Yassin's Falafel House has been named the "Nicest Place in America" by Reader's Digest.

The announcement was made Thursday morning by Robin Roberts, host of ABC's "Good Morning America."

The network had Yassin's Falafel House owner Yassin Terou in a back room where he was showing staff how to make his popular falafel when Roberts walked in and revealed that his restaurant had won the title.

Terou's response was one of surprise before he wrapped Roberts into a warm hug.

"Yes, it's an honor but America is the winner, Knoxville is the winner, Tennessee is the winner," Terou said.

"When he sent you (to Knoxville) I say this prayer to everyone around this country," he told Roberts. "What makes us a winner is the people in this country, not us. So thank you very much."

Roberts said it was the spirit that Terou shows that helps win the award.

"Your response is one of the main reasons why you were voted number one. The spirit that you have," Roberts responded.

More:Customers of Yassin's Falafel House already knew it was the 'Nicest Place in America'

More:Yassin's Falafel House becomes pawn in TN governor's race

Following a network break, Terou was brought into the studio, where he was surprised to find his wife and two daughters on stage.

Robin Roberts visits Knoxville

A prerecorded taping of an earlier trip to Knoxville where Roberts met Terou was aired. It highlighted the city with a cameo by Mayor Madeline Rogero saying that Terou had "really torn down people's perceptions of refugees and Muslims here in the heart of Appalachia."

Also present on stage was Bruce Kelley, chief content officer for Reader's Digest, who explained why Yassin's Falafel House was chosen the winner.

"Everyone who hears his story and the story of the shop is moved, from the customers that nominated him, separately multiple customers nominated him, to us editors that vetted him, to the judges and to the Knoxvillians we talked to who said he has changed Knoxville. He has made this a better place. This is an important guy," Kelley said, adding a reference to Abraham Lincoln's quote about being touched by our "better angels."

"At this time of division in the country ...we wanted to step up and tell stories ... where people are making each other's lives better," he said

Honored by Kelley's words, Terou responded by telling the audience that "Yassin's is a place where you can come and feel safe and feel welcome because we love everyone around this world."

A taped segment with Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square Inc., was also shared. Terou uses the Square Inc. credit card processing software in his stores.

"I just want to thank you and say we appreciate you so much for who you are, what you have built, and how you serve as a model for all businesses to help their community create an inclusive environment for all," he said. "We are definitely taking notes and are inspired by what you do every day."

In addition, Roberts told Terou that Reader's Digest has a "bonus cover" depicting Roberts and Terou on the cover of the publication. It was displayed on a big screen in New York's Time Square.

The contest

Earlier this year Reader's Digest and ABC's "Good Morning America" partnered with USA Today's 10Best.com to ask the question, "Do you live in the Nicest Place in America?" Nominations were requested and more than 450 people submitted their suggestions.

Yassin's Knoxville restaurant received nominations from three separate individuals. A panel of judges whittled the nominations down to a top 10 list with Yassin's earning a spot there. The voting public selected the winner.

Information about other nominees can be found at www.rd.com/nicest-places-contest.

This is the second consecutive year a Tennessee location has won. In 2017, the city of Gallatin won the title of Nicest Place in America.

More:Gallatin celebrates new title: Nicest Place in America

The restaurant, the motto

"Welcome all sizes, all colors, all ages, all sexes, all cultures, all religions, all types, all beliefs, all people, safe here at Yassin's Falafel House."

Those words are on a sign hanging in Terou's two restaurants located at 706 Walnut St. and 159 N. Peters Road. It's printed using a rainbow of colors.

His intention when having the signs made was to remind his guests that they are welcome at his restaurants no matter their culture, religion, political stance, age or color.

He hopes the signs help to create an environment of acceptance, and it's that environment that may have helped to earn him his latest award as "The Nicest Place in America."

"I sat in the corner of my restaurant one day and watched the people," Terou said when asked about the sign. "There was a lady from the African-American community at one table, a pastor of a church at another, there was a table of young guys, a super conservative guy having lunch, and a group of Indian ladies that come often. They all were there at the same time, and I think, 'This is what makes Yassin's different. We welcome all of them. They are all sitting and eating and laughing. This is what America is.'"

Nominations

The top 10 nominees for "Nicest Place in America" were posted on the Reader's Digest website in mid-June with the public allowed to select the winner by voting once a day through July 7.

Terou was excited over the honor and tweeted about it saying in part, "This the result of what everyone of you made over the last 7 years because for sure we didn’t made (sic) Yassin’s Falafel House one of the nicest place with out your love and supports."

He believes that doing good things for others in turn brings good things back to him. He recently gave back to the community by offering all those affected by Hurricane Florence the opportunity to dine free at his restaurants.

He credits his restaurant's nomination as Nicest Place in America to his theory of good returning to those who give to others.

"We aren't focusing on anything to get nice things like this. It just comes to us," he said.

Terou's story

Terou left Syria for Knoxville in 2011. His move was prompted by "things getting worse in Syria." After applying for asylum, he made money selling falafel sandwiches following daily prayers at Annoor Mosque until he could seek permanent employment.

