Jersey City’s Filipino-inspired banana pudding scoop shop has closed its doors. The owners of Baonanas, located at 181 Monticello Avenue, announced that the chapter has come to a close after serving the Jersey City community for over 11 years. The owners say they made the difficult decision due to rising costs. Read on to learn about Baonanas’ time in Jersey City and the details of the closure.
About Baonanas
Two Jersey City locals, Patricia Villanueva and Lloyd Ortuoste, started Baonanas as a way to raise money for car repairs. The banana pudding business grew into the world’s first banana pudding scoop shop, featured on CNBC Make It. The couple loved showcasing their Filipino roots and Jersey City upbringing through their wide variety of banana pudding. Owners Trisha Villanueva and Lloyd Ortuoste were born and raised in the Greenville and West Side neighborhoods of Jersey City, and currently still reside in Jersey City with their Shiba Inu named Iroh. These Jersey City natives truly know what cultivating, creating, and supporting local is all about.
Trisha and Lloyd met in 2010 and quickly discovered passions they had in common, including hiking, traveling, dancing, and especially, eating (dessert). In March of 2014, Trisha and Lloyd found out their yellow car fell victim to a fender bender while parked in front of Lloyd’s house. About a month later, the couple decided to invite friends over and make their “signature” banana pudding for them.
This innovative dessert was always a hit at any gathering, and they used Leche flan instead of boxed Jello to achieve a fluffy mousse. During this gathering, a close friend insisted on paying for his share to start a “Repair Fund” for their car in exchange for the dessert. From this came the hashtag #Baonanas. Lloyd told Hoboken Girl, “Bao (宝) is a Chinese character that comes from baobao (宝宝), which means baby. The character itself means precious treasure and has become our preferred term of endearment.”
Baonanas opened three scoop shops over the years: one on Monticello Avenue, another in Downtown Jersey City at Harborside, and another in the East Village in New York City. They hosted plenty of pop-ups around Jersey City and New York City and catered many events around the Tri-State area.
The banana pudding was well-loved by many celebrities. Bella Hadid, Tyler the Creator, and Waka Flocka were some of the famous people who all posted that they were Baonanas fans.
Baonanas Closure
The owners announced their closure in a post on the Baonanas’ website. Part of the reason why the owners said the banana pudding shop closed due to the rising ingredient costs, inflation, tariffs, and thin margins that made it difficult to operate…