By COLlive reporter
Kingston Pizza in Crown Heights, a staple eatery on Kingston Avenue that is an attraction for locals and visitors alike, was sold and will be changing owners at the end of the week.
Running the only pizza shop on the neighborhood’s main street, Shloime Lehrer has served thousands of residents, tourists, shluchim and their families, and visitors in the years that he has owned and operated the restaurant.
Lehrer recently sold the restaurant to Crown Heights entrepeneur Itzik Benabou, owner of Empire Kosher, Kol Tuv and other grocery stores in Crown Heights.
“I want to say goodbye to all my loyal customers from the past 18 years,” Lehrer told COLlive.com.
“These years have been an amazing success, with our thousands of customers coming back year after year, with their families and friends.”
To celebrate his final week at 395 Kingston Avenue before handing over the keys to the new owner, Lehrer is offering pizza pies for $12 instead of the usual $18.
“I welcome all my customers to come and say goodbye,” he said.
As for the future of the restaurant, “the store will remain in operation as usual for now,” Lehrer says, but says that Benabou has plans to expand and upgrade in the near future.
Benabou was not available for comment.
my friend schloime , and all the lehrer’s family …
anyway, we’ll come and see you soon !
Aouizerat’s family
And , now may be , some free time, so, why not a visit to Nice !!
we will miss the pizza it was the best
hope there is gonna be good pizza
maby now will have – some good pizza……..
LOL
just kidding you guys are GREAT!!!!!!!
will they keep the workers? (the one with the gold tooth that called every one chaya mushka and mendle?)
ill miss u!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁 🙁
he shouldint of sell it he was the best owner!
och not yay!
i wish mr. lehrer wont sell kingston pizza he has the best pizza and food so if he sells it then i must say that sox!!!
much hatzlocho . azkir al hatzion bli neder
Shloime Lehrer is a very special person. We will miss him on Kingston Ave. I wish him much Hatzlocho!
Your right WHO CARES, as long as yiden have Parnasah I dont care who is selling what
Their homemade ravioli was worth the trip from home. The best ever, it reminded me of my mothers!
I don’t care about those other piza shops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i want kingston pizza to stay the same. I’m gonna miss shloimie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you must be old! And you probably love pizza!
nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! can’t be!!!!!!!!!! he’s soooooooooooo nice!!!!!!!!!!!! he even gave me a free ice cream on my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haah ur right!!
I love the Brook comments. I remember when there was no cheese available for some reason and he still served pizza, simply with NO cheese! – only in CH 🙂 lol
For those interested in a bit of nostalgic history of Pizza Shops in Crown Heights : The first Pizza store in Crown Heights (and if I am not mistaken-the first in New York ) was named “Chaims Pizza” and opened about 1962-63 and was located on Nostrand Ave. between Montgomery and Crown Sts. Not long after that two Pizza stores called Chopsie & Naftali opened,one located on Utica & Crown and the other on Kingston off Empire. Next came R’Zalmen Tornek’s Pizza store on Kingston near Crown ( about the early 70’s ). Then came the Pizza store on Kingston… Read more »
Their rolls are the best…. baked by Shloimies mother or mother in law I forget which….will those rolls still be there??
How long must these tragedies continue? We NEED moshiach NOW!!!!
AD MOSAI!!!!!!!??????
The more the better
For years before there was Ahavas Chesed, everyone who asked got free food from shloime lehrer
i do and its not nice to say who cares !!!
the pizza will never be the same!
I say that we should all mind our own Business, for all those worried that they may go hungry, ahavas chesed has a free soup kitchen
We will really miss Kingston Pizza!! Whenever we would come into Crown Heights that was one of my “can’t miss stops”! Being that we can’t eat the pizza where we live we really relished getting your pizza with a BaDatz hechsher! And the breakfast menu and the price can’t be beat! Much hatzlacha to Shloime on your future endeavors, and thanks for being such a mentsch! I also hope that the employees will stay with the new pizza venture – they were always so nice, too! Wish we were there to have a pizza now!!
kingston pizza was one the highlights of our trips to NY!
I think that Kingston Pizza should be declared a historical landmark.
is he really running?
There other food was good too! Soups, and I used their blintzes every Shavous!
so happy and a little sad too hatzlacha
hatzlacha raba mi kol halev mehachlim lajem meArgentina, Israel veMiriam Kapeluschnik
will it continue to have badatz hashgacha? That’s all I’ll eat. Please do not make it another store without community – Rabbonim’s- hechsher.
!!!!!
I heard Benabou is running in 2013 for mayor of NYC, he plans to replace Bloomberg. Please vote for our own Itzik. If you are not yet registered, please do so now.
Mark is going:(
there is just no words to describe this terrible tragedy!
first it snows, then the garbage trucks with plows dont come to clean up, and now shloime lehrer is selling the pizza shop, what will be next?
i guess it was hashem choice and we will have to accept itwith love even if it is very hard!!!
your were such a great store owner and i dont know if anybody could even compare!!!!!!!
i am starting to feel hungry?
it just not going to be the same
i should of gone there more often cuz now it is just to late!
I want to wish Shloime Lehrer Hatzlacha. As out-of-towners you always knew you’d be welcomed by a genuinely friendly & warm shop keeper and delicious pizza & homemade fries. If you were short a dollar you said to put it into Tzedakah. Know that you will be sorely missed and were always a definite destination on all visits to Crown Heights.
