My Thoughts on Patis Bakery’s Business Challenges • YeahThatsKosher

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storefront of Patis Bakery & Cafe Times Square, NYC — Patis Bakery & Cafe Times Square

Patis Bakery & Cafe has recently hit a rough financial patch, and as a result has been going through a restructuring process, most commonly known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy. There are a lot of factors that go into these sorts of business needs, of which I’m not privy to, but important for the consumer to understand that the business is struggling financially and are attempting to make it work so they can continue to provide their top-quality kosher products for the future.

The company that opened nearly 6 years ago in NJ has expanded throughout the NYC region at 11 locations, serving delicious pastries, breads, salads, soups, pizzas, and more. I’m not here to opine on how or why Patis got into this situation as I am not involved in their business dealings, but I do have some of my observations and insights. They expanded fairly quickly, which is both a blessing and a curse for a business like theirs. It’s a blessing for consumers, at least those of us who are a fan of their products as I am, to have access to great kosher food in more neighborhoods. It’s also needed for a business model like Patis’s which necessitates a central hub of production, their Lyndhurst, NJ bakery storefront, and numerous bakery cafes to distribute to. It’s a “curse” for the business because it requires more rent, more oversight, management, staff, and any number of issues that can arise when a business expands.

We saw that play out with the recent closures of 2 of Patis’s Manhattan locations. Additionally, their planned downtown location will, sadly, not be opening. I also know that many consumers are holding gift cards for Patis, and the company will continue to accept them during this restructuring process. Oftentimes, businesses do not do this, so I am appreciative on behalf of consumers that they are standing by their promise to serve the community.

(Read a summary on what Chapter 11 bankruptcy is and how it is used by businesses to stay afloat).

Personally, I’m a big fan, and order from them / dine in the restaurant between 3-6x a month, particularly from their midtown Manhattan and Long Island locations. At my corporate job (shockingly, I do not do YeahThatsKosher full time), we ordered catering from Patis’s Time Square location earlier this year as a welcome breakfast for new colleagues (and to accommodate for my kosher observance) and my colleagues, who are not kosher observant, love it! Earlier this month, my colleagues suggested we order catering from Patis for another team meeting, and the catered meal was even better. So much so they ordered catering again last week, and will likely again in July.

I share this as a personal anecdote for a few reasons: they produce a great product, kosher or otherwise. I did not have to coerce my non-Jewish colleagues to order from here after they tried it initially; I want to recommend other groups and businesses cater from Patis, both so that they benefit from the good food and also so we can support this kosher business and help them stay afloat; as a kosher consumer myself, I always want to see good quality options, especially one that I leverage for my own meals.

So I will encourage you to dine at, order from, and/or get catering from Patis. Not just to keep a Jewish business alive, but one that puts out a damn good product.

Patis is still operating 11 locations in New York and New Jersey. If you’ve never had their food, I encourage you to try them.