The Sawans: 5 brothers, 4 restaurants, 0 drama

We always hear about the shiny, new food companies. The Spot is a series about the Philadelphia area's more established establishments and the people behind them.

With just 10 years separating the eldest from the youngest, the five Sawan brothers are so in tune with one another, it can seem almost like they share one mind. They finish one another's sentences. They dress similarly. They like the same foods. They keep the same brutal schedule, regularly getting home at 3 or 4 a.m. And in 30 years of running restaurants together, they say they have never had a major disagreement.

They arrived in the United States piecemeal, escaping a civil war in their native Lebanon that was getting rougher by the year. Tony, now 52, was the first to leave, and a month after he landed in Philadelphia in 1983, the embassy in Beirut that had issued his visa was destroyed by a suicide bomber. The next two brothers, Ghassan and Dia, fled to Syria two years later and got their visas in Damascus. By 1987, the youngest pair, George and Michael, had to make it all the way to Greece to obtain their U.S. papers.

By that time, the Sawan parents, Hind and Elias, had also made the move to Philly. In 1986, the family opened a restaurant called Cedars, on Second Street just below South. Few people in Philly had heard of hummus at the time, much less dishes like tabbouleh and kibbi, but the narrow dining room that relied on these Lebanese staples was a surprise hit.

In 1991, the Sawans branched out with Fez, a Moroccan restaurant just two doors down that offered hookahs and hosted belly dancing on weekends. Next came Sawan Mediterranean Bistro, launched in 1994 on what was then a desolate block: 18th Street between Chestnut and Sansom. By 2005, that neighborhood had gone through a sea change, and the brothers redecorated the bistro, added hookah service, and redubbed the place Byblos. In 2007, they doubled down on the location and opened Vango, a roofdeck-equipped bar and lounge serving an Asian-influenced menu

Last month, they reopened Cedars after its own renovation, totally changing the interior and adding a special oven for pita. They also turned it BYOB (all their other places still have full bars). Though each brother takes primary responsibility for one restaurant, they share ownership equally in all, and were happy to come together one afternoon for a talk about their Philadelphia experience.

You left Lebanon because of the war? Why did you choose Philadelphia?

Yes, there was a civil war in Lebanon, and the country was in chaos. It was not easy to get out. It's interesting to remember that a couple of us got our visas in Damascus, Syria - now the fighting has flipped to over there. Our uncle and grandmother were already in Philly, so it made sense to come here.

Why open a restaurant?

Our family on our mother's side, they used to have a food business in Lebanon. Selling bakery goods, prepared foods. She had a lot of experience in that. She was basically the chef when Cedars opened. It was all her recipes.

Did you all work at Cedars when it first opened?

Yes, we each had our roles. Tony and George cooked, they helped our mother in the kitchen. Ghassan and Dia worked out front. And Michael - he was like 15 at the time, so he was a dishwasher. But everybody helped with everything.

How did you choose a location near South Street; what was around here?

It was very hip on South Street at that time. It was basically the only place to go out at night in Philly in the '80s. Bridget Foy's was on the corner, and there was Ulana's, a nightclub [around the corner, on Bainbridge Street], and Going Bananas, a comedy club.

Were you successful?

It was very busy. When we were getting ready to open, a friend of ours who was Lebanese but ran a French restaurant said to us: "Guys, what are you doing? Nobody here knows anything about hummus or tabbouleh. You're not going to survive." And then he was amazed when he came over and saw a line to get in. We used to have long lines, every night. There really was nowhere else to get hummus. Imagine - now it's in every supermarket and almost every restaurant, too.

We had a lot of customers that were very loyal. Stephen Starr, before he opened any of his restaurants, he was one of our best, he used to hang out with us all the time. Helen Thomas, the [late] White House reporter, she was of Lebanese background, and she used to come in a lot. Tom Foglietta, the politician, he was a regular, and he even invited us to Italy when he became U.S. ambassador.

It was such a success that you opened a second restaurant?

