Casa East Sac on H Street closes permanently following financial challenges
Casa East Sac on 5401 H St. has permanently closed as a result of a drop in customers and economic challenges, said Steve Gibanov, the restaurant’s co-owner.
“We tried to weather the storm, and we just really couldn’t hold on,” Gibanov said “We tried to do our best to hold on, having a full-service restaurant staffed with no customers, just burning labor. It completely ate us alive.”
Casa East Sac opened in 2022, and during that year, Gibanov described business as “absolute gangbusters.”
“It was insane busy; we couldn’t even handle the business it was so busy,” Gibanov said.
But as the years went by, business took a downturn, he explained.
Casa East Sac was founded by Gibanov, and his brother, Theodore, who were both born and raised in Sacramento, according to the restaurant’s website. In their farewell social media post, the brothers thanked the restaurant’s customers, staff, vendors and the East Sacramento community.
In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, Gibanov said the restaurant’s landlords were especially helpful, advocating their needs through difficult financial periods.
“The landlords here have been nothing but supportive and actually helped us through hard times,” Gibanov said. “They actually were very lenient and very helpful.”
The restaurant posted online in November that it did not meet its summer sales goals, according to past Bee reporting. In the post, the brothers included a fundraising link seeking $60,000.
“Six months ago, we were in another tight spot,” Gibanov said. “People actually donated to us. That really helped us a lot...we picked up a little bit of steam through the holidays, but then it just hasn’t really come together.”
East Sac Casa served a variety of menu options from pizza, salads, homemade pasta and pork chops to brunch options such as biscuits and gravy, eggs Benedict and French toast bread pudding, according to its website. The restaurant also had a vast wine, beer, and cocktail menu.
