Narsi Samii, the former owner of Narsi's Hof Brau, is savoring his return to the restaurant business two years after his Santa Rosa eatery was ousted from Coddingtown Mall to make way for new tenants.
Samii and his brother, Kamyar "Sam" Samii, are preparing to open Mister Hof Brau in downtown Santa Rosa, taking over a space in the Brickyard Center formerly occupied by the Santa Rosa Junior College's Cafe and Bakery.
"If you missed your French Dip, if you missed your Hof Brau, Mister Hof Brau is coming back to town!" the irrepressible restaurateur said Wednesday as he and his brother outlined plans for the new eatery on 7th Street.
Sam Samii, a Windsor contractor who has opened several Hof Brau-style restaurants in the Bay Area over the years, said he will own the restaurant and Narsi will operate it. Sam Samii signed a lease for the space and his brother hopes to be serving up the same comfort food that gave him such a loyal following during his 27-year run at Coddingtown.
"If you give people good food, good service and a nice place, they will come," Sam Samii said.
Narsi Samii, 65, said he needed his older brother's help to reopen because his two-year legal battle with the mall's co-owner, Simon Property Group, left him devastated financially. Samii fought his eviction for two years, trying to force the mall to either move him a new location or buy out his lease.
He insisted his lease was valid, but the mall claimed his business failed to meet minimum revenue. Samii argued he was elbowed aside to make way for a larger chain restaurant.
In the end, Simon Property Group, the nation's largest mall owner, shut him down in March 2010. Samii continued to fight, but just dug himself deeper into debt. Simon has secured more than $500,000 in court judgments against him for legal fees and unpaid rent, money he can't pay, Samii said.
The mall has since embarked on a major renovation of the north entrance, where Narsi's restaurant was located, and has attracted a BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, which plans to open later this year.
The brothers considered opening their restaurant in the location once occupied by Marie Callender's on Mendocino Avenue, but couldn't come to terms with the owners. The Brickyard Center benefits from being downtown, close to the highway and across the street from a parking garage, Narsi Samii said.
Initially, the pair don't foresee a major remodel of the space. The college left the cafe in decent shape, and the primary task is to create a space in the main kitchen for a cafeteria line. Expansion into the demonstration kitchen area overlooking the intersection of 7th and B streets could follow, Narsi Samii said.
Neighbors were excited to hear about new activity at the center, which has struggled with high turnover in recent years.
"If Narsi opens up and brings people here, that's a plus for us," said Robert Braun, a partner in Sprenger's Tap Room, a sports bar hoping to open next month in the former Evolution Yoga Studio.
Because of changes aimed at making the city's planning process easier for businesses to locate here, the approval process for the restaurant should be fairly painless.
Previously, a restaurant hoping to have a small bar would have needed a use permit, a process that could take up to eight weeks, said Chuck Regalia, the city's director of community development. But in an effort to reduce red tape, the city in 2010 eliminated the need for such permits on a trial basis.
"We want to get out of their way as much as we can," Regalia said.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: