor, but insists, “That’s not enough.” He was taught about social responsibility at a young age.

In 1990, the Gulf War had ravaged Iraq. Fadia Gulli, Osama’s mother, took him and his two brothers to her homeland to help. She was instrumental in creating the group VOW (Victims of War). Their mission was to provide medical relief by gathering pharmaceutical samples from doctors here in the States to distribute in cities in Iraq.

Seeing how the war and governmental policies such as sanctions had negatively impacted the region was an eye-opener for Osama and his brothers. “It was a game-changer.” He feels so profoundly blessed to be able to provide for his family and teach his kids in a safe environment and will never take that for granted.

Gulli is thrilled to announce the opening of their sixth restaurant, expected to open in February of 2020. The long-awaited site in Livonia, at Seven and a Half Mile and Haggerty, will service everyone in the four-city area: Livonia, Novi, Northville, and Farmington.

You might see the announcement on social media, but not on Osama’s account. “I’m not a social media kind of guy.”