JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Arlington location of the popular local Sheik restaurant chain has stood at the corner of Atlantic Boulevard since 1978.
Ms. Norma, as she’s been referred to for years, has worked there almost as long.
Norma Smithen, the always smiling, always laughing, never-has-a-bad-day employee, has been serving customers with her thick Caribbean accent since September 1983.
MORE | Complete coverage of 4 Your Neighborhood: Arlington
The 80-year-old Ms. Norma, who could pass for at least 20 years younger, says that she gets the same question daily from customers who walk in and find her still behind the counter, where she’s been for the last 42 years.
“Oh yeah, all the time. All the time,” she said. “Ms. Norma, are you still here? I say, ‘Yes, Ms. Norma, is still here.’”
The Sheik’s menu is as identifiable as any area restaurant, with its hallmark items the steak in a sack, camel rider and cherry limeade.
The family chain and its food became so well-known that the New York Times came to Jacksonville in 2012 for a profile on the Sheik and similar restaurants in the area.
Their reputation for good food and quirky names (like the camel rider) had made a mark.
Ms. Norma has been there to see just about everything. She’s the longest-tenured employee at any of the restaurants, which says something about how long employees tend to work there.
At the Arlington location, Tasha Yisrael has worked alongside Ms. Norma for 21 years. Nydia Torres has been at the location on 103rd for 30 years. Owner Lou Salameh ticks off first names and lengthy work histories at locations all around the area.
“We take really good care of the people who take care of us,” he said.
A customer knows what they’re going to get before they walk to the counter, with little to no deviation, and Ms. Norma says she knows the order as soon as she recognizes the customer.
What’s my order?
“You and your hamburger,” she says without hesitation.
That comes from decades of interaction and customer service. Ms. Norma brings up customers who began coming to the Sheik when they were kids, who now have children of their own … or even grandchildren.
“I pretty much recognize all of them, because they’ve been coming from [the] time they were in school, high school, and now they grow and have their own family,” she said.
Ms. Norma moved to Jacksonville in the early 1980s from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Her sister lived here, and when Norma’s daughter visited, she liked it here and stayed. So that made Jacksonville the perfect spot for “Ms. Norma.”
She interviewed for a job at the Sheik with one of the restaurant’s founders, Samir “Sam” Salameh, in September 1983. She had no idea that it would be a job that she’d turn into a career and still be working at today.
“No, I did not. I did not plan on doing it,” Ms. Norma said on a calm Tuesday afternoon following the lunchtime rush. “I just needed something to do. Moving from my country, I had children to support. I had to do something, but I did not plan on being here this long to tell you the truth.”
Ms. Norma said that she told Sam Salameh she didn’t know how she’d fit in at the Sheik because she’d never worked in a restaurant setting before. She said that Sam put trust in her and helped her build a belief that she’d succeed there.
“I’m still here because … I think Mr. Sam, he trusted me,” she said.
The beginning of the Sheik
To understand the family-like bond across the Sheik restaurants, and why an employee like Ms. Norma has thrived for decades there, start from the beginning.
Brothers Samir and Munir “Mike” Salameh and their wives, Suad and Basima, got their start in the food industry in 1962 when they opened Salameh Groceries off East 8th Street.
In 1964, they opened another store, Charlotte’s Sundries, in the location that is currently Metro Diner on Hendricks Avenue. In 1967, they opened a third store (Colonial) to complete a trio.
The desire to keep growing saw Samir and Munir branching out into the restaurant business, specifically sandwiches. They ultimately sold their three grocery stores to relatives and opened their first Sheik restaurant in 1972 at the corner of 18th and Main streets downtown.
That location did so well that Samir and Munir let two of their other brothers run the Sheik at 18th and Main while they launched their second location on Julia Street in 1974.
In 1978, Samir and Munir handed the Julia Street location to another brother and opened the Arlington restaurant. That philosophy continued.
Today, seven of the 10 Sheik locations are family-owned and run. Seven of those are in the Jacksonville metro area, and three (Callahan, Green Cove Springs and Macclenny) are on the outskirts.
Lou Salameh, 56, learned from his father, Samir, the ins and outs of the family business as he worked at the Sheik, starting in his teenage years.
When Samir died in 2020, and his uncle, Munir, died two years later, Lou and Munir’s son, Mike Salameh Jr., became the two principal partners in the Sheik operations. They have kept that family feel in all of their restaurants.
“We’ve always treated people like family,” Lou Salameh said. “I think that’s kind of what’s led to our success over the years. Jacksonville is a tough market to be in business in, and to stay in business for as long as we have says something about the Sheik, it really does.”
Ms. Norma is timeless
Lou Salameh said that relationships are at the heart of what the Sheik does. Treating customers well goes without saying, but finding and keeping valuable employees makes the restaurants thrive.
Lou said that several years ago, he noticed Ms. Norma having to catch rides to work. He asked her about her truck, and Ms. Norma said it needed major repairs. So, Lou and Norma went to the Nissan dealership, and he told her to pick out a new car.
Lou wrote a check for it.
“My mom said that I needed to help her out, and I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Lou said. “How do you reward someone who’s been with us for 40 years? She [Norma] couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t stop crying. The salesperson was crying. Half of Norma’s family has worked here. When you find someone that’s a good person that does the job and goes above and beyond and is loyal to you, you, in turn, have to be loyal back.”
Ms. Norma said it’s that loyalty that she felt to Samir that has stayed with her through the years.
She said for years, Samir would leave work every day and tell Ms. Norma that he would take care of whatever needed to be taken care of. Over time, it eventually became Ms. Norma doing more and more to help shoulder the load.
“I said, ‘OK, Sam, I’m gonna take care of it,’” she said. “So, I guess that’s why I’m here this long. … I like doing this really. It’s like a home away from home, really.”
Ms. Norma said that as long as she’s healthy enough to continue working, she’s going to keep on working.
She’s difficult to miss at the Arlington Sheik. Just look for the big smile or listen for the laugh and the Caribbean accent.
While so many other restaurants in Jacksonville have gone out of business through the years, there’s just something special about the Sheik. And Ms. Norma.
“Yeah, [some businesses close],” she said. “But not this one. I think this one is forever.”