After a five-year run as one of The Marketplace’s better dining establishments, Sababa Restaurant & Lounge will close its doors with a sad finality on Friday, July 31.
Known for its Mediterranean cuisine with a California twist and treatment (try their popular Mediterranean “Nachos” made with housemade pita chips), Sababa owner and former Sachi-owner Sagi Rochman has had a thing cooking behind the scenes for quite some time now.
Rochman, a father to four young boys, started a new company called Better Chains, which has grown faster than the gifted entrepreneur had ever anticipated. It’s with a bittersweet goodbye that he leaves to foster another restaurant-related endeavor, one to help restaurant owners streamline operations for their franchise structures.
With over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Rochman saw the need for a suite of back office tools that would give complete visibility of operations and real-time intelligence to the user to assist their management of a multi-unit or franchise of eateries. He believes Better Chains can revolutionize the restaurant industry.
“It’s designed to save time and money, plus restaurant owners and general managers of small and large chains can manage restaurant operations from just about anywhere,” he said in a statement.
He said many of those who work at Sababa have become like family to him. However, now that Better Chains has dozens of clients, from Long Beach to New York to Israel, according to the announcement, the restaurateur had to make a choice.
“This was a difficult decision for me,” said Rochman in an earlier press statement. “I’m in the process of securing jobs at other restaurants for as many of my employees as possible.”
For the next three weeks Sababa, which means “cool” in Hebrew, will be open for guests to enjoy the Mediterranean fair alongside craft cocktails and alfresco socializing. Sababa will welcome its last guests on Friday, July 31 until 2:00AM.
The restaurant is located next door to BevMo at The Marketplace in Long Beach where Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway meet. For more information, call 562.252.3572 or visit the website here.