When the Khalifa family moved from Syria to TT 13 years ago, they brought with them their specialities in cooking and food preparation.
While the style of food is not something that is new to TT’s food industry, the Khalifas said it was something they enjoyed doing and eventually turned it into their main source of income.
The family owns and operates a mini franchise — Smiley’s — on the Cross Crossing food strip in San Fernando, where they sell gyros, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, barbecue meats, jerk-style meats, fried foods, rice, pasta, fries and much more. They have five food trucks owned by brothers Ghaith and Abdo Khalifa.
Most of the work is done by the family, inclusive of their cousins who live near Gulf View and an additional five employees. Speaking with Business Day on Tuesday, Ghaith Khalifa said things were bad in his homeland, and they needed to desperately move. He did not share much about his struggles but said the decision was taken to move to TT because his brother Abdo was already living here.
[caption id="attachment_903956" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Smiley's employee Xavier Vargas seasons chicken at the food truck on Cross Crossing, San Fernando. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
The culture was different, but they soon adapted and carried on with their work as food vendors, he said.
“We moved from Syria 13 years ago because of the civil war and have started selling street food. It was difficult as with everything one could imagine when moving to a new country,” Khalifa said.
He said the family enjoyed sharing their food delights with locals. And while they would like to own a restaurant, the cost factors involved in doing so were too much. Khalifa added this did not deter their spirits and they worked with what was available to them to continue sharing their style of food with the public.
“Selling food like this was easier for us to do because the capital needed to open and operate a restaurant was too much. This has always been the type of work we did; we specialise in food. We slowly expanded and had a good business until the pandemic struck,” Khalifa said.
Government’s covid19 restrictions and the implementation of the state of emergency and curfew led to a closure of the food sector for almost three months this year. In 2020, the sector faced similar closures. On July 19, the sector was partially reopened allowing curbside pickup which included street food vending, drive-through services and deliveries but prohibited in-house dining.
Business owners in the sector have been challenged to reinvent their businesses, but for some, they just do not have the means to. Some food establishments upon this reopening closed — Chaud restaurant in St Ann’s, Hakka restaurant in Woodbrook, Mario’s Pizzeria and Joe’s Pizza Italian restaurant in St Augustine have closed their doors to the public.
Khalifa said a lack of income over the past three months has put a strain on their business and its reopening. Coupled with rising food prices, he said Smiley’s was forced also to r
