Ma’am Saab, the Workshop pop-up that bolted Charleston foodies in 2020 into an embrace of Pakistani cuisine, will open its long-awaited downtown brick-and-mortar restaurant May 26.
It is one of the most anticipated openings of the past year. The restaurant with a flair for spice will offer dinner service Tuesdays through Saturdays at 251 Meeting Street, site of the former Jestine’s Kitchen.
“Get ready to be transported to the past, present and the future of Pakistani culture and experience and food – the sounds, the music, the textures – all of those things,” said co-owner Raheel Gauba, husband of chef and owner Maryam Ghaznavi.
For Ghaznavi, the new location of Ma’am Saab is a longtime dream and project of love that has finally come true.
“All of that love will pass into our food and the experience,” she said. “This is our food from our home for you – unaltered, unapologetic and not watered down. This has always been how much we can share from our food point of view and our culture for the city we live in.”
The new restaurant will serve as their flagship, she said.
“From a chef’s mind and food perspective, this is definitely the pinnacle that I imagined and we imagined and have talked about,” she said. “We have finally done what we wanted to do for ourselves, our country and our cuisine.”
While Ma’am Saab was expected to open last year, the couple first developed the more casual eatery Malika Canteen in Mount Pleasant in 2021 as Charleston’s restaurant world figured out how to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. A second location opened earlier this year at the Charleston Pour House on James Island.
“It’s a milestone in our lives for Maryam to lead the effort in this restaurant,” Gauba said, adding that it was their privilege and honor to open the restaurant for the people of Charleston.
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