Yes, in 1991, we opened Fez. It was the first place in Philadelphia to offer hookahs. We had trouble finding parts, even, because they were so unknown. It's funny, we had to use carved fruit as the heads, when the ceramic ones would break. We did that from necessity, and now it's the trendy thing.

And when did you open Byblos?

That was in 1994. It was called Sawan Mediterranean Bistro, then. The area around it was horrible - nothing like Rittenhouse is today. No one walked down this street at night. The place was for rent for years - the whole block was for rent. The owner actually gave us $30,000 in startup costs to move in and open here, because he wanted to sell the building. At the time he was trying to sell it for $800,000, and couldn't find a buyer. Everyone said not to do it. Our lawyer, he said, "I don't care, don't pay me, but don't sign that lease, because you're going to lose your shirt."

But it worked?

First it started that just lunch was busy, and after dark it was a ghost town. Nothing but our car and homeless people on the street. And a lot of rats. It was very scary, actually. But our food started bringing people in. The corporate office folks all came during the day, and maybe for a drink after work, and the people in the neighborhood found us for dinner. Because there was almost nothing else here - there was Houlihan's where Devon is now, but from Chestnut to JFK there was nothing. So it was a hit.

And now the neighborhood has changed quite a bit.

Sometimes all you need is one thing to spark it. After we opened, other business people watched us and saw it was working. Neil Stein opened Rouge. Georges Perrier opened Brasserie Perrier.

Does having all these restaurants in Rittenhouse now hurt business or help?

It can definitely be positive, as long as they aren't serving the same thing as you. It can bring a new clientele, people who wouldn't have known about your place until they came to the area for something else. So it's mostly a benefit here. Sometimes it's not - like if you have a liquor license and you're surrounded by BYOBs.

Is that why you went BYOB at Cedars?

Yes, that is why. ... We decided to do the renovation because it hadn't really changed in 30 years. We had a little bit of flooding, so we decided, while we're closed, let's just redo the whole thing.

When did you change the bistro's name to Byblos?

That was in 2005. It was when the hookah fad really started to take off. Before, we had a few hookahs as decoration, and if Lebanese people came in, they would use them. But then all of a sudden it became really popular. So we did a renovation and turned it into more of a hookah lounge, though still with great food.

When did Vango open?

We bought the building in 2000, so we wanted to do something with the upstairs. We worked on it for quite a while, and opened Vango in 2007. The food there is more continental. Cedars is Lebanese food, Fez is Moroccan and Byblos is Mediterranean. But at Vango it's like Japanese continental.

What's the hardest part about running restaurants?

The hours. On average, each of us works around 70 to 100 hours a week. Because that's part of what makes the restaurants successful - one of us is almost always there. We usually get home around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. Because we always clean the whole place before we leave every night.

Do you live in the city?

Yes, in South Philadelphia. We all live within a block and a half of each other.

Sometimes it's hard to work with family; have you ever had disagreements?

Nothing major. We don't disrespect each other. It's better to be dealing with your brother than dealing with a partner. And everyone knows their roles. Tony manages Fez, Ghassan is at Cedars, Michael and George are at Byblos and Dia - who is the only one without kids - does Vango.

Where did the names for your restaurants come from?

The cedar tree is the symbol of Lebanon; it's on the flag. Byblos was a Phoenician city - it's where the alphabet was invented, the first modern city - and its location is modern-day Lebanon. Fez is a city in Morocco. And Vango - Dia always wanted a restaurant named after the painter Van Gogh. So he came up with that one.

So Philadelphia has been good to you?

Yes, we love Philadelphia. And it's gotten a lot better. There are many new buildings, more people moving in, and so many restaurants it's almost like New York. But Philadelphia people are friendlier. Which is great. Because if your customers are friendly, then you can be friendly, and then you're happy doing your job, so you do it even better. It's one of the keys to success.

Cedars: 616 S. 2nd St., 215-925-4950

Fez: 620 S. 2nd St., 215-925-5367

Byblos: 116 S. 18th St., 215-568-3050

Vango: 116 S. 18th St., 215-568-1020