Refugee entrepreneurs thrive on Syracuse's Northside

Jai Subedi and All Asian Nepali Store

On Nov. 14, 2008, Jai Subedi landed in Syracuse, and at the time, he owned very little. That day will forever be monumental for Subedi, who now owns the All Asian Nepali Store on the city’s Northside.

“I was so thrilled to have my own business in a new land,” said Subedi. “I was thrilled to open and finally I decided myself, and I looked for a good worker.” “I found a partner, and then we did the paperwork, and finally opened up in 2012.”

Before coming to the U.S., Subedi spent over 18 years in a refugee camp. He and his parents were prosecuted by the government of Bhutan to leave the country, and saw little hope in returning. Since hearing about New York as a young boy, Subedi said, he had always wanted to live there.

So why Syracuse? Subedi says his uncle’s family had relocated to Syracuse before he arrived in the U.S. Today Subedi lives with his parents and his 96-year-old grandmother.

Subedi’s store carries cultural food, clothing and religious items, as well as dairy, meat and fish products. Most of the store’s customers are other Bhutanese refugees living on the Northside, Subedi said.

“We have our own community, like 3,000, and almost all people live on the Northside. So, Northside is very welcoming of us,” he said. “The neighbors are very friendly to immigrants on the Northside, and we also play a vital role to contributing to the community.”

Kasim Muhovic and Euro Bazar

Kasim Muhovic opened his restaurant, Euro Bazar, to sustain Syracuse’s Northside with Bosnian food. In 2001, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia. They’ve lived in both New York City and Syracuse, Muhovic said. He opened his restaurant in 2010.

“Nobody here had Bosnian food, and I thought less competition you know?” Muhovic said. “And after that, I thought that this is a small community, and this is more people from Bosnia.”

The once abandoned building, located at 1207 Burnet Ave., is now a market and eatery that serves traditional Bosnian and Mediterranean dishes. They see customers of different backgrounds daily, Muhovic said, but the vast majority of them are Bosnian.

Business started off slow when they first opened, but now they are doing very well, said Muhovic’s stepson, Almas Krdzic. He enjoys sharing his family’s culture and food through the restaurant, Krdzic said.

“I’ve had some of my friends come here, and they all seemed to like the food,” he said. So I guess it speaks for itself.”

Muhovic agrees with his stepson, but has no plans to expand. He has all he needs right inside of his restaurant: his family, Muhovic said. “This is a family business, my wife and my kids, everybody is here,” he said. “This is enough for me and my family.”