Owner Assad Almajid opened Sinbad Restaurant in 2019, specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine. He grew up in Damascus and was granted asylum in the United States during the civil war in Syria. (Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com)

As restaurant owners across the United States contend with inconsistent staff and labor shortages, one Syracuse business owner invented a machine to cut his need for one staffer altogether.

Assad Almajid owns the Middle Eastern eatery Sinbad Restaurant, which he opened in 2019 at 2727 James St. in Eastwood. He serves in Syrian, Lebanese, Turkish and Moroccan cuisine.

Almajid grew up helping out in his father’s ice cream and sweets shop in Damascus, Syria. After learning the ropes and working at his brothers’ restaurants in Dubai, he opened his own chocolate shop in Syria, but it was destroyed in the 2011 civil war.

Almajid and his family fled Syrian civil war, and went to Jordan. Soon after, he was granted asylum in the United States. In 2017, he and his family moved to a mid-sized city called Syracuse.

Almajid became a United States citizen and quickly found work as an accountant. But he still wanted to own his own business.

He opened Sinbad Restaurant in 2019, which made waves in the community with glowing reviews and stretchy ice cream, a rare new treat for local residents.

But then, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Restaurants were forced to close and his three employees never returned.

Almajid offered takeout food for some time. It kept the business afloat, but he was the only one working in the kitchen and he was burned out.

“Too much customers asking for char-grilled food,” Almajid said. “I was all alone. Totally alone. Nobody helping me here.”

Then, another obstacle hit home.

In April 2021, doctors found a large cyst in his 7-year-old son’s brain. He needed emergency surgery to remove it.

Almajid spent three nights at Upstate University Hospital, and stayed nearly a month at home with his son during the recovery period.

During that time, Almajid had to keep his restaurant closed. No money was coming in, but customers kept asking when they could get his char-grilled delicacies.

Assad Almajid owns Sinbad Restaurant, specializing in Syrian, Lebanese and Turkish cuisine. His whole staff left during the pandemic, so he invented a new kind of grill doubles his food production without hiring more staff. (Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com)

A problem... or an opportunity?

Almajid wondered, what if he could design a new rotary machine that could take the place of at least one employee? And what if it could grill everything: chicken, beef, shawarma, kofta kebabs, shish kebabs, vegetables, even a whole lamb?

While at home with his son, Almajid started sketching a design for the machine.

He sent the idea to a Syrian manufacturer in Turkey, and they bounced the design back and forth until it was perfect. He placed an order for the custom grill using high-quality chrome steel, which is harder to find in the U.S.

“I go to restaurants [in Syracuse] and see their machines are fully black because of rust,” Almajid said. “I don’t know how the city allows that. If you use equipment in a restaurant, it should be pure. It should be 100% chrome. This is a perfect material for food.”

The machine would cost tens of thousands of dollars, but he hoped it would save him the headache of hiring an employee to handle the grill.

In less than two months, Almajid had a new, custom rotary charcoal grill for his restaurant, one that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.

Business picked back up as covid cases went down. Almajid hired a couple more employees to help serve the customers, but no one needs to man the grill at all times anymore.

“This machine is like an employee,” he said. “Now I can just put an item there and go do something else. Now I can serve more customers. It is reducing the cost and time for cooking.”

While his previous grill could hold about 20 skewers for kebabs, this new machine could hold 50. It doubled his production, and consistently rotates the meats for an even char and delicious flavor.

“Sometimes the bad times can inspire you to do something amazing and creative,” Almajid said.

More stories about Syracuse restaurants:

• Small plates rule the menu at Vine & Fig Wine Bistro (review)

• Syracuse University students are back and so is Chuck’s

• Pick your own steak at Sackett’s Table in Seneca Falls (review)

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