Posted to Videos on
By Reuven Blau for the NY Post

This is one Jew who has decided to live high on the hog.

Jason Marcus is opening a restaurant for people who “like bacon with everything” and wish that their “bowls of moules-frites would never end” in the middle of the Orthodox enclave of Williamsburg.

Video – “Treif” Opens in Williamsburg

By Reuven Blau for the NY Post

This is one Jew who has decided to live high on the hog.

Jason Marcus is opening a restaurant for people who “like bacon with everything” and wish that their “bowls of moules-frites would never end” in the middle of the Orthodox enclave of Williamsburg.

The pork and shellfish eatery located at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge at 229 S. Fourth St. even has a provocative name — Traif, the Yiddish word for all things non-kosher and unbecoming.

“I figured most people would not know what it meant and be curious,” Marcus, 30, said.

“I love to eat bacon and shellfish,” he said.

The opening of the naughty noshery has riled rabbis in the area. But at least one Hasidic activist, Isaac Abraham, said he was actually happy with the restaurant’s name.

“It’s the red blinking light to not enter,” he said.

The hog haven attracted more than 50 people at its opening night last Tuesday — including a group of Hasidic Jews.

“They said they were upset with God for forbidding them to eat pork cheeks,” Marcus claimed.

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33 Comments

  • Get ready

    Any stores for rent on Kingston?
    If it becomes a success the next one will be in CH.

  • :)

    oy vos is geshen tzu dem velt, darf men shiken lubavitchur’s az zay ken danet tuin shlichas!!!

  • He-s a goner...

    The Satmar’s will guarantee that this guy Jason Marcus is found floating by the Williamsburg bridge, or in dumpster…

    you’ll see.

  • reply

    “I AM NOT A BAD JEW BECAUSE I EAT BACON”

    This man is a total idiot – freedom of thought and expression should be illegal – people should not be allowed to say stupid things!

  • yeah you work 4 me also

    Clearly it is good to remember the difference between kosher & treif
    treif is forbidden
    kosher has certification
    the variety of foods that are in between aren’t either
    so to many standards for kosher by self righteous holyrollers
    are losing the war for holiness because they didn’t listen to themselves enough

  • Pathetic

    “Im not a bad Jew because I eat bacon?” Wonder if he’s even Jewish(says he’s reform…my guess s/! down the line over there converted unhalochically…)

  • efi

    no, you are a bad jew for eating pork. your not a bad person but def a bad jew.

  • wat eva

    pple will at least not walk in there. the message is clear that it is not kosher.

  • this guy is an idiotic freak

    it said a group of ‘Hasidic’jews went in there b/c “they were upset with God for forbidding them to eat pork cheeks”
    this idiotic ‘reform’ person says…..

  • Please rethink your position.

    Reb yid…in velche yeshiva hot ir gelernt??? the torah which dictates jewish life and lifestyle clearly forbids traif, so I ask you again, can you be good Jew and eat treif? don’t kid yourself.

  • Get over it, people.

    What happened to the Golden Rule? This man opened a treyf restaurant. It isn’t any different from opening a McDonald’s.

    He’s not name calling anybody or hurting any of you. So, why all the name calling and hate? There’s nothing righteous or holy about your words.

    There’s only ONE judge. Hint: It isn’t you.

  • rebbe-s chosid

    i think this is a great opportunity for hafotza. will chabad of williamsburg set up a tefillin stand or actually sit at a table in the restaurant and farbreng with the chevra? come on, this is not a problem–it’s an opportunity!!

