CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A long-time local eatery is closing permanently.
Known as Mama Sang, Sang Sananikone made the announcement online Wednesday.
"I’ve been waiting for this very moment and now it’s here," said Sananikone in the post." Goodbyes are always hard but this will definitely be one of the hardest goodbyes ever. God brought my family to Corpus Christi to grow physically, mentally, emotionally and especially spiritually."
In an emotional post, Sananikone announced her retirement and the upcoming closing of the Imperial Cafe after 21 years of serving food to the community.
"Both our business and properties are on the market which means that we will only be in business through the sale so we are literally in our final months of being in business," Sananikone said.
Mama Sang did more than just run a local business. Her and her staff spent time giving back to the community, even when the pandemic first started to put a hold on life. Sang and her staff handed out 900 free meals one weekend during tha pandemic, and asked for nothing in return.
"We used to feed the homeless people in downtown," Sananikone said in early April. "Donate food privately to those in need. We knew and we prepared when COVID-19 started."
The food and generosity will be missed, but Mama Sang hopes to make the best of what is left.
"We are forever indebted to CC and all the loving friendships and connections we have made," said the post. "We are currently working on reopening our dining room and look forward to seeing as many of you as we can before we are closed for good. We love you all from the bottom of our hearts forever Corpus!"
No word on when the dining room will officially open or when the establishment will officially close.
