The Getaway Café, a cornerstone of University of California, Riverside student life for nearly three decades, served its final customers Tuesday amid financial difficulties and an eviction filing by the university.
Owner Shahram Sabbagh, who opened the establishment in 1998, cited mounting financial pressures, including a roughly 60% rent increase over two years after electrical costs were separated from lease payments.
"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," Sabbagh told ABC7 in a recent interview.
University officials offered a different perspective. In a statement, John Warren, UCR’s senior director of news and content, said the university "worked with the owner of Getaway Café for several years to remain in the location" and had "excused all retail tenants from paying rent" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Warren noted the establishment was "in serious default with payments," compelling UCR to file an unlawful detainer action. The deadline for Sabbagh to respond is April 30.
The closure has sparked community outcry, with a petition on Change.org gathering more than 1,500 signatures from alumni, students and community members seeking to save the business.
The Getaway Café's significance extends beyond its own 28-year history. The location previously housed the Bull and Mouth, a memorable establishment that remains vivid in the memories of longtime Riverside residents. The Bull and Mouth was known for its kitschy, raucous atmosphere, with wooden surfaces carved and plastered with magazine photos throughout the space.
When the Getaway Café took over the space, it continued the tradition of serving as a community hub. For many UCR students and alumni, it functioned as more than just a restaurant — it was the living room of the campus community. With affordable food, pool tables and a constant stream of activity, it became a gathering space where many students spent more time than in their nearby apartments.
Sabbagh's establishment carried on this community-centered approach. The café walls showcased paddles from Greek-letter organizations and jerseys from nearly every UCR sports team — from basketball to more niche sports like fencing and rugby.
On its final evening, the café stayed open past its usual 10 p.m. closing time, with Sabbagh telling The Press-Enterprise, "The kids are not letting us close by 10. The love that we get from them is overwhelming."
For decades, generations of students made memories over late-night study sessions and cold beers within walls that absorbed the evolving culture of campus life. As the doors close on this chapter of UCR history, the community loses more than a restaurant — it loses a space where students forged their college identities and found refuge from academic pressures.
The empty space in Bannockburn Village will remain, but the community memory of what once filled it will echo for years to come.
