The Re-imagined Classic
By Hammad Tamton and Lillian Sandoval
On the corner of Gettysburg and Cedar in North Central Fresno is the lone standing restaurant of Sam’s Burger. This quick bite burger joint aims to capture the look and feel of a classic 50’s Americana diner. The building used to be home to a Dari Delite, another mom-and-pop restaurant that stood on the site for many years. Sam’s Burger aims to recreate the atmosphere of these old diners and allow customers to reminisce about their own childhoods while inviting the new generation to experience it with them. Many of their regular customers were long time patrons of the Dari Delite, and are now experiencing Sam’s take on an American classic. This restaurant not only serves food to its customers but as an educational experience for its young employees that mirrors the experiences and adaptation to America that Sam himself experienced. While this may seem like a typical burger restaurant, it is interwoven with Sam’s ideas about inclusivity, progress, and passing knowledge and experience to help further the next generations.
Sam Humaidi, Co-owner of Sam’s Burger, is a first-generation Yemeni immigrant with a degree in Civil engineering from Fresno State. Like his brothers who preceded him, his original intention was to get his degree and return home to Yemen, however, life is rarely that simple. While he was working towards his degree, the events of 9/11 altered the course of his life. Rather than heading the word of his family and returning to Yemen, he decided to stay in America and begin supporting himself. While this decision led to long hours and larger responsibilities, it also gave him a new sense of maturity that financial support from his family had not allowed him. In addition to staying in America for his education, Sam ended up staying for his wife, another Fresno State alumnus and Central Valley native. Since 1999, Fresno has been Sam’s home despite his numerous attempts to settle in different areas. Sacramento, Stockton, and Colorado could not compare to what Sam found in Fresno.
“Something in Fresno makes you wanna stay here. I don’t know if it’s the people, I know it’s not the air! [Laughter] … it’s not the weather. It’s the culture here or something. There’s a lot of mixed culture that makes me want to stay here.” – Sam Humaidi
The unique blend of cultures and communities that exist in such close proximity within Fresno, helped influence and motivate Sam’s menu and his personal outlook. This includes those who have a special religious diet. While Sam’s Burger menu has all the components of a classic hamburger restaurant, special detail has been taken for those of Muslim and Jewish beliefs. All of the food is Halal and Kosher. Halal being a Muslim dietary standard as described in the Qur’an (the Muslim scripture) which prohibits the consumption of certain foods and specifies how livestock must be slaughtered and prepared according to Islamic Law. Similarly, Kosher also follows preparation and slaughter requirements that comply with the Jewish religious dietary laws. For the restaurant, this means that all the meat served follows the strict guidelines of both religions that include how the animal was treated in life and how it was killed. These laws also forbid the consumption of anything from pig, including bacon. However, Sam came up with a simple solution to remedy this difference in dietary restrictions.
“We have bacon….It’s beef bacon. Because people like bacon, so okay, I’m gonna give you bacon for the Muslims, it’s halal. To the Jewish [customers], it’s kosher. But to a regular person, ‘I want a bacon in my burger,’ here you go, it’s beef. And it’s fresh, locally fresh.” -Sam Humaidi
The Beef Bacon Burger: Rather than regular bacon from pigs, the bacon used in this burger is made from cows. This bacon is also halal and kosher so those with specific religious diets can also enjoy. 
The menu has many options including veggie burgers and turkey burgers. However some of the most popular items include those with bacon options and the double burger.
While Sam stayed in America, he saw the impact of education and realized how essential it was. He wanted to pursue that common dream many wanted. The American dream of being successful, married, with children, and being in a country where one can be free. His dream stems from working hard because of the situation he was placed in. After the event of 9/11, he was given an ultimatum of going back home to be safe with his family or stay abroad alone in a place where things were getting rough. He chose to pursue education because he wanted that dream to be a reality. His family financially cut him off, hoping Sam would reconsider and go home. This in reality further motivated him and pushed for that success. As a result, he worked jobs while being a full-time student.
