Don't bother looking for the old hole-in-the-wall. Sava's Café has zipped across State Street. Owner Sava Lelcaj opened in the former Zanzibar space on Aug. 22 after only a week of construction and remodeling, including the controversial painting-over of the foyer's jungle mural.
"From the day we opened, it's been a madhouse. We couldn't keep up with the volume. In my initial plan, I forecast revenues as Sava's Café plus 30 percent. It's really more like 80-100 percent," Sava says.
"The new Sava's is twice as big as the old space plus a full basement for catering. It's great, especially coming from a little box. One window here is larger than my storefront across the street. That was a tough space."
After living in 20 different cities in four different countries, crossing State Street wasn't that big a deal, says the 26-year-old restaurantpreneur. "Ann Arbor is THE place," she says. "This is where I belong."
She left Albania when she was five years old and didn't look back. Belgrade, The Bronx, Hazel Park and Toronto were among her stops before landing in Ann Arbor in 2004. Thanks to the latest move, her future is in place for at least the next 10 years -- the term of her lease to operate in the new 5,800-square-foot space.
Although the new space is pricey – reportedly $2 million for the ten year duration – it's a steal compared to her old space. With only 45 seats and above-market rent, more than $80,000 a year, the revenue couldn't support the overhead, she says. It was the only way to crack the Ann Arbor market at the time – three years ago. It took her a year to find an audience, but word spread fast after that and she filled every seat during most opening hours.
Those 45 seats were jammed into the living room, library, and dining room of an 1860s home at 211 S. State. That property and the neighboring house of similar vintage are hidden behind a commercial façade. Glance upward as you pass and you'll see the original second floor and roof line. The whole mess has been optioned by CVS. The Ann Arbor Historic District Commission has approved its demolition except for the facade.
In June, Bill Milliken of Milliken Realty Co. listed the Zanzibar property nationally. He says the owners - a group of investors who hold the primary lease on the property – selected Sava as the new operator from among a handful of parties who answered the search.
"She sounds great. She's a very ambitious businesswoman. Her age is an advantage – she doesn't look through the same-colored glasses as everybody else on the street. It would be hard for any of them to match her energy level," Milliken says.
Lelcaj also owns a 50s-style diner in Canton and a restaurant consulting business. Consulting is on hold for the moment, she says. The diner is run by a partner. "I'm neglecting it right now," she says.
Toronto was her introduction to good food. She studied journalism in college, aiming to be a restaurant critic. A job in a Toronto supper club led to a lifelong love of food and restaurants from the other side of the house. "Toronto's markets, the fresh food, the many international products you can't get here, the restaurants that really put a value on good food – not quantity. All my training has been on the job – no formal culinary training. I love to eat, to experiment with food – it's so fun," Sava says. "I've never been anything but an entrepreneur since my first job at 13, bussing tables in the restaurant where my uncle worked."
Her first restaurant venture, The Crew, a casual spot in Hazel Park, was the springboard. From a staff there composed of siblings and friends, she now has more than 50 people on staff at Sava's. Her youngest brother, 20, runs the kitchen.
"I'm very confident this is where I should be," she says. "We can uphold our place in the community for 10 years or more. I'm building a team to help me – people who have been with me, college grads who stayed in Ann Arbor to work with Sava's. They connect with customers."
The slim, dark-haired woman arrived here at age 23, barely older than her 20- and 21-year-old customers. Now, she says, the staff relates to them better than she does. Eventually, she'd like to secure a liquor license. The restaurant is already open from 8am until midnight daily. With booze, she'd extend the hours even more. Her original plan called for adding a bar as quickly as possible.
"It's a good thing I didn't get that liquor license like I thought I was going to get. My core management team was devastated when I told them," she recalls.
"We're so busy. We're getting a big lunch crowd. I feel like I offer something for everyone...freshmen, professors, young professionals, older pros – and now I have the space to accommodate them. Across the street was cozy – I want to maintain the same feeling here."
"I'm self-financed. I've very lucky to have been pretty good with finances. I really worked into a good situation here with the way the deal was structured, what was set up for a new operator. It was not a huge investment. We'll be investing more as we grow," she says.
"Next year, I'll still be building the breakfast business. Weekends are incredible. I want to be the place for breakfast meetings, and to really make use of the space. It's the best space in town -- the windows, the outside seating. It's so inspiring to walk in here. This is the dream. I still can't believe it's my space."
Catering is a big part of her plans. She manages that side of the business herself and it's right where she wants it to be. "If I'm catering a business school bag lunch for 300 people, I want it to be perfect – not embarrass the person who called me for the job. Don't ever let the customer look bad," she says.
"We're doing five caterings a day. At the old space I had no place to park. I would be getting ticketed as I loaded – arguing with the parking enforcement people while the food got cold. I understand, they were just doing their job. But now I have two cars for catering and a loading area in back of the building."
"I'm not a planner. I signed the lease the first week in August," Lelcaj says. "I have contracts with the U and fraternities that wouldn't have happened from the old space. For some fraternities, I cater food nightly. Some groups get both lunch and dinner."
It's a lucky thing that she doesn't need much sleep.
"This is a LOT more challenging than I thought – and I love a challenge. Oh boy, did I take on a challenge," Lelcaj says.
Constance Crump is an Ann Arbor writer
whose work has appeared in Crain's Detroit Business, The Ann Arbor
News, The Detroit Free Press, and Billboard
Magazine. Her previous article was The Best Of B3 In A2.
All Photos Taken at Sava's in Ann Arbor.
All Photos by Dave Lewinski. He loves food and a subject willing to have fun during a photo session so he was pretty happy with this shoot.