Hinsch’s Re-Opens to Happy Customer

If you love egg cream, and you are pining away for days gone by – pine away no longer!   Hinsch’s, one of the last places where New York egg cream fans were able to get the real deal, has now reopened.

Shutting Down

Long-time manager John Logue had to shut the Bay Ridge soda fountain site in September after he said that he just couldn’t keep it going in a bad economy.  On the day that he posted a sign saying he was retiring, the Department of Health also came by and closed the restaurant for having food that was rotting and roaches.

Back in Business

But the 62-year old locale was back in business this past week after Gerard and Lola Bell from the neighborhood decided to pick up the position. Partnering with Roger Desmond and Billy Gardella, they invested thousands to buy new cooking equipment, to install a dozen wall mirrors, to scrub the location from top to bottom and to re-open.   They did keep Hinsch’s neon signs and the 15 seat, 40 foot long serving counter, both of which were part of the original 1948 design.

The Emery Thompson ice ream machine in the basement was, again, humming away, and happy customers were gobbling up the $8 burgers and the $5 shakes all day.   The historic business has been in the neighborhood since 1948, and the Bells just couldn’t bear to see it close for good.

As Gerard Bell, who also runs the Skinflint’s nearby, explained,

“We heard the place was for rent. We didn’t want to see it go. We’ve been coming here since grade school.”

Happy Customers

Happy customers were seen at the re-opening, enjoying the ambiance and devouring the delicious food.