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Earlier this year, an impending rent hike forced Persian Garden Cafe, a family-run staple near Phoenix College, to close for good. Now it's back in business — albeit in a different form.
Mahmoud Jaafari opened Persian Garden Cafe in 2001, in the building that once housed Mary Coyle Ol' Fashion Ice Cream.
Like for many restaurants, business waned during the pandemic. When property owner Arizona Partners, a Scottsdale developer, proposed raising the rent every year for the next five years, Mahmoud and his wife Afsaneh bowed out.
But with the help of Mahmoud's son Joseph Jaafari, as well as Joseph's fiancé Jake Hylton, the family business is getting a reinvention. Now known as Persian Garden, the family offers meals for pickup and delivery twice a month, while partnering with other local businesses and artists.