'We cried all week': Sahara Restaurant closes after more than 20 years in business

WORCESTER — The word was that the Sahara Restaurant was closing its doors Friday night and though no one from the Highland Street restaurant would confirm that, several diners turned out to mark the restaurant's final day.

"We cried all week," Nikki Allen said of herself and her friend Amanda Whitner, who once worked as a waitress and bartender at the restaurant.

The restaurant at 143 Highland St. opened in the late 1990s at the site of the former Alan Bilzerian clothing store and offered Lebanese cuisine.

It was the choices that brought Rhiannon Chiacchiaro back time and again during her days at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

"I was vegetarian in college and I could always find something here," she said Friday.

Four WPI seniors also made their way into the restaurant on Friday but they were first-timers stopping by to see what they'd been missing after hearing about the closure.

Part of the thriving Highland Street scene, the Sahara’s neighbors include the Sole Proprietor and The Boynton Restaurant.

Over the years the Sahara has been a hot spot for entertainment, hosting musical performers, belly dancers and poetry groups.

What's next for the building remains unclear. It remains listed for sale at a price of $869,000 on the Kelleher & Sadowsky website.

On the Worcester Eats Facebook page, some lamented the closure but noted that there aren't usually large crowds. Some said that pre-pandemic, late nights brought larger crowds, including some who came for the live music.

Efforts this week to reach Farid Aoude, who is listed as the restaurant’s owner, were unsuccessful.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sahara Restaurant in Worcester closes after more than 20 years in business