Hussein Sobh, co-owner of Dearborn's Cedarland Restaurant, dies after heart attack at 69
The Dearborn community is mourning the loss of Hussein Sobh, a longtime co-owner and founder of Cedarland Restaurant.
Sobh died Monday morning. He was 69 and suffered a heart attack after arriving at the restaurant, according to a TCD Dearborn News Facebook post.
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On Monday, he arrived at the restaurant to make the bread and prepare the restaurant for opening, his brother and partner, Haj Moussa Sobh, said.
The TCD Dearborn News post has more than 600 comments of condolences and those remembering Sobh as friendly, kind, and always smiling when greeting restaurant customers.
"He loved to talk to people and had the nicest personality," his brother said.
Sobh was one of seven brothers and five sisters. He arrived in the U.S. from Lebanon in 1975 with his brother.
Sobh earned a degree, Moussa said, in electrical engineering from Wayne State University.
"My uncle valued education, religion and family," Ahlam Taha, his niece, said. "He made sure his kids got an education."
He always donated to local schools as well as the Fordson Booster Club, Taha said.
"He was very genuine, humble, and funny," his niece said. "We are going to miss that side of him. We remember that smile when we would see him."
Along with brothers Haj Moussa and Haj Kassem, Sobh co-founded Cedarland in 1987. Cedarland Restaurant offers Lebanese cuisine and is credited, his brother said, as being the first halal Mediterranean restaurant in Dearborn.
The three brothers were partners in a meat market and deli before opening the restaurant. Cedarland Restaurant has been in business for more than 35 years.
According to its website, it features a "ski chalet-inspired diner interior."
The restaurant, in the busy Warren Avenue business district in East Dearborn, is also known for having a convenient drive-thru with a full menu carry-out. There is also a bakery next door that the owners opened two decades ago, offering bread, pita bread, cheese pies, Middle Eastern pastries and more.
Its menu includes items favorites such as shawarma sandwiches, shish kebab, and shish tawook. There are also appetizers of hummus and Baba Ghanough. Salads include its popular Fattoush and there are plenty of entrees. Cedarland is also known for its lentil soup, rotisserie chicken, and generous combination plates served with a choice of rice, hummus, baba ghanough or fries, and salad or soup.
Sobh is survived by his wife, Rima, sons Ali H. and Hamzy H., and daughters Zeinab H. and Sara Sobh-Abazeed. He is also survived by several brothers and sisters.
Sobh will be buried in Lebanon. A service is planned for 2 p.m. on Jan. 22 at the Islamic Center of America, 19500 Ford Rd., in Dearborn.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hussein Sobh, longtime owner of Cedarland Restaurant in Dearborn, dies
