Published May 7, 2025
BY DANIELA FOLEY
Since immigrating to the United States from Syria at 27 years old in 2004, Bashar Sneeh has followed his aspirations of hospitality by owning five restaurants in Monterey County while serving as the president of the nonprofit Swaida American Society to give back to his community at home.
“When I first came to America, I didn’t have any money, and I did not speak English,” says Sneeh. “I started from nothing, with no support system. I was on my own, but I saw the land of opportunity–this country is really somewhere you can make your dream come true.”
As Sneeh became more familiar with the opportunities available in the United States, he wanted to help villages back home. For Sneeh, increasing opportunities for people locally and globally is the ultimate goal.
Bashar Sneeh’s journey from Syria to the United States has allowed him to open restaurants, such as Porta Bella, that thrives in the Carmel-by-the-Sea atmosphere. Photo by DANIELA FOLEY
Immediately after coming to the U.S., Sneeh took a job in a gas station in Monterey and as a busboy in Pebble Beach to support himself and his family back home. It was then that he discovered his passion for hospitality and love for the Carmel community.
“I was in love with this town,” explains Bashar. “I discovered how much I liked serving people and how much I liked the social aspect of this kind of restaurant scene. So I said to myself, on my first week working, ‘I have a five-year plan to open my own restaurant.’”
Three and a half years later, Sneeh would open his first restaurant, Dametra Café, which would later expand to the ownership of four more businesses in Carmel, Marina and Monterey. Now owning Dametra Café in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Dametra Fresh Mediterranean in Monterey, Dametra in Marina, Porta Bella in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Catch in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Sneeh has been able to bring cultural aspects of his homeland to the local community.
“Even though we opened our first restaurant during a recession, we believed in it and we got blessed,” says Sneeh. “I was willing to take such a risk because when you immigrate to a new country, you change all of your life and give up all of your comfort, so you are already sacrificing a lot. But I did not come to another country just to survive, I needed to make it worth it and do something I loved.”
While owning restaurants is Sneeh’s ultimate passion, his dedication to the nonprofit Swaida American Society, of which he is now the president, has allowed for 72 villages and 280,000 people in Syria to be medically supported. Sneeh assists the sustainable hospitality management program at CSUMB, where he helps students learn the ins and outs of hospitality and business ownership.
“Syria is a place where there is not a lot of freedom or opportunity for people to reach their potential,” says Sneeh. “Coming here, there is a lot of opportunity, a lot of freedom, the ceiling is very high, but I wanted to give back to support my people back home.”
Though his journey to success was challenging initially, Sneeh’s motivation encourages him to work harder each and every day.
“It was definitely challenging at the beginning, but I never minded challenge,” says Sneeh. “I see it as a positive thing, it’s a pressure on you that makes you better. In life, this journey is very short. We die and bring nothing with us, so you better live it with passion, and if you don’t do what reflects you, it’s not worth it.”