Hopefully the new owner will be able to follow in your ways…food was always delicious & service was consistently courteous!
wow. compliments abound for mr lehrer. very nice.
so what was the purchase price?
and what will lehrer do now?
WHAT?? whenever we come to ny we always have kingston pizza!! we’ll miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope it’s just a Purim juke/scamm
It’s still gona be here just new owner
its the only pizza shop on kingston!!!!!
im gonna miss that place!!!!!
Thanx for the gr8 service you offered to our community.
Much Hatzlacha with whatever you move on to, Hashem should bentch you with an abundance of Money!
a customer from England: We will miss your breakfast when we come next time. We will also miss your polite services and welcomnig words. Hatzlochah in what ever you do in the future. Also Hatzlochah to the new owners. If they are as polite and welcoming as the old owners they will be O.K.
hope the news pizza store will take credit card for payment
that will be greatly appreciated
Rabbi Shloime Lerer helped The Shluchim Office fund many projects throughout the years.
do you have to go? change your mind and stay. you will be missed
he was so nice to us, one time we didnt have cash and only a check He still gave us food and we repaid the next time we had cash. Much success in your future endeavors.
My kids are with me on COL Live and are so upset about this news! they all scram NO WAY, sorry Mr Lehrer but the CH children aren’t happy about this news.
The atmosphere in Kingston Pizza was so nice and friendly. Thank you Shlomi Lehrer – may you have hatzlacha in your future endeavors.
hes prob make a huge restaurant with the pizza shop and kingston plaza!!! oh and a small isle with grocerys
It’s like the game monopoly! And Itzik is WINNING!!
Soon maybe he’ll have the whole board (=crown heights)…
Go, Itzik, Go!!!
Yeah, and I can’t wait to see the prices after the first couple of months… 😉
that group of boys and girls from Eretz Yisroel started the pizza shop in the store where mr. eggs was? when brook moved it across the street next to regency? (after a while the sign said “kosher pizz”) when mochkin got it? when it was moved to its present spot by the Eretz Yisroeldiker gentleman? then shloimy shyichye bought it lihatzlocho rabboh. hatzlocho rabboh to itzik benabou sheyichye.
I usually do not comment, but just had to. Shlomie Lehrer is just one of the nicest store owner on Kingston Ave. A mentch who would trust people and always with a smile. I wish him much Hatzlacha. An Out Of Towner
Bye bye
Shlomi is a great store owner, one of the best on Kigston, wish hin much success in the future.
who calls everyone rebbe and rebbetzin is funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
flams will still stay there and not change owners. lol
i cant believe it!!!!
i have such goodchildhood memories of that place!!! my family used to go there every thuesday night for supper!!!!
its my favorite place to eat!!! hope the new owner is not ganna change it too much!!!
Shloime was a great owner I hope the place dsnt turn into a hang out
goodby to mark, cris, petrik, and all other workers
What? kingston pizza is not a store, it’s a moised! You can’t sell a moised!!
mark better still be there…..
or else i’ll say the sale is not good for me 🙁
I’m from out of town but from the few stores on kingston where you were treated with a smile you will surely be missed!
i never tasted better pizza in my life!!!
i will really miss it and there is nothing that can make up for it!
The coffee always came with a free good vort! the breakfast was delicious but the company was the best! I wish you much Hatzlocho!
Seriously… does Mark come with the sale of the place? Or is he leaving now too?
When we were first married and pregnant with our first child, we used to fly in every other week for pizza and a milkshake. The workers remember my order from when I was single and 11 years later they still see me and smile. We will miss you!!!
I say Itzik buys the meat store too and then he can own that whole block!
i cant believe it!!!!!!
were will i go on motzei shabbos??????
i remember going there as a kid. will miss the memories
That Yossi Brook ran!!!!
NO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
WHAT?? NO!
you are sick. just sick. the kigston pizza store is the best and now benabou will change it all around, with all memories. and why wasnt he available for comment???
אל תגזור על הציבור גזירה שהם לא יכולים לעמוד בה
please keep the same recepe
it was the best one ever
we love your food and wish you a great sucsess and hope u open another resturant
i LLLLLLOVE kingston
go buy pizza before its over!!!!
I LOVE KINGSTON PIZZA!!!
bring back the shuk like we were all told it would be.
fill your tummys up this week
well miss the pizza!!!!
it was awesome!!!!
hope it will continue to be as good!!!!!!!
come on we have to say goodbye to our lovely pizza shop
goodbye i love you kingston pizza
shlomie i’d like to buy 18 frozen pies!!!
why?
שלומי תמשיך לבוא למנחה כל יום 1.45
best pizza in the world!!!
supper tonight, tommorow night and 20 pies for the rest of the year in the frizer
who is buying it??
עד בלי די שלומי … שהשם יברך אותך בכל טוב
חיים שאול
we love the pizza!!
we will miss you so much!
we going to miss you shlome
why is he selling it???
itwas the best pizza in the world
its to bad i cant go behind the counter anymore!
we’ll miss your pizza a lot!! ( its the best! )
i loved kingston pizza…
well miss you…
i hope the pizza will stay the same
I know many people will disagree with me, they will say that he has a monopoly etc, but Benabou knows how to turn a business around. Finally, there will be a decent pizza store in crown heights. I personally can’t wait to see what he will do with it.
wish u and benabou good luck! nice of lehrer to make a special good bye sale.
we wish you and your family much hatzlacha in your future endeavors.
thank you.
mazal tov.mazal tov!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Kingston pizza and hope it”ll get bigger and better!