With more than 17 years of restaurant experience, Karim Haji can see what a restaurant needs to perform successfully. His journey started with one restaurant in one mall – and now Grafton Way currently franchises and manages 20+ restaurants across Houston and Dallas metro areas. As the company grew, he learned all aspects of the industry - from working the line to developing new sites to overseeing profitability. He uses all of this information to continually develop great teams across all levels of the company.
Shaz fell into the restaurant industry by waiting tables to help the costs of attending George Washington University. After graduating with degrees in International Development and Sociocultural Anthropology, she realized that the restaurant industry was the work she enjoyed. She worked in many aspects of the industry, specializing in events at upscale-casual and fine dining restaurants. Her next career step was to develop the Catering Department at Taylor Gourmet, a beloved DC fast casual restaurant chain. After moving to Houston, Shaz helped to develop the Catering Department for Grafton Way, and currently oversees the Catering and Project Coordination Departments.
Shabana started working for Grafton Way Restaurant Group as an after-school job when she moved to Houston from London, England. Over the years she went from the #1 sampler to helping Karim run the stores from behind the scenes. After graduating from the University of Houston with a degree in Psychology, she joined GWRG full time and grew her career by learning all aspects of running the restaurants. Now, as a partner in the business, she manages the office staff in all departments – Payroll, Accounts Payable, HR, etc. - while also using her knowledge to help the office develop tools to better help the restaurant operations.