Isreally Hummus just had a soft opening for their Savannah storefront after operating out of a commercial kitchen in South Carolina for about a year. But the road from there to here was not a straight line.
“There was absolutely no plan for a lot of things that ended up happening,” said Assaf Gleizner who owns Isreally Hummus with his wife Tegan Miller.
“I’m a professional musician. My wife is a professional musician. We both were in New York for 13 years or so. During COVID, pretty much art died. So we were like, you know what, I don’t know if New York is the best place to stay right now.”
The couple made the decision to move to Savannah because of their involvement with a musical project. Many things were still shut down or operating on limited hours here, so like many people in the first months of the pandemic, Assaf and Tegan started experimenting with different foods in their own kitchen. One of the foods was hummus. Soon after, they noticed a call for vendors at the Forsyth Farmers Market.
“I applied back in December [of 2020]. They reached out and said, ‘Congratulations, you got accepted. Can you start in January?’ Of course! And then I went on Google to ask how you start up a business.”
Assaf and Tegan were able to use a shared commercial kitchen in South Carolina which was about an hour and a half outside of Savannah. Their first batch for the Farmers Market was 30 containers. Assaf was worried they had made too much.
“We sold out in 30 minutes.”
The next week they made 90 containers and sold out in an hour. Assaf and Tegan realized they had something that people clearly wanted, so they started building up their business. They now have four part-time employees and one full-time employee.
They’ve also been asked to contribute hummus for menu items at Collins Quarter in Savannah and Burnt Church Distillery in Bluffton.
“In December [of 2021], we started looking for a place [in Savannah], and there was really nothing coming up. And then we heard about this location on Eisenhower that wasn’t even on the market. We just knew that the business that used to be there was closing. I met with the landlord, and the day it was vacant I signed the lease.”
Isreally Hummus had their soft opening at the new location at 1000 Eisenhower Drive on Monday, February 28th. They plan to have a grand opening on March 24th. Currently, their storefront hours are Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but you can still find them at farmers markets in Savannah, Bluffton, and Tybee. You can order online or just stop by to see what flavors they have already prepared.
Isreally Hummus 1000 Eisenhower Drive Savannah Hours: Monday - Wednesday 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Follow on Facebook and Instagram
