Restaurant Salaam is owned and operated by Mark, Hilarie and Ryland Burhans, with the help of our devoted and capable staff. In 2006, our family opened a hookah cafe called Shishah Cafe in a small space tucked away down an alley at 33 N. Court. While Ry was the hookah master, Hilarie ran the tiny (11'x15') kitchen and Mark handled the bookkeeping, handyman chores, and so forth. We did what we could to draw attention to our little business, including a large mural featuring one of our bellydancers in the alley leading to the cafe.

However, we didn't really care much for the hookah business (and frankly, Mark and Hilarie were pretty conflicted between the whole tobacco thing and supporting their son Ry in his business) but did find ourselves enjoying the food aspect. In fact, all three of us voted in favor of the statewide smoking ban, and the morning after it passed, we packed away all the hookahs and became "all restaurant."

The kitchen, however, was not just small... our only cooking equipment was a two-burner hotplate and a commercial countertop convection oven. So although folks were flocking to our little joint, we were severely limited, not only in how many guests we could accomodate, but in what sorts of dishes we could prepare and serve.

Enter Jim Coady, one of those loyal customers, who insisted we needed a much grander space (which he happened to have available for lease!) When he showed us our current space (the former location of Athens Office Supply) we could immediately see the potential in this spacious, wide-open storefront with big windows. After lots of financial finagling, architect stuff, state inspections, equipment research, ebay buying, blood, sweat and tears, we opened Restaurant Salaam at 21 W. Washington Street in april of 2009.

Looking through old photos and choosing some for the album below has really made us realize how far we've come in the short time since we opened here. And we couldn't have done it without you, our loyal customers. We know we screw up sometimes, and if it's happened to you, please accept our apologies and know that we're trying every day to be the restaurant where WE would want to eat. And to all of you who have been SO gracious and encouraging and have let us know when your food and service have been everything you could ask for, THANK YOU! It's kind of a hard business to be in, some days, but you make it all worthwhile.

MARK BURHANS (co-owner) brings a lifetime of useful skills to the restaurant, from construction to handyman to bookkeeping. Mark's design sense (he holds a BFA in woodworking) is also evident in the careful attention to detail in the restaurant decor, and he served as general contractor for the transformation of the empty space (that was once Athens Office Supply) to Restaurant Salaam. Mark is also a musician, who plays swing fiddle with the Coolville Hot Club, which features daughter Emily Singer on vocals, but his newest love is the upright bass.
Mark and Hilarie were high school sweethearts, and still enjoy working together!

And finally, there's the family we come home to every night, who are ALWAYS glad to see us: Aggie, Nancy and Dottie. They don't have too much to do with the restaurant, but they DO have a lot to do with our sanity!