{"id":37990,"date":"2026-04-21T20:24:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37990"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:02:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T01:02:45","slug":"sam-saberi-owner-of-tinas-grill-remembered-as-community-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/sam-saberi-owner-of-tinas-grill-remembered-as-community-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Saberi, owner of Tina\u2019s Grill, remembered as community leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Restaurateur and philanthropist Sam Saberi, owner of popular Tina\u2019s Grill, has died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His passing on the morning of April 21 was confirmed by his family. He was 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saberi was well-known throughout Aurora for his passion for giving back to the community he called home. His \u201cbig heart\u201d for those in need was a common theme for those paying their respects, including those who began leaving floral tributes outside the restaurant on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His work as a community builder was recognized by the Town of Aurora in 2022 when Tina\u2019s Grill not only received the Good Business Award but with Saberi himself being honoured as Aurora\u2019s Citizen of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, he was hailed as a volunteer with an \u201cunwavering\u201d commitment to the community, both in serving up a delicious menu, but in turning his restaurant over as a drop-off location for toy donations during the holiday season, stepping up to help raise funds for countless causes, and even helping provide meals to the community in a number of ways, including an initiative inviting patrons to pre-pay for meals which could then be claimed by those who needed them \u2013 when they needed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting the Citizen of the Year honour in Council Chambers in May of 2022, Mayor Tom Mrakas recognized Saberi\u2019s \u201ccompassion, commitment, and unwavering love for Aurora, our business community, and residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis upbeat personality and continuous efforts to improve the lives of others have made a positive impact on our community,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas. \u201cSam has a multitude of strong supporters who say that he always sees the good in others and he embodies the spirit of kindness in our Town. Thank you, Sam\u2026for generously giving your time to Aurora and making our community a better place to live in. You are a dedicated business owner running a successful business, Tina\u2019s Grill that we all truly love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy staying positive and setting a good example for your peers, you inspire your customers, our local residents, businesses and your friends to give back to our community and to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday evening, Mayor Mrakas said Saberi\u2019s passing was \u201cheartbreaking news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake no mistake, we have lost someone truly special,\u201d he said. \u201cSam cared deeply about this Town and the people in it. He gave his time, his energy, and his heart to making Aurora a better place for everyone. His legacy will live on in the lives he touched and the community he helped build. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and all those who had the privilege of knowing him during this incredibly difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Restaurateur and philanthropist Sam Saberi, owner of popular Tina\u2019s Grill, has died. His passing on the morning of April 21 was confirmed by his family. He was 41. Saberi was well-known throughout Aurora for his passion for giving back to the community he called home. His \u201cbig heart\u201d for those in need was a common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-headline_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ss2026.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9SK","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 07:24:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37990"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37997,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37990\/revisions\/37997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}