Teenage entrepreneur eyes kabob chain for $8 million

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008

Teenage entrepreneur eyes kabob chain for $8 million

19-year-old’s holdings include Persian restaurant, gas stations

by Kevin J. Shay | Staff Writer

E-mail this article \ Print this article

Artin Afsharjavan, 19 — who already owns an investment company, Bethesda fine-dining Persian restaurant Javan, a Washington, D.C.-area limousine company, apartment buildings in Northern Virginia and gas stations in Florida — has set his sights on the growing quick-service chain Moby Dick’s House of Kabob.

Moby Dick’s has five eateries in Maryland and eight more in Washington and Northern Virginia.

Afsharjavan said he has offered $8 million in cash for the chain, as he wants to expand the concept across the eastern United States.

But Mohammed Javan, a part-owner of Moby Dick’s, said he was unaware of Afsharjavan’s offer or plans by the chain to sell. Owner Mike Daryoush, who opened the first Moby Dick’s two decades ago in Bethesda, could not be reached for comment.