Sameer Kaiser Eid: January 24, 1940 - Aug. 15, 2025

This week, family, friends and members of the Detroit area restaurant industry will gather to say goodbye to longtime Phoenicia restaurant owner Sameer Eid, who died Friday at age 85.

Known as a businessman with high standards, Eid was also a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

Eid was born in Marjayoun, Lebanon, and immigrated to the United States in 1961 to study banking and finance at North Texas State University. He moved to Detroit in 1967 to work in the drapery business.

His path into the restaurant industry started when he "walked into his favorite Lebanese-owned diner for lunch and walked out as its new owner," according to his obituary .

Eid told The Detroit News in the 1970s that he was the first in his family to own

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