UCR's popular Getaway Cafe set to permanently close after nearly 30 years in business

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- After 29 years in business, the popular Getaway Cafe on the campus of UC Riverside is set to permanently close down.

"I never thought that there would be a day when I couldn't provide a living for my employees, and unfortunately that day has come," owner Shahram Sabbagh said in an interview.

His restaurant has been a fixture on the campus for nearly three decades, but due to in large part to the rising cost of business, the is about to go away.

Unable to make rent since last November, and recently served eviction papers by the university, the establishment is scheduled to shutter its doors on Tuesday.

"The cost of goods, they way they are, the cost of the employees, the cost of all the taxes, insurance -- my insurance (went) from $4,700 a year went to like $13,400 out of nowhere, my general liability insurance," Sabbagh told ABC7.

And when asked about the rent costs, Sabbagh simply chuckled ruefully.

Because the Getaway Cafe's electric bill is no longer included in Sabbagh's monthly lease payment, his rent has increased by about 60% over the past two years.

"And that's what broke my back, basically," Sabbagh said.

Like many others, Sabbagh said his business's financial struggles began during the COVID pandemic."

When the campus reopened, he said, "more than 70% of the students were online."

And when potential customers were attending classes remotely, they were not patronizing the Getaway Cafe.

So Sabbagh decided to innovate, starting a DJ night on Wednesdays. Hundreds of people would show up.

"That's what kept us alive, basically," Sabbagh said. "The business that we did on that evening was enough to cover us for a month."

But he said the university put a stop to it, in large part because his lease said there wasn't to be any dancing on site.

"And then the kids start showing up because of the music, because of the environment that we created for them," Sabbagh said. "Then we start taking a few tables and chairs away, just to make room for them. We can't come and tell you 'Don't dance.' If there's music that makes you want to move, it does. So they told us this was against my ABC license."

Reached for comment by ABC7, a UC Riverside spokesperson said they were unable to comment due to pending litigation.