The funeral for Sameer Eid drew thousands, one attendee estimates. And seemingly everyone there had a story to share about the larger-than-life man who founded Phoenicia, one of metro Detroit’s longest-running Lebanese restaurants, in 1971.
Among them was Norm LePage, who considers Eid his best friend. The two first became acquainted about 35 years ago, when LePage was out to lunch with a friend at Phoenicia.
Eid, who had just returned from Brazil, struck up a conversation with the men, telling them: “I was going up the Amazon. I was buying diamonds and emeralds, … gold and silver.”
Later that night, LePage remarked to his wife, Bonnie, “I think I just met the original Indiana Jones.”
As they grew close over the years, so did their families, and they have taken numerous vacations together — to Lebanon, Italy, France, and Mexico (in Puerto Vallarta, they bought vacation homes in the same building).
Anyone who has dined at Phoenicia in the past decade or so may have been amused by LePage and Eid’s raucous games of gin rummy in the dining room, which happened two to three times a week.
“People used to joke to us that we reminded them of the two old guys on The Muppets sitting up in the balcony,” LePage says. “He was just a wonderful guy. I love him. I still love him. I miss him like crazy.”
Born on Jan. 24, 1940, to Greek Orthodox parents in Marjayoun, Lebanon, Eid immigrated to Texas in 1961 and relocated to Detroit just six years later. In 1976, he married his wife, Leila, in São Paulo.
He moved Phoenicia from Highland Park to Birmingham in 1982, where it has remained a staple ever since.
His business successor and son, Samy, didn’t always aspire to fill his father’s shoes, Samy says. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2003, he backed out of securing a law firm internship: He told his dad that instead, he wanted to spend a year in Vail, Colorado, living as a “ski bum.”
“He didn’t like that idea at all,” Samy remembers.
So, Samy presented an alternative gap-year plan: He offered to try his hand at running Phoenicia, where he’d worked since age 9. But once Samy took the reins, it was hard to let go. In 2015, Samy established SSE Management Group (rebranded to Chickpea Hospitality in 2023), and he’s founded several restaurants under the umbrella: Forest, Leila, and Wilder’s.
The father and son spent nearly every day together for the past 23 years, and of those 23 years, “Every minute was a lesson,” Samy says.
Though Sameer sometimes joked that he had two wives — Phoenicia and Leila — family was always first for Sameer, who carved out quality time with his three children and four grandkids.
When we spoke in late September, Samy was planning a family outing for the upcoming weekend at Eastern Market — one of Sameer’s favorite pastimes. As the kids pile into the Radio Flyer, they’ll remember the moments they shared with their “jiddo.”
“My favorite memories are just him working the room at the Phoenicia, talking with the guests and remembering their names and their kids’ names,” Samy says, choking up a little. “I think that my dad would be super proud today that people are still talking about him.”
Sameer died surrounded by family on Aug. 15. He was 85.
This story originally appeared in the November 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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