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.