{"id":2358,"date":"2026-05-22T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/?p=2358"},"modified":"2026-05-22T06:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:20:31","slug":"how-sobremesa-found-its-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/how-sobremesa-found-its-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW SOBREMESA FOUND ITS SHAPE"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.postcontent p {line-height: 150% !important;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"postcontent\">\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Just two guys who decided to turn a wine bar into a restaurant in the middle of one of the most competitive food cities in the South.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad_width1\">\n<div class=\"fl-lt ad_width2\">\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;Who does that?&#8221; Ryan Ribiero laughs when I float the idea of the angle. &#8220;It&#8217;s very hard to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Exactly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Sobremesa was never supposed to be what it is now. It started as a passion project, a place born from a European trip and a frustration.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;I got back from Europe and I was looking for a good wine spot,&#8221; Ryan says. &#8220;And I&#8217;m like, man, the wine listings suck. Where can I find good wine? I just wanted a place with great wine and good snacks. A place you could settle into.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">He found a quirky building at 2012 Abercorn. Signed the lease. Started building. Thirty thousand dollars into the build out, the<br \/>\ndeck had to go. The walk in refrigerator had to go. Railroad right of way issues. MPC revisions. Plans ripped up and redrawn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Expansion gone before the doors even opened.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Still, they opened.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">The early days were wine driven. A honeymoon phase where the glasses were full and the room felt new. Ryan was working forty<br \/>\nplus hours a week as a loan officer and then bartending seven hour shifts at night.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;For a whole year,&#8221; he says. &#8220;My fianc\u00e9e was getting the worst three hours of my awake time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Sobremesa opened with that spirit. Wine first. Conversation first. The kind of room where you could order something interesting by the glass and stay longer than you planned.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"fl-rt ad_width2\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HOW-SOBREMESA-FOUND-ITS-SHAPE-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:100%;\" \/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Over time, something started to shift.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Guests were not just lingering. They were hungry. They wanted more than snacks. They wanted to make a night of it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">That is where the second chapter begins.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Jason Restivo came in with a different kind of energy.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve always been known for throwing a great party,&#8221; Jason says. &#8220;Everyone loves to get dressed up and go to a party. But more importantly, everyone loves to be invited.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Jason talks about restaurants the way some people talk about therapy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s our responsibility to be with someone for an hour and a half and let them forget about whatever they&#8217;re going through,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Whether it&#8217;s over great food or just a glass of wine, you get to change someone&#8217;s night.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">The shift from wine bar to full restaurant did not happen overnight. It happened thoughtfully. A menu that grew naturally. A kitchen that evolved to match the vision. Layout adjustments. A long communal table in the front that feels like you stumbled into someone&#8217;s dinner party.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Sobremesa is not defined by a single cuisine or a flag planted in one tradition. It borrows freely. It leans into flavor and mood over labels. You can come in for a casual happy hour and feel just as comfortable as the couple celebrating something big.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;The whole meaning of Sobremesa is what happens at the table,&#8221; Jason says. &#8220;It&#8217;s everything after the meal. The conversation. The connection. The staying longer than you expected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad_width1\">\n<div class=\"fl-lt ad_width2\">\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">That spirit fits Savannah perfectly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">This is a city that lingers. That stretches dinners into late evenings. That values stories told across a table more than almost anything else.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Now, on a busy night, Sobremesa moves with quiet confidence. Plates leave the kitchen steadily. Servers know the room. Regulars wave from the bar. First timers look around and whisper, &#8220;How have we not been here before?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">That last part still surprises Ryan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;We had a couple come in who live two blocks away,&#8221; he says. &#8220;They said they had never heard of us. I&#8217;m thinking, I could hit your house with a baseball.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">He laughs, but there is something hopeful in it. Because when people do find Sobremesa, they come back. They bring friends. They bring parents. They bring dates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">In a city where options multiply by the month, restaurants are not just competing on flavor. They are competing on feeling. Music. Lighting. Hosts. Flow. Price point. Accessibility. Identity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Jason believes they are there.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;It feels polished,&#8221; he says. &#8220;The engine is there. Now it&#8217;s about polishing it. Honing it. Deciding how we want it to shine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Ryan and Jason are not trying to build the loudest restaurant in town. They are trying to build one you miss when you have not been in a while. The kind of place where you walk in and someone says your name. The kind of place that feels the same on a quiet Tuesday as it does on a packed Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"fl-rt ad_width2\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HOW-SOBREMESA-FOUND-ITS-SHAPE-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:100%;\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:left;\">&#8220;I love what I do,&#8221; Jason says. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t imagine doing anything else.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">You feel that when you sit down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Sobremesa is not about spectacle. It is about presence. It is about creating a room where old friends, new friends, and total strangers can share a bottle and forget about the noise outside.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">And when the night winds down and the last glass is poured, you understand the name a little better.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">It was never just about the wine.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">It was always about what happens after.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">And here is where Sobremesa becomes more than a small restaurant story.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">It becomes a Savannah story.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left; font-size:14px;\">Photos by Robin Maaya and Steve Vilnit\/@SV_Images<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"width:100%;\" href=\"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Subscribe.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/September_2025_Issue-1.webp\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:100%;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"authorbio\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad_width1\" style=\"padding:2%;box-shadow: 0 4px 8px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 6px 20px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.19);\">\n<h3>About The Author<\/h3>\n<div class=\"fl-lt ad_width6a\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brett.png\" alt=\"Brett\" style=\"width:100%;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center; margin-top:0;\">Brett Bigelow<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"fl-rt ad_width6b\">\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">\n        <!--Bio Text will Go Here-->\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just two guys who decided to turn a wine bar into a restaurant in the middle of one of the most competitive food cities in the South. &#8220;Who does that?&#8221; Ryan Ribiero laughs when I float the idea of the angle. &#8220;It&#8217;s very hard to do.&#8221; Exactly. Sobremesa was never supposed to be what it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[264,263,262,265,437,92,77,438],"class_list":["post-2358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-georgia","tag-savannah-ga","tag-savannah-tourism","tag-visit-savannah","tag-heeler-supper-club","tag-savannah","tag-savannah-georgia","tag-sobremesa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2358"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2366,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions\/2366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savannahmadesimple.com\/Magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}