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Sahara Cafe gone; menu lives

By MARY JANE PARK
Published February 13, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Sahara Cafe, a downtown luncheon mainstay for five years, is no more.

Owner Mohammed "Mike" Chehab closed the restaurant at 624 First Ave. S on Jan. 31 and went to work with one of his brothers at Sami's Bakery, 4914 Busch Blvd. E, Tampa.

"We did have a good business going" at the Sahara, Chehab said. He considered several factors in deciding to close: The business was open only at lunch and only five days a week, it had no indoor seating, and Chehab commuted from his home in Tampa.

"What can you do?" he said. "Gas is going up. If I had a bigger place (with indoor seats), I would never close."

Cold weather kept customers away several days last month, he said.

"I don't blame the people. They want to be indoors, where it's warm," he said. "I'm missing everybody myself."

Another Chehab brother, Nabil, has the Cedar Market at 6529 54th Ave. N, which offers falafel, hummus and other foods the Sahara prepared.

Business people in the neighborhood heard rumors last week that Mike Chehab was Iraqi and had decided to return to his home land after the Jan. 30 elections there.

Asked about that scenario, he laughed.

"I'm Lebanese," he said.

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:07:16]