Sava's
Sava Lelcaj went from a 43-seat cafe to a 300-seat room in twenty-eight days, and sold out of almost everything on her first night in it.1
Why go
Lelcaj opened her first restaurant in Hazel Park, then took a second-floor room on State Street in 2007.1 CVS bought that building, so when she heard Zanzibar was leaving she moved fast, opening at 216 S State twenty-eight days after signing the lease.1 The jump was 1,500 square feet to nearly 10,000, and 43 seats to 300.1 The room is the thing she inherited: a long narrow ground floor, a mezzanine hanging above it, high-back booths and windows on two sides.1 In July 2010 she transferred Zanzibar's liquor licence, which put traffic and sales up 25 to 30 percent and let her add more sophisticated plates while the dollar Monday hamburger stayed.1 What nobody has published since is the cooking, so there is no dish named here.
Order this / avoid
- Avoid: a home football Saturday if you want a quiet table. The bar extends its happy hour on those days.2
What locals & experts say
- Sava Lelcaj, to AnnArbor.com, 31 October 2010:
In restaurant language, when you run out of something, it goes on the 86 list. We were 86ing everything. The first six months were really intense. We weren't really prepared.
1 - Lelcaj, on the room she took on:
It's a huge space to fill.
1
Good to know
- Hours: Sunday to Thursday 9am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 9am to 11pm.2
- Happy hour: weekdays 3pm to 6pm at the bar, and selected Michigan home football Saturdays.2
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Farm to table restaurant that is consistently rated one of the best restaurants. Great breakfast." Neither the sourcing claim nor the ratings turned up in anything read here, and the kitchen does open at nine.
Verdict
could-visit — Lelcaj has held one of the biggest rooms on State Street for sixteen years and she got there by jumping from 43 seats to 300 in twenty-eight days, which is a real operator's arc. What nobody has published lately is what the kitchen cooks. The written record stops in 2010 with a liquor licence and a dollar burger, and Jeff's farm-to-table line has nothing published behind it. It opens at nine every day and serves until late, which makes it useful before anybody argues about whether it is good.