crazy busy,” Karla said. “So we opened up a place that just did the Schwarmas to alleviate that craziness.” But the madness doesn’t stop there. Since the Schwarma’s popularity is still growing, the Massad Group is soon going to open up a new location near the campus of Minnesota State University, as early as this month. “We are the American dream,” Najwa said.
Sabriye Store: Halal Meat
This place is a hidden gem of Mankato. No, it isn’t a restaurant, but it is a market that sells products and spices that are delightfully out of the ordinary. Aligned along the shelves inside this small Old Town shop are collections of Middle Eastern spices and fruits obtained from Somali wholesalers. Their far-off scents provoke inquisitive minds and curious tongues. Owned by Sabriye Mussi, a Somali family man with three daughters, this market provides foods from Egypt, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and even Italy. “Somali people, most of them eat spaghetti,’ Mussi said, explaining the 26 • August 2013 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
history of Italian occupation of Somalia and why spaghetti is part of his inventory. “They make meat and spices and mix it in with the soup.” What’s even more interesting is the fact that almost every meal incorporates an entire banana with the dishes. According to Mussi, before internal war plagued Somalia, bananas were one of the country’s main exports. “There should be one banana for everybody,” says Mussi. “That’s why we are a banana country – Somalia used to export the best bananas in the world, but that was before the war.” Before civil war broke out in 1990, the Somali population of the world outside Somalia was less than 1 percent. As the brutal conflict continued, staggering numbers of Somalians left the country. Mussi hasn’t been back to his home country since the 1980s. Since then, he bounced around 11 different countries before making his way to the U.S. Now his life consists of selling chili powders, Vimto Fruit Sodas (delicious), Tandoori Masala and fresh bags of Pakistani rice. Though he can’t physically travel back home, he has an entire constellation of ambrosial products that produce tastes of what
once was. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t mean to have this business in the first place. My wife sponsored me to come to the U.S. when I had a degree in agriculture from when I was living in Iraq. Coming here, I was forced to work at a printing company in Waseca. I’m still trying to further my education.” Sabriye Store is located off Washington Street in Mankato’s Old Town.
Pho Saigon
In 1992, Tieu Tran, a struggling Vietnamese mother of six decided that living in Da Nang, a southern port city of Vietnam, would be a lost cause for her and her family. As a businesswoman, she was basically losing out on 90 cents for every dollar she made in the communist state of Southeastern Asia. Finding the conditions unacceptable, she navigated a sea of red tape and earned what amounted to a lottery ticket for entrance into the United States. Even without knowing any English, Tran began purchasing storefronts in Mankato in effort to rake in money to