A popular home-grown dessert business has been operating in fairly nomadic fashion since launching in 2015, but they will soon be opening up shop in a space of their own on the ground floor of one of Jersey City’s most transformative projects.
Run by Trisha and Lloyd, #Baonanas started out as a simple banana pudding recipe the pair developed that was a hit with friends. After their car was involved in a fender bender, a close friend insisted on paying for his share of the famous pudding to help start a “repair fund,” and the idea and hashtag “#Baonanas” was born.
The business, a play on words with bananas and the Chinese word for baby, has been since selling their banana pudding varieties like cream n’ cookies, French toast, matcha, s’mores, lychee, and Nutella walnut. They currently take in-advance catering orders with pick-up points available for customers at several Jersey City restaurants, also selling their banana pudding at festivals and fairs throughout the area like Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg.
#Baonanas announced last month on Instagram that they will be making their biggest move yet and look to open a brick-and-mortar store. A Google listing has 219 West Side Avenue listed as their new address, but owner Lloyd Ortuoste told Jersey Digs that is inaccurate.
“We want to take our time releasing information on the store, as our build out is currently happening,” says Lloyd. But while #Baonanas declined to confirm their new address, they will be well within walking distance of New Jersey City University’s campus. Lloyd says the new storefront will make #Baonanas more accessible throughout the city, and they hope to have their doors open before the end of the year.