  • Shame on You Haters

    Williamsburgh is not a “gated” community for Hassids only
    It’s a free country, and that includes Brooklyn
    If you don’t like it, feel free to move elsewhere
    I’m so tired of so called frum people demanding the protection of the law when it concerns them, but condeming the same laws when something displeases them.
    I don’t see any posts in here about non-kosher restaurants in CH or anywhere else in the city
    Is the problem that this guy is Jewish? because there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Jewish restaurant owners, chefs, caterers in New York serving traif food everyday.
    Also anyone who doesn’t want to claim this man as a Jew because he is self described as reform, can remember that those who seek to persecute Jews don’t descriminate, the IDF is full of reform Jews, and most importantly, is that what Chabad is about? Nice Yiddishekeit!
    I don’t see anybody turning down a check from Danny Meyer, or Peter Hoffman when it goes to Jewish causes, and they don’t ask how much of the money came from selling traif to Jews or non Jews.

  • I eat Kosher

    Clearly his Neshama is crying out. The fact thet he called it “Treif” shows that he knows how wrong he is.

  • LEVI KELLER

    I have a trademark on “Ernie’s Cholov Yisrael Steakhouse”

    Come on people, lighten up, ivdu es hashem besimcha, smile at the good-natured joke and move on with avodas hashem yisbarech

  • Bad Jew

    “I’m not a bad Jew because I eat bacon?”

    Well yes you are as bad as a hasidic Jew that you would condemn for doing anything against any legal laws.

  • MINA

    OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING!! YOU WANT DIALOGUE!!! WELL HERE IT IS!!

    CHABAD OF WILLIAMSBURG WE ARE HERE WAITING AND READY TO COME DOWN AND HELP YOU MAN ANY BOOTH!! LETS PUT A TEFFILIN STAND RIGHT IN FRONT AND THE LADIES CAN GIVE OUT SHABBOS CANDLES ON ALTERNATE DAYS

    THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE ENDLESS. PERHAPS WITH LOVE HE WILL CHANGE OVER TO KOSHER AND TRAIFE WILL BECOME I”YH

    MUTTAR!! WITH ONLY KOSHER DELICACIES!!!!!

  • Babushka

    This is a silly gimmick that will ultimately fail because this guy is targeting a population that is not a potential customer base. Once the novelty wears off he will go in der erd. Meanwhile somebody should open a kosher vegetarian restaurant across the street.

  • another yid

    the owner’s jewish soul is trying to assert itself – this is the only way he knows how – tinok shenishba – forgive him and love him, he is a holy jew who doesn’t know better.

  • work 4 yourself

    “I am not a bad jew because i eat bacon means i am not a jew,
    that should be the majority opinion
    itseems like the jews ( and the world at large)deal with god like it still hasn’t reached a deal
    whatever happened to excommunication
    for example there is a husband and wife and the husband insructs his wife you either be home before 7 or we are going to get divorced
    no and’s, but’s, or if’s
    ”we dont want to alienate anyone“
    then”we“aren’t god, we aren’t repectable
    the moral fiber and backbone no longer exist and”we need” modshiach to help us rebuild backbone and moral fiber
    IT WON’T BE WITH LAZY CRUSTACEANS AND TREIF ANIMAL MEAT

  • esther

    to some of you i have to say ,are you lubavitch?it doesn’t seem so from your anti-not frum yid stances.why don’t you blog on yeshiva world news instead or you can go and learn some chasidus especially where it says that a yid who is lehachis against yiddishkait has a lot of potential.

  • Sam

    This man should be congratulated. He is doing the greatest thing. If he would of called the place “Kosher” it would of been a crime to misslead the custumers, but this way he is just preventing any one who does not belong there to be fooled.
    Great Job My Friend
    Hatzlocho

  • Have a heart.

    I hope a friendly Lubavytcher goes to wrap tefillin on this guy, invites him to a nice kosher Shabbos meal, and becomes his best friend.

  • Steve

    I did a Google search for the restaurant so that I could come down and eat. Once I saw the NY Post video I decided to eat elsewhere. Marcus’ hope for a dialogue is disingenuous. The name is like a thumb in the eye of religious community. I like a good joke and love a good meal, even at Peter Lugar’s but how about a little respect for other people. Even better, why not rename the restaurant Diarrhea, then everyone can be in on the joke.