What you need to know about the whole Sebastian’s Table situation.

We have made the difficult decision to close Sebastian’s Table.

It has been a challenge operating a restaurant based on shared plates over this past year.

Have no fear, this space shall not remain quiet for long.  We are already in the process of a concept evolution; one that we feel is pandemic resilient and like Honest Abe’s, revolutionary for the industry.

We will be posting updates as we progress with equipment arrivals, dish teasers and more.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to sharing this new experience with you all!

Q.  What the heck?  Why?

A. Well, there were many factors leading to this decision but ultimately, Sebastian’s wasn’t busy enough.  As a team, we discussed all the issues, all the concerns and tried multiple ideas to grow Sebastian’s. We are thankful that we can say there are many wonderful and faithful patrons who have come through our doors; just not enough for us to continue investing in this concept.  

Q. You’re closed immediately?  You didn’t even let us know so we could come back one last time.

A. You are correct. This isn’t our first rodeo.  We learned the hard way that staying open after making the announcement is almost impossible to make it work.  The entire city came to eat and we barely had the ability to manage the crowds.  Most people won’t realize employees oftentimes quit when you tell them they are going to have to work elsewhere. This leaves the restaurant with the largest surge of guests ever seen but almost certainly with only half the staff to handle them.  This becomes an even greater concern when you’re already understaffed as it is.  There is no perfect way to close a restaurant, but it isn’t something you can or should do gradually.  We do apologize for the inconvenience to those who had plans to come see us, closing was the hardest decision to make, but necessary.  

Q.  Why do you keep doing this?  You open restaurants and then you close them.  

A. Yes, it happens, and you are welcome.  We unapologetically will keep trying new ideas until we find our next success.  Most people aren’t crazy enough to try to open a restaurant, yet here we are, doing it over and over again. Why?  Because we believe there should be more great local restaurants than national chains in Lincoln. We are crazy…about food and Lincoln, so we will continue to create awesome unique concepts.  Understand, we loved the idea of Sebastian’s Table so much that we tried it TWICE.  We close the restaurants that aren’t economically sustainable in the long run because if we didn’t, we would eventually have to close the restaurants that are successful.  We believe that what we offer Lincoln’s dining scene is pretty great, and we are so thankful for those of you who agree with that and have supported what we do.

Q.  BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!! SANGRIA!!! NOOOOOO!!! What am I going to do?

A. We actually plan to keep many of your favorite items available as part of our revamp.  Here’s a list of what you can expect

Sangria (Red and White)

Brussels sprouts

Duck Confit

Pan con Tomate

Gouda cheese dip

Patatas Bravas

We may offer some other Sebastian’s things as well, but we will just have to see how things go.

Q.  So, if you’re not actually closing…what are you doing?

A. We debated changing the menu and doing some alterations to our style of service and ambience, but we know Sebastian’s Table, as a “Brand” is always going to be viewed and treated as the “Special Night Out” restaurant.  Although appreciative of that and with mostly positive comments, reviews and feedback, we do understand this “specialty” notion played a major part in our struggle to maintain consistent business. We now know, what is actually needed, is a restaurant where everyone: families, friends, groups, couples and individuals in the neighborhood thinks of us on a weekly basis and not just to celebrate the “once a year” anniversary and/or birthday.  We also have seen, mostly throughout the pandemic but certainly even before, that our society is switching to less dining out and more delivering in.  If that’s what the people want, that’s what we have to give them.

PIZZA!

It’s a magical and near perfect food loved by all and something we’ve wanted to do for many years.  Since we are being so honest and open, we’ve been tinkering, researching and experimenting on and off for a very long time.  It’s us doing pizza so you can guess what that means. We fully intend to bring the same creative spin and quality to our pizza as we do our burgers.  Have no fears, traditional styles will of course be on the menu.

So, although the name “Sebastian’s Table” will be retired to our memories, the heart of what made it so special, will remain.  We hope to provide a relaxing and joyful space where you can still share some food with those you love.  We also realize that you may want to share that food in the even more comfortable space you call home, and what better food to have delivered than pizza? 

Again, we appreciate all of the amazing support we have received from so many of you and we hope you are as excited as we are to be on this new journey forward.

Q.  One final question, what about my gift card?

A. Hold on to those gift cards, folks.  They will be 100% valid once we reopen.  We want to point out, they will NOT work at our other restaurant locations because we use different gift card systems…Skynet and Johnny 5 don’t play well together.  We plan to open in stages.  Delivery will be our first stage and we expect that to run within the next two months.  Stage two, Take-Out will be very close behind that.  Stage three, the final one, will be the fully functioning dining room.  It may seem like forever but trust us, it’ll be here before we…I mean you, know it.