The Sun Center in downtown Gainesville will be the new home for Sababa, a Jewish-Israeli cafe.
The falafel cafe residing at UF Hillel will have its grand opening in downtown on Feb. 1.
Rabbi Adam Grossman, UF Hillel’s CEO, said he is sad to see the cafe go after serving customers at Hillel for about two years but is excited for its expansion.
“UF Hillel and Sababa have had a great relationship over the years,” Grossman wrote in an email.
Grossman said he hopes Sababa will be able to bring the taste of Israel to more people with its expansion.
“We wish them all the best as they continue to grow,” he said.
The general manager of Sababa, Riley Sullivan, said they decided to move in hopes of attracting more customers.
“We weren’t getting quite the foot traffic and attention that we were hoping for,” Sullivan said.
The restaurant offers a wide variety of Mediterranean and Kosher food, as well as vegetarian and vegan options.
Yael Goldstein, the co-owner of Sababa, said she hopes to bring an array of healthy food to downtown Gainesville.
“A lot of people say that they feel like they are home when they come in,” Goldstein said. “We have the whole Jewish-Israeli experience.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/12/2014]
