Sababa

Everything we ordered from the hummus to the falafal (sababa platter) and shawarma wrap was great. Nice, relaxing ambience; loved the Arabic songs they were playing. Great service

We found this place via Unilocal on our honeymoon. It was the first place we had dinner out in Milwaukee and we returned for our final dinner out. It was DELICIOUS. The best hummus ever! Not a huge fan of the corporate-​looking décor, so thus the 4 stars, instead of 5, but our server Eric’s unique, interesting, intelligent, and engaging personality more than made up for it. Not to mention, his fantastic service! Ed the owner had the warmest, sweetest eyes and nature, and Alejandro the host and barman was also a charmer. We only wish there was one in Chicago! But if we return to Milwaukee, we will definitely be dining here again!

Excellent food, good service, and wonderful atmosphere. It was hard for us to find the entrance, but once we did, we were transported into a quiet and intimate restaurant. The food was flavorful — I had the kefta and my partner had the shawarma. Both were excellent. The server also happily subbed a salad for soup, which had a great vinaigrette dressing and pita croutons mixed in. Overall, a lovely night.

Good fast food-​like Mediterranean restaurant. Great Greek wraps. No sides or even hummus plate, but delicious & quick.

I’ve been here twice and both times were delicious. Sababa offers awesome Middle Eastern food, completely reasonably priced, and has some unique drinks (thumbs up to the white wine mojitos!) on their menu. The shrimp kabobs are killer. So is the lentil soup. I’ve also had the falafel wrap, hummus, and tabouleh. I can’t personally speak to any of the meat dishes, but my girlfriends enjoyed their dinners as well. There are so many yummy options to chose from here!
The atmosphere is comfortable, and they have a decently sized patio for summer. I was kind of surprised to see it wasn’t very busy on a Friday night, but perhaps it’s more of an afternoon spot. I feel like I’d go here all the time for lunch if I worked more in the central downtown area.
If you like Middle Eastern food, go here! If you’re not sure if you like Middle Eastern food, go here!

Beautiful restaurant! Open and clean. The staff was very kind and attentive. Stopped here for appetizers and a drink. We ordered the rolled grape leaves, the regular kibbeh, and the potato kibbeh. The grape leaves were reminicent of my Palestinian friend’s mother’s. Wonderful. The kibbeh was really good too. We both prefered the potato kibbeh. Perfectly crispy on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside.
I was surprised the place was so empty on a Saturday night at seven-​thirty.

Great food, great décor, great service. Come here to enjoy a relaxed atmosphere with good drinks and greet middle eastern food. Enjoy smoking hookah after dinner.

This place is very good.
I came here for the first time. The atmosphere ease ligand clean and comfortable. The seating arrangement made you feel like you had privacy and was lit just right.
Every person working there was very kind and attentive making you their special guest.
Finally the food was very good. I tried the grape leaf wraps, hummus, and chicken, beef, and lamb kabobs. Everything was flavorful. The hummus was smooth and the kabobs were tender. The only reason it didn’t get 5 was that the food was not awe inspiring.
I will return here.

Love the food… had the sababa sampler it was filling enoubu for two, definitely a gem of Milwaukee and reasonably priced

Amazing middle eastern food! Almost everything about this place is top-​notch! The food, the staff and service, the atmosphere… just incredible! A great place for a date night! Only small complaint I have is the ridiculously small pieces of pita you get, but I can’t complain too much, because they’re excellent at bringing out more as needed (for free, unlike Casablanca).
Such a great place! Can’t wait to go there again!

Sababa has shawarma to shwear by.
Shworry. Shomone had to shway it.
***
My wife and I dined at Sababa last month. We enjoyed everything we tried: Lentil Soup, Old Jerusalem Salad, Potato Kibbeh, Rolled Grape Leaves, Chicken Kabobs and, of course, the Shawarma.
Kabob. Kibbeh. Shawarma.
Middle Eastern food is almost as much fun to pronounce as it is to eat. It’s too bad we didn’t try the Falafel – that might be the most fun word to say of all!
We also enjoyed the engaging and ebullient service that we received on our first visit. It was clear that the young woman who waited on us was excited to share Sababa’s ethnic offerings and she wanted to make sure we left happy.
She did her job. We did.
I guess the only knock that I’ve got on Sababa is the setting. It’s on the first floor of a drab office tower and the interior of the restaurant is just as bland as the tower. Large windows facing the foyer of the building give the environment a cold, lifeless feel, which is a shame because the food and service is anything but.
I know running a restaurant is tough business, so Sababa’s emphasis on good food and service is the proper priority. Maybe after continued success, they’ll be able to invest in aesthetic cures to isolate themselves from the stark contrast of the cold 1970s office tower.
I definitely recommend you check out Sababa. Have the shawarma and I shay you’ll shwear by it too!

This place is simply a hidden gem! I’ve passed by Sababa countless times without ever considering having dinner. One of my more curious friends asked me to try it out with her and all I can say is — wow! I was more than impressed. Family (friendly!) owned. Fresh. And fun.
I highly recommend the cucumber salad as a starter as well as the Chicken Shwarma wrap as an entrée. The cucumber salad is a Mediterranean staple but was by far the best I’ve ever had. The Chicken Shwarma wrap is a grilled flatbread wrap stuffed with finely shredded and well seasoned chicken, garlic aoli, tomato, and onion. This comes with a side of cucumber sauce which gives the sandwich a balanced, hearty and crisp texture.
I loved this restaurant so much, I brought my boyfriend back just two days later. He’s a picky eater (not into Mediterranean or Middle Easterb fusion at all) but thoroughly enjoyed his shish kabobs (lamb) with a side of grilled vegetables and rice.

