Master Kabob owner Soleyman Gushwareh thanks customers after food influencer\u2019s visit sparks surge in business.<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 When Master Kabob first opened in Arlington, business was slow.<\/p>\n
Owner Soleyman Gushwareh said some days no one came in at all. Other days, he might see just one customer. Tables sat empty as he waited and cooked.<\/p>\n
Then one night, a single diner walked through the door.<\/p>\n
Gushwareh greeted him with soup and multiple courses of Persian food, following the same routine he uses for every guest. What Gushwareh did not know at the time was that the customer was a food influencer known for highlighting small businesses.<\/p>\n
In a TikTok video recorded inside the restaurant, the influencer praised the food, calling it amazing and saying he loved the bread and dishes. Gushwareh continued bringing food, offering him extra courses for free, because there were no other customers that night.<\/p>\n
At one point in the video, Gushwareh shared his worries about the lack of business, saying there were days when nobody showed up, or only one person came in. Even so, he refused to charge the influencer for the meal. The influencer left Gushwareh and his staff a generous tip.<\/p>\n
The influencer, who goes by @samspov_1, later posted the video online, where it went viral, reaching more than 30 million views.<\/p>\n
Gushwareh said the attention surprised him. Soon, he said, crowds started coming in and people began offering congratulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the second day, a lot of people showed up,\u201d Gushwareh said. \u201cThank you to everybody who showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Gushwareh said business is steady, and he is grateful for the support.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I\u2019m OK,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you so much to everybody who came to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gushwareh said welcoming guests is central to his culture. He said everyone who comes in is treated like family and often offered soup first.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy culture, anybody come in, we say welcome to our home,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople like that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gushwareh has been cooking for 35 years, from his home country of Iran to the United States. He said he loves preparing food for customers and watching them enjoy it. He added that many families now come in with their children, some calling him \u201cmama\u201d or \u201cbaba.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the influencer\u2019s visit changed everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter he came, he made us busy,\u201d Gushwareh said. \u201cThank you so much for him to see us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Customers now recognize him from TikTok and Instagram, often telling him they saw the viral video. Gushwareh said it still feels unreal.<\/p>\n
With more customers filling the restaurant, Gushwareh said he continues to focus on fresh food, hospitality and gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel good, and if you feel good, I feel good too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Master Kabob owner Soleyman Gushwareh thanks customers after food influencer\u2019s visit sparks surge in business. ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-92396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}