Crown Heights’ Food Establishments Gombos Bakery and Ess N’ Bench Close After Many Years In Operation
by CrownHeights.info
It is the end of an era after two Crown Heights food establishments, Gombos Bakery and Ess N’ Bench Restaurant, close on Kingston Ave.
Open in Crown Heights since 2009, Gombo’s became famous for their Challah, cakes, and doughnuts, all of which are baked on premises. The store, located at the corner of Kingston Ave and President Street, had become a center for baked goods and a stop for every Crown Heightser.
“It was an honor to serve the Crown Heights community over the last 16 years,” owner Levi Gombo told CrownHeights.info. ” We are looking into the possibility of finding another location in Crown Heights to reopen. This is the Schuna of the Rebbe, and it was with the Rebbe’s Bracha given to us, the bakery and the family, that Gombos came to Crown Heights. We are looking forward to serving the community in the future.”
The store recently stopped baking goods on premises, and earlier this week, closed its doors for good at its Crown Heights location. While the reason for the closure has not been made public, the building Gombos had been leasing had been purchased by a new Crown Heights owner, with the bakery searching for a new location for this past year.
Alongside Gombos, another historic Crown Heights eatery, Ess N Bench, has also closed its doors.
A prominent staple of Crown Heights takeout, Ess N’ Bench originated in the building now known as the Jewish Children’s Museum, before closing and taking a 25-year hiatus. In 2016, the restaurant reopened at the corner of Kingston Avenue and Union Street until it also closed to business this week. The reason for the closure has not been announced, with online listings marking the store as “Temporarily Closed”.
The Crown Heights food scene, once at the forefront of kosher dining, has been struggling over the last few years as rising prices and tightening purse strings have left high-end and not-so-high-end eateries struggling.
G.Singh
Will miss Gambos. Please reopen soon
Rafael Rabinovich
I hope Ess n’ Bentch only closed truly temporarily, and not permanently. It is a treasure to have a place truly affordable to eat in Kingston Avenue. It is also a staple and a landmark. I hope the business can be rescued and kept as it was.
Resident
The new owner of the lot has some grand plans . Good luck to president street residences.
Does
Anyone know what is going to be used in the space of gombos and ess and bench now?
Anshei katuffle
Was wondering why Essen was closed for the past two wells
Chaim Williams
Their food is not great and leaves a lot to be desired…
Shnukie, the plug!
Sounds like someone raised the rent too high?
Can’t imagine why they’d want to move.
Different Ess n Bentch
The earlier, original Ess n Bentch, which had earlier changed its name from “Hymies”, was located in a storefront of the old apartment building which was torn down before the JCM was built. There was no connection with the more recent Ess n Bentch, other than that the same name was adopted.
Hopefully
Now gombos will stop dumping their garage in 770 for nebach bochrim to eat
AH
Lets see what will do to feed the bochrim, big talker
Ginnie
I am a resident in the Crown Heights community and have to walk a few blocks to get to Gombo’s. I especially liked their cookies with the multi-colored sprinkles on top; I’m not sure of the filling. I have also enjoyed their seven layer cake as well as the pastry that had the chocolate topping but was filled with cream. Did I also mention the cheese danish? All of these I will certainly miss.