Jersey City born, raised, founded
Our Chapter comes to an end
After 11.5 unforgettable years, Baonanas’ chapter as the world’s first banana pudding scoop shop has come to a close.
What started as two college kids trying to raise money for a car repair turned into a journey that shaped our lives in ways we never could have imagined. Baonanas grew alongside us, teaching us about risk, resilience, leadership, and what it truly means to serve a community.
Growing up in the West Side and Greenville neighborhoods of Jersey City, Monticello Avenue quickly became our second home. Opening Baonanas there felt like coming full circle. Day after day, we had the privilege of serving familiar faces, reconnecting with childhood classmates and teachers, turning neighbors into friends, and welcoming guests who eventually became family. Baonanas HQ was never just a dessert shop. It became a place of connection, joy, growth, and learning — not only for our team, but for us as founders as well.
We began this journey at 21 and 23, as girlfriend and boyfriend, and our entire twenties became a crash course in entrepreneurship and community-building. Along the way, we got married, opened three scoop shops (Monticello, Harborside JC & East Village NYC) , popped up across Jersey City and New York City — including Smorgasburg — and had the honor of catering weddings, baby showers, and life’s most meaningful moments. We built long-term partnerships with organizations like Meta, AMEX, and the Federal Reserve, and our story was shared by Inc., CNBC, Business Insider, and NJ.com. Celebrities like Bella Hadid, Tyler the Creator, and Waka Flocka posted that they were baonanas fans, and we created Baoyard events like UbeFest and Groove Connect Grow, connecting with artists, creatives, founders, and lifelong friends we never would have crossed paths with otherwise.
None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of our friends, family, guests, and the most dedicated, hardworking team any founders could ask for. We are deeply grateful to every team member who shared a chapter of their life with us. We’re proud of your accomplishments and wish you continued success in whatever you pursue next.
To everyone who ever enjoyed a scoop of Baonanas banana pudding — thank you. Because of you, we grew into a multi-channel operation and weathered a general contractor scam, a global pandemic, and the complexities of running a family business. Your belief carried us through moments of uncertainty and kept us going longer than we ever thought possible.
This closing is not due to a lack of love or support. In fact, our daily store visits and pick-up and delivery orders continued to grow. But the reality of running a small food business in today’s economy is unforgiving. Rising ingredient costs, inflation, tariffs, and razor-thin margins made it increasingly difficult to operate sustainably, even after countless pivots and difficult decisions. Making it 11.5 years in one of the toughest industries out there feels nothing short of a miracle. For anyone reading this in the hospitality industry, we will always root for you. We will always support you. The service industry is incredibly tough and under appreciated. We have the utmost respect to anyone that runs or is part of any service organization and if there’s any way that we can share about our lessons learned, don’t hesitate to reach out.
This decision was not easy. It comes with sadness, pride, gratitude, and hope all at once. Baonanas shaped who we are, and we’ll carry its lessons, relationships, and memories with us forever.
Thank you for every scoop, every smile, every late night, and every moment you trusted us with your joy. Thank you for being baonanas for us. We will always be baonanas for each and every one of you.
The Baonanas chapter is closing — but our story isn’t.
With endless gratitude,
Patricia, Lloyd, and Iroh
Our Beginning
It’s a classic tale. Boy meets girl. Girl loves desserts. So they made #Baonanas. And the rest is fluffy history.
Okay, okay, so you want to hear the fluff. Our story involves a yellow car, a broke college couple, and the generosity of family, friends, and friends-to-be. Hello! We are Trisha and Lloyd, two Jersey City kids, who share a love for food and cavity-filled sweet teeth. We often spent our date nights baking, and one treat in particular became our go-to potluck dish. Any guesses?
Then in April 2014, a close friend recommended that we sell our banana pudding to help fund a repair for Lloyd’s car, Ella, a sonic yellow 2003 Subaru WRX Impreza, who was in a fender bender. So we started the hashtag #Baonanas on Instagram. We were amazed by the community’s reaction to our silly little hashtag. Date nights became order fulfillment nights and with the encouragement of our #BaonanaNation, we said why not kept and kept whipping!
Fast forward to today, we’re happily married with a furbaby shiba inu named Iroh and spend our days with fulfilling our mission of spreading happiness with Baonanas!