He met Nadeem Siddiqi at the mosque. His friend offered to become Terou's business partner in a restaurant they hoped to open in downtown Knoxville on Walnut Street. The men were given permission by the Knox County Health Department to offer catering from that location because there was no kitchen in the building at that time. Terou brought in prepared sandwiches, set up a table and began selling sandwiches to the public.

"That was the first phase of the business, but when the health department saw the crowd that was coming in, they closed us down. We didn't officially open as a restaurant until 2014," he said.

Terou opened his second store, in the Cedar Bluff community, in January.

Soon after the opening of the first location, he set out to help other refugees through employment at his restaurant.

"When I came here, it was very hard to find an American company that would hire me because I didn't know English," he said. "I went to Bridge (Refugee Services) and asked them to send me people that don't speak English. I thought they would send me those that spoke Arabic like me, but the first person they sent me speaks Kurdish. I wasn't expecting that."

Terou said to train the young man to work in his kitchen he used photos of food products so that he would recognize and learn the words for such items as onion and cucumber.

"I would give him a picture, and he would go home and find out what it was. It's been three years now and he still works for me and is getting ready to buy his first house," Terou said proudly.

Recent political controversy

Yassin's Falafel House unwillingly found its way into a political whirlwind just days before the restaurant was named the "Nicest Place in America."

The controversy erupted when a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper providing security for gubernatorial candidates Bill Lee and Karl Dean divulged information to the Lee campaign about Dean's camp holding a "Muslim event."

Providing that information was a violation of the trooper's nondisclosure agreement. But the conversation prompted someone from the Lee campaign to ask another trooper whether his staff could obtain a photo of Dean in a mosque, according to THP memos obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee.

A Lee campaign spokeswoman said the GOP nominee had "no recollection" of such conversations taking place.

The event that actually took place was a meet and greet for Dean at Yassin's Falafel House on Sept. 7. Terou is Muslim. The event, however, was not a religious gathering.

Terou took to Twitter to explain his position on the controversy, saying that "our doors and hearts are open to all, different races, different colors and different beliefs."

More:Muslim group 'disappointed' that Lee campaign reportedly wanted Dean photographed at 'Muslim event'

In an interview about the falafel house's Nicest Place nomination earlier this year, Terou said he's always felt welcome in Knoxville even after one unreported episode of his downtown restaurant being tagged by hate speech.

"A customer told me about it," Terou said. "He cleaned it off before I even got to the restaurant. He showed me pictures."

During an October 2017 address to a group of people protesting President Donald Trump's travel ban policy, he was confronted by a dissenter who accused Terou of taking job away from Americans.

"I offered to hire him," Terou said.

Despite those incidents, he has never felt unwelcome in Knoxville.

"With help from this community, I have always felt welcome even with those incidents. I have always felt that love will win over hate," he said.

More:Yassin's Falafel House: 5 things to know about the 'Nicest Place in America'

Honors and community service

When the Gatlinburg wildfires occurred in November 2016, Terou jumped into action to collect bottled water for the workers and for those displaced by the disaster.

"Me and some of the members of the Muslim community wanted to do something because we are a part of this community," he said. "We knew they would need water, so I said, 'OK, I'll rent a truck and bring it to Yassin's (on Walnut at Church Avenue) and announce on Facebook that we will be there collecting water. Our friends from the Juice Box came down to help us load and people started bringing us water."

The truck — which he estimated at 30 feet —was half full within 3-4 hours and completely full by 4 p.m.

"We had to stop taking donations because the truck was so low. Even when we drove it the (wheel well) would touch the wheels," he said.

After being a Knoxville resident for seven years, he received the 2018 Peace Award from the Rotary Club of Knoxville for his work in the community.

During the introduction of the awards ceremony, rotary club member Townes Osborn said, "There were 21 people nominated this year. When we voted, Yassin was the unanimous choice."

"I told them that in Arabic we do not have p's, we only b's, so it's very hard for me to say peace but I know how to make it," he said with a grin.

He was given $1,000 for the honor, which he donated to the Seeds of Abraham foundation.

"What they do is every Sunday they make food and give to the poor people that need it," he said.

Terou uses Square, a credit card processing system, at both of his restaurants. In 2017 the company wanted to highlight some of its clients. Terou was the first to be featured in a film that tells his story of leaving Syria, coming to Knoxville and becoming a successful restaurant owner.

It put Knoxville in the national spotlight.

"It was a very big surprise for me when I got the call that Jack Dorsey (CEO of Square and Twitter) wanted to meet me. Then they did the documentary on our business," Terou said.

The viewing was held at Terou's Walnut Street restaurant with Dorsey in attendance. The film was selected to compete at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Webby Awards.

"He invited me to California and we celebrated there. We won at the Webby Awards but not the Tribeca," he said.

Since it opened Yassin's has won a number of culinary awards from local reader polls including the most recent award of "Best Middle Eastern Food" from the Knoxville News Sentinel's 2018 Best of Knoxville competition.

The title of "Nicest Place in America" once again brings national attention to Knoxville.

Terou said Roberts of "Good Morning America" came to Knoxville to meet him this summer and he was taken with her pleasant demeanor.

"When I met her, I kept thinking, 'She has interviewed all these big celebrities and she is here to talk to me.' She was one of the nicest people I have met," he said, adding that "when we walked to Market Square and others saw her and wanted to take their photo, she was very open to it. That made me love her even more."