RIP Ginger Root Cafe

architecture biscuit

Walking down Washington Ave today I saw that The Ginger Root Cafe has closed. I really liked this place and am quite sad to see it gone.

Signs are up announcing a custom cake business is moving in and while I was standing there a guy renovating the space came up. I asked him if the Ginger Root had moved; he said it had just gone out of business.

Anyone know more?

whynot_31

I think Raw Star will be next to disappear

nostrandpark

Most likely the custom cake decorating place is BCakeNY. http://bk.ly/xom. Great business! We had been trying to help them find a location in Crown Heights.

Check out their website for some of the great cake designs that they have done. http://www.bcakeny.com/.

The owner was really nice when we had our Nostrand Avenue clean up. She hooked us up with cupcakes for our volunteers. They were quite tasty!

aybaway

I went there often for the roti and mac pie and she told me in early December that the lease was up and the new rent was very high and she was not willing to raise prices that much on her customers. She is looking to possibly do some catering and was going to update via email when and where she might open up again. I hope she finds a place. The food was fresh and the people friendly. I stopped in on the last night just before Christmas for one last roti and lots of people were coming in to wish them well and give her a hug. I feel like it is a real loss. If she emails me any updates I will pass it on.

architecture biscuit

I feel like it is a real loss. If she emails me any updates I will pass it on.

Thank you.

cp

I am the son of the former owner of Ginger Root Cafe. Although we are no longer at 702 Washington my mom is launching a personal chef business called "Gingerly Created" as well as continuing the Ginger Root brand through an expansion of catering services.

Thank you for your interest. We are working on developing a website later this month and are communicating info via e-mail in the time being. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

ben

I really liked Ginger Root, I thought their roti was one of the best out there. However, I didn't go there as often as I would have because it often took a very very long time to get my order. On multiple occasions I had to wait 20 min plus to get a roti. I'm not sure if it's just that good food takes time or if there was something else.

It's sad to see them go, I can't help but think that with improved operations and a good delivery business they would have been able to increase volume very substantially to be able to afford the new market rent for the area.

I hope they find success in the catering and/or find another location to open up in.

ian2010

My SO and I are incredibly saddened to hear this, we went there several times. Never had to wait 20 minutes for a roti but the food was great and we met the owner's son several times, really nice guy. Their hot sauce was kickin' too. Super great lady who ran the place with great food and menu.

cp

In response to Ben's note we were aware that the food often took a long time to come out. My mom was the only chef, and Ginger Root was never promoted as fast food. That was just fine with some customers, and not ok with others (you can never please everyone).

Above all, we were well aware of some of the shortcomings of the business, and did our best to improve operations given the resources with which we were working. This would not be the proper forum to go into all of them, but in the end it wasn't just the rent that led my mom to make the decision not to renew her lease. After 7 years, she made the decision to go in a different direction.

We appreciate your past patronage, and thank you for the well wishes. We are working on finding a catering location, and I have also been showcasing my mom's culinary work through my events. You can check out the article below for more info:

http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/ginger-root-cafe-recently-closed-lives-on-in-gingerly-created