Yassin's Falafel House nominated for 'Nicest Place in America' contest by Reader's Digest

With the help of USA TODAY's 10Best.com and ABC's "Good Morning America," Reader's Digest asked the nation to respond to this question: "Do you live in the nicest place in America?"

About 450 responses were received, with at least one nominating Yassin's Falafel House as the nicest place in America.

Jamileh with daughter Judy, 7, and husband Yassin Terou, who was presented the Rotary Club of Knoxville dove of peace at Knoxville Museum of Art.

Yassin Terou is the owner of the business, which has two locations, 706 Walnut St. and 159 N. Peters Road.

Judges of the contest include ABC's Robin Roberts and Bruce Kelley, chief content officer for Reader's Digest, who helped to whittle the responses down to a top 10 with Yassin's on that list.

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The nomination text included:

"Yassin Terou left Syria in 2011 and arrived in America unable to speak English. Seven years later, he’s a pillar of the Knoxville community and has turned his Yassin’s Falafel restaurant into a home away from home for the refugees he employs and for anyone who stops in for a delicious meal."

Terou tweeted the contest link, stating in part, "Today we honored to be nominated and be one of the 10 nicest places in America and we are very happy not only to see our name but we are even happier to show Knoxville (sic) name to the rest of the world."

Yassin's Falafel House opened its second location on N. Peters Road in Knoxville on Jan. 26, 2018.

Other nominees are Beca's Brews, Bothell, Washington; the town of Ellijay, Georgia; the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan; Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore; the city of Katy, Texas; Life Moves Yoga, Killeen, Texas; the town of Mower County, Minnesota; the street of North Evergreen, Burbank, California; and the town of North Riverside, Illinois.

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The winner, to be decided by the voting public, will be announced in November on "Good Morning America" and in a Reader's Digest cover story.

Voting is limited to once daily through 6 p.m. July 7. To vote for Yassin or any other finalist visit https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/readers-digest-nicest/.