Jonah Green
Website Project : Family owned restaurants and neighborhood change in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
New York City is a city made up of many different neighborhoods and many different ethnic groups. Every neighborhood has a different ethnic makeup and social status associated with it which constantly changes due to factors such as immigration and internal migration. One such neighborhood that this has occurred in is Bensonhurst, which is located in the borough of Brooklyn. Bensonhurst has experienced a change in ethnic composition that can be seen by looking at some family-owned restaurants in the neighborhood.
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood that’s ethnic composition has changed in recent years. Historically, Bensonhurst has been a middle-class Italian-American neighborhood. This neighborhood was mainly Italian-American since the late 1800s, when the neighborhood came into being. Today, even though the area has become much more diverse, the neighborhood still retains a strong Italian-American community and is even known as Brooklyn’s Little Italy. The current demographics of Bensonhurst are “48% white, 36% Asian, 13% Hispanic, 1% Black, [and] 1% Other.” (NYC.gov) with the most prominent ethnic groups being Italian-Americans and Chinese-Americans, but also has significant populations of other ethnic groups such as “Russians, Poles, and immigrants from Latin America and the Middle East.” (Mooney).
Spumoni Gardens is a family owned and operated Italian restaurant in