Coldwater grad opens Shawarma Station restaurant
COLDWATER — A new restaurant in town is about to get more visible.
Mohammed Abdullah can install a sign on the west side of 64 East Chicago so the public can find his new Shawarma Station Mediterranean restaurant.
The 2020 Coldwater High School graduate opened the business in the old renovated 1888 theater building this past week.
The Zoning Board of Appeals granted his request Wednesday evening for the LED sign over the entrance door with a maximum of 32 square feet size.
ZBA Chairman Gordon Swan said the sign is similar to those on strip malls east on U.S. 12.
You can only find the business with a sign in the alley between the theater and Dutch Uncle Donuts.
Zoning Administrator Jake VanBoxel said the building already exceeds the allowed signage with the Coldwater VapZone marquee and the Royal Hall event space sign on the old theater's front.
Abdullah was born in Coldwater. His family lived in Dearborn for a couple of years, then returned when he started elementary school.
Graduating during COVID-19, Abdullah tried online college for a couple of weeks, but then his family urged him to go into business.
Abdullah owns tobacco shops, including an interest in the Coldwater VapZone with two partners. He also owns stores in Detroit, North Carolina, Indiana and Kentucky.
Abdullah partnered with hemp manufacturers in Indianapolis to produce CBD oils and Delta 8 sold in states where marijuana is illegal.
Abdullah saw surveys that showed a local desire for a Mediterranean restaurant.
"My father always wanted a restaurant," so a year ago, he decided, "I'll start with something simple on this back corner" of the theater building.
With the help and advice of Nancy Phillips, who has restaurant experience, the Shawarma Station began to come together. He plans another for Sturgis.
Abdullah hired a social media marketing company. "We were posting about it. We were getting so much love," he said. Business took off with just a soft opening.
For now, the business is takeout only. There is a 60-seat dining room, but he is working on staffing and heat in the old building before dine-in can begin.
Open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. he serves soft drinks, a juice bar, and chai tea.
The main dish is shawarma. Chicken, beef, and lamb are cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slowly turning vertical rotisserie or spit. Cut off as it cooks, the meat goes in dinners or is sold in a wrap.
Although Abdullah is Yemeni, the cuisine features many Lebanese dishes like baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, falafel, and humus.
Shawarma Station will serve the full menu when Abdullah can open the dining room.
The young entrepreneur self-funded the project from his other businesses. He told the ZBA there was a $400,000 investment.
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"I'm trying to get into commercial real estate. I should just buy the property and I don't have to pay rent," he said.
Abdullah plans to follow his family tradition of buying houses and buildings, renovating them, and flipping them.
Less than four years out of Coldwater High, he is just starting.
--Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater grad opens Shawarma Station restaurant
