Allen Samuelson,a longtime friend of Kadoura’s, said he has been going to Med Deli since it opened in 1992.
“It’s a gathering place, a safe space for people to come and have fun, for fellowship and to love one another,” he said.
UNC junior Emilyn Steele said, after visiting Med Deli’s location in Lenoir Dining Hall on UNC’s campus, she wanted to try the expanded menu and Franklin Street location.
“We’ve never had Med Deli open,” Steele said. “Everybody knew it burned down and we really wanted to try it.”
Med Deli has been a consistent contributor to the Chapel Hill community, Kadoura said. From fundraisers for foreign aid in Haiti and Syria, to working with the UNC Children’s Hospital, the business always found a way to give back. Now, he said Chapel Hill residents have repaid the favor.
“When you give and participate in good charity organizations, people realize that and they support you. But you don’t do it for the support, you do it from kindness,” Kadoura said.
Kadoura said throughout the rebuilding process, Med Deli’s employees grew closer. He said he shares kind words and “I love yous” with each employee he passes by. One employee, who Kadoura said had been at Med Deli for 13 years, had never once said “I love you,” back to him. After the fire, Kadoura said he finally reciprocated his words.
Learning how much love and support the community has for Med Deli, Kadoura said he was able to remain optimistic.
“There is always a gift for you in darkness, always,” Kadoura said. “You have to find it. You have to go and say, ‘What is good?’ For me it was a lot of things — it was my employees, my community, my family and the people that love me.”
@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com
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Dining and Cooking