1976

Sam Awwad, a young immigrant, starts a restaurant called The Chicken Basket in North Syracyse. Over the next few years, Sam and his wife, Nazar, perfect his delicious recipes and build a loyal following. Sam creates his famous "seasoned fries," the ones we sell today. In 1980, Sam makes a difficult decision and sells his business to send his children to college.

1981

One year later, people miss Sam's chicken and food, and he misses it, too. He opens Sam's Chicken Land in Solvay at 527 Charles Ave. Sam and his wife Nazar keep the decor simple, and focus on the food and their customers.

2009

Greg Hrynyk buys the business in April. He quickly realizes that many customers today were customers when Sam first opened the doors more than 29 years ago.

Greg is committed to continuing Sam's traditions and offering the same great food and service at reasonable prices to his customers.

Sam's Recipe For Success

Offer great food at a reasonable price. Always bee honest with the customer. At Sam's, chickens and steaks are bought fresh daily from a local butcher. The steaks are hand cut. The chicken is seasoned every morning with Sam's own seasonings.

Every dish is prepared from Sam's recipe, with his own sauces.

Patrons at Sam's order the food just the way they want it. There are 135 different waty to make a steak and cheese sub!

Secret Sandwiches of CNY: 12 great spots you didn't know about

You can always find a great sandwich in Central New York. We've got Brooklyn Pickle, Darwin and, of course, Wegmans. But the area offers so much more. Over the past week, I was on a mission to find sandwich shops that you might not know about.