Going through these trials and tribulations made him more responsible and mature. Had Sam gone home, he would have struggled as most Yemenis do today. Sam strongly believes that education can make a powerful impact on the future of the Yemeni community. They can move beyond their usual businesses they are involved with. They can end up becoming doctors, lawyers, and engineers. As education becomes more focused, the Yemeni community can grow past stagnation and move forward. Success is essential especially since there is a crisis back home. He employs youth so that they may learn to be responsible and realize the value of education.
When Sam employs the youth he wants to ensure education is not discontinued. This was confirmed after speaking with one of Sam’s employees, Abrahim, a Yemeni youth. The young employees have to go to school and then are allowed to work afterwards. Sam’s Burger indeed serves them as it teaches them many experiences that they are able to learn in a safe environment. The employees are able to learn how to interact with people of all different backgrounds and how to respect and be accepting of them. It has made them more aware and serves as a stepping stone in life. Working in Sam’s Burger has motivated the youth to work harder so they may be able to learn from their struggles.
“Yes, I enjoy working at Sam’s. It’s a learning environment and you learn basic life needs. It more so reinforces the idea that education is the key to my future. It shows how it feels like to work in the labor force.” – Abrahim Alrobaye, youth employee
Some groups and populations can be wary and untrusting of outsiders, especially those who have immigrated to new environments. They often believe it is safer to stay only within their own group and among all different races and backgrounds there can be bad people as well. However Sam believes that those few bad people do not represent a group as a whole. Instead he practices that an individual should be judged by their own actions rather than the actions of others.
“I don’t judge people and nobody should judge people [by] what you believe, what ethnicity, what language you speak….and it’s..what makes you is what bad or good things you do. If you do good things, you’re a good person. If you do bad things, you’re a bad person. That’s how I see it. It’s like it doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or man, if you’re black or white, if you’re Muslim, Jewish, [or] Catholic. It’s your actions that define you…that’s..that’s how I see it.” -Sam Humaidi
He strongly implements this philosophy into his life and treats everyone equally regardless of their race, gender, and beliefs. This ties back to the choice of food he serves. He could have served Yemeni food. Instead Sam chose burgers, because almost everyone loves burgers from all types of backgrounds. His symbolism of choosing a food everyone likes is tied with his ideology of serving and being receptive to everyone. However, Yemen is a very old civilization and has deep roots in history. They are a proud people and want to preserve their rich culture and heritage resulting in strong and close community bonds. When faced with unfamiliar circumstances or environments, some in the Yemeni community will follow closely to their culture and traditions as they believe this will help them succeed as it did their ancestors. Sam is proud to be from Yemen but he also deeply respects and is open to other cultures. He wants the Yemeni community in America to assimilate not to lose their roots, but to be more open and respectful to other people’s cultures. Regardless of belief or background we are all humans. Sam wants his community to realize what can be gained from working and living closely with those of different ethnicities and beliefs. He holds these principles close since his wife, who he met in college, is a Latina woman who would typically not be readily accepted in the community.
The Spicy Chicken burger 
The Quadruple burger. Normally burgers go up to triple, but extra patties can be added and customized. 
The Double burger, one of the most popular burgers
Sam is a living example of modern assimilation without losing one’s roots. He wants to uplift his community and for them to look beyond the limitations of history. He wants to emphasize pursuing a higher education to help create more opportunities for following generations. However an important part of Sam’s ideology is that this success will only come with the acceptance and respect for other groups and those with different backgrounds. His personal impact in his community comes from his youth employees, who are more focused, ambitious and open-minded than before their hiring. They feel valued and respected that the restaurant is there not to exploit them but rather help them forward in life. As a result these young employees are better equipped to become professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers in their community. They will one day hopefully further the cultural wealth of Yemen and its people.
Sam’s Burger:
Location: 4483 N Cedar Ave, Fresno, CA 93726
Hours : Sun to Mon 10 AM to 9 PM
Contact: 1-559-375-1810
COVID -19 Update as of 5/18/20
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sam’s Burger is offering reduced services. Orders are available for pick up and deliver on second party apps such as DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Fresno Foodways 
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