We stopped in for a beer and to see the band and the belly dancer last July during Bastille Days. It was a beautiful warm summer night. I checked out the menu and was hoping to get back to try the food. We finally went back last night and that warm summer night is only a memory — it was 0 degrees and the belly dancer was probably wearing a parka and snow boots.
The restaurant was very busy, which was nice to see on a frigid night. Due to a large corporate group taking up the front of the restaurant, we had a table in the back. The restaurant has a really nice atmosphere, but there is something a little odd about the big windows with a view of the interior of dark office building that takes away a bit of the warmness. That is really the only thing I would say was off. I think if they hung some light curtains or shades, it could make a big difference.
Service was great. Our waitress was really helpful and friendly, asking if we had Middle Eastern food before and ready to help us out with any questions or recommendations. The cocktail list has some interesting sounding mixed drinks, but we opted for wine. The wine selections are pretty basic — wines that you can get at the grocery store, but the prices are fair.
We had the complimentary tapenade with bread and ordered the Potato Kibbeh and Stuffed Grape Leaves for starters. Then the Chicken Kabobs and Beef Shawarma for our main courses. Everything was very good and flavorful with a lot of great seasoning.
I highly recommend Sababa and will definitely go back, but next time I will choose a different area of the restaurant to be seated in.

The food was amazing. I had the lamb skewer. It was full of flavor. My girl had the Chicken Shawarma and she loved it.
The atmosphere was slow for a Friday night but a cool environment overall. A must try

My boyfriend and I were looking for someplace to have good Middle Eastern food… we had just recently been to Casablanca so we wanted to try something different. I came across Sababa online and thought it looked nice.
This place is really «under the radar» as others have said. We went on a Saturday night and there were only maybe 3 other diners in the restaurant but we had a great experience. 1^st of all, the restaurant is very calming and beautiful… waterfalls, candlelit tables. A great place for a quiet, romantic date night…
Our server was very funny & friendly. The food was good. We ordered hummus with warm pita bread as an appetizer and each got a combo plate or chicken/​lamb shish kabobs. We didn’t care for the lamb too much as it was kind of tough but everything else was great. I wish more people knew about this place because I don’t see it lasting too long if they don’t get more business, which is a shame!

This place had great seating with Arabic songs all night… Had the mixed grill plate and it was delicious.

Wow. The food here is wonderful! Very fresh tasting and full of flavor. The service was awesome, very attentive and personable. Best falafel I’ve ever had. I only wish they served dinner more nights of the week.

I’m really conflicted here — the food was outstanding but the atmosphere of the restaurant itself is a little sad… No one was there on a Friday night! It was so empty, we were the only patrons for the entire evening, until closing… But is that their fault?
Without hesitation, I’ll give 5 stars for the food. Seriously, this is the place to go for a well prepared, quality meal. We started with warm pita brought to our table, a cucumber/​yogurt salad and a salata tahini that was perfect for sharing amongst 4 people.
I ordered the chicken shawarma. This was a huge plate of grilled «shaved» chicken, rice, and a tasty garlic/​yogurt sauce. The chicken was unbelievable. No shady or mysterious gristle pieces, just a plate full of well seasoned chicken. You HAVE to get a side of the spicy chile sauce to go along with your meal. Awesome combination between all the different flavors. Others at the table ordered the kifta sliders, shish kabob, and kofta kabob. Everyone really loved the taste and quality of the ingredients.
Finally, for desert we had a chocolate laval cake and baklava, which were also delicious!
So maybe people don’t know about this restaurant? Maybe the location is in a ‘dead’ neighborhood at night? I don’t know, but I hope more people patron the place! This has officially become a favorite restaurant. I want to go back tonight and try more!

Some of the best Middle Eastern food I’ve had! When I arrived on a Friday evening, I was promptly seated and taken care of by the staff.
I ordered the Kibbeh appetizer (thanks to Rick R’s recommendation) and the Chicken Shawarma meal, which was served with rice, cucumber salad and lentil soup. I was surprised when they brought out a serving of red pepper baba ghanoush and pita bread before the meal. The kebbeh was excellent because the beef was wonderfully seasoned. The chicken in the Shawarma platter was delicious too. The yogurt sauce that accompanied the Shawarma was so good!

I’d never been to Sababa Café, but I visited Sababa now that they’ve remodeled and added a patio, and I was impressed with what I saw. Everything looks new, clean, and elegant, yet casual.
The place was empty on an early Saturday evening. I sat at the bar and was greeted by a lovely young lady who told me she was the owner’s daughter.
I decided to try the Kibbeh, cracked wheat croquettes filled with seasoned ground beef, pine nuts, and onions. I’d had Kibbeh at another middle eastern restaurant and enjoyed it, but I thought the meat at Sababa had even more seasoning on it which provided a more robust flavor that I appreciated more than the other venue’s Kibbeh.
Then I ordered the Chicken Shawarma wrap. The chicken was grilled and «shaved» (I think more diced than shaved) and was also well seasoned. I enjoyed the flavor, but I wasn’t completely wowed by the wrap or I’d be giving Sababa 5 stars.
I definitely hope to get back soon because I have a feeling the beef shawarma and beef kifta will push my rating up to 5 stars, based on what I’ve tasted so far.
I think this place is flying under the radar, and it shouldn’t be. They have great food, a full bar and a patio. Go pay them a visit. Maybe I’ll see you there when I return.