Citrus Heights hot chicken restaurant gets new name with new owner

By Mike Hazlip—
A restaurant known for spicy chicken dishes has a new name and new owner who says he is bringing back some of the Middle-Eastern foods that were once served there.

The former Inferno Chicken restaurant near the Target in the Marketplace at Birdcage is under new ownership with more food choices on the menu. Owner Mohammad Samim Omary said he purchased the business from previous Inferno Chicken owner Naz Salmanyan in March of 2023.

Now called Sam’s Grill House, Omary said he plans to keep some of the same fried chicken menu items, burgers, and spicy sauces while also offering some food choices from his home country of Afghanistan. He said the location once served Armenian food that is similar to the kabobs and wraps he serves.

Omary also owns a similar restaurant in Roseville, Skewers Kabob and Gyro Grill, and said he was able to open the second location after he returned to help some of his family members leave Afghanistan in August of 2021.

“When the government collapsed, there was the evacuation decided from the U.S.,” he said. “They were allowing a couple of family members. Because there was no one from my family to be with them on the evacuations, they came out with me.”

Omary said he is one of the lucky ones who made it out of the country.

“There was lots of struggling being outside the airport back home because it was a hundred thousand people trying to get in to the evacuation, “he said. ” I was lucky.”

In the six years that Omary has been in the United States, he’s taken college courses and worked various jobs before venturing into the restaurant business.

“I feel like Allah is helping, God is helping me,” he said. “Wherever I go I can feel that God is helping me to reach my goals.”

Sam’s Grill House is located at 5925 Birdcage Centre Ln., suite 109, and is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, according to the restaurant’s webpage.