CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A Charlottetown restaurant owner who was facing tough times during the COVID-19 pandemic has a reason to relax after winning $2 million on a scratch ticket.
Seyedazim Sharif owns Linda’s Coffee Shop and said there have been times when the restaurant had to close during the pandemic because business was so slow.
His win on the scratch ticket gives him some financial security.
“Whatever stress I had went out the window,” he said.
Sharif and his family moved to Charlottetown from Iran in 2014.
He was on a supply run for the restaurant recently when he bought the winning scratch ticket at the Atlantic Superstore on University Avenue.
Sharif said he scratched the ticket before returning home and went right back into the store to check it.
His wife Zeynab Sharif said her husband couldn’t drive because he was shaking so much.
“Calm down, take a breath,” she told him.
Seyedazim has plans to buy another business, likely a second restaurant, and hopes to purchase an apartment building to help provide affordable housing in P.E.I.
He said he will also buy his daughter a house with the winnings and will get something for his son, although he’s not sure what yet.
