By Paige Aarhus
For the late-night crowd stumbling past 320 Bank St. on a Saturday night, 2 for 1 Pizza Pie is a haven, offering hot, greasy food, an X-Men arcade game and a businessman who watches out for them.
Owner Amir Masoumzadeh recently spent 30 minutes on the phone with MasterCard to find the contact information of a customer who left her wallet behind.
“I am so grateful to him for returning my wallet,” says Sara Mackenzie, the 20-year-old student who lost her cards. “If he had taken it to the police, it would’ve been such a hassle. Or if someone else had found my credit card.”
“I know how it feels to lose a wallet so I try to help as much as I can,” says Masoumzadeh.
Masoumzadeh came to Ottawa from Iran 13 years ago.
“Opportunity is here, only you have to be willing to do something.” For him this meant owning his own restaurant, which he and his brother, Nassar, opened eight years ago.
“It is stressful, yes. Drivers don’t show up or cars break down. People always want it faster, faster,” says Masoumzadeh.
Masoumzadeh says his customers can be quite colourful.
“Oh, they come here, they are drunk, they laugh, they sit in chair, the girls, they fall, boom!” he chuckles.
He chooses to give inebriated patrons a ride home instead of seeing them shipped off in a patrol car. “I don’t want anything to happen to them. They’re human beings.” He insists he is not a Good Samaritan, only a good businessman.
“With the police it’s a big process, it’s not good for the customers … we get business from them and once in a while we help them out too.”
Doing his latest good deed, Masoumzadeh is busy behind the counter with a large order of pizzas for a United Way Charity event. He gives the charity a $4-reduction on every pizza.
Masoumzadeh is fond of Ottawa, saying people here are friendly and crime is low. He enjoys running the pizza shop and says that in 10 years time he sees himself behind the counter, still serving customers.
“I am happy with my business. I don’t want anything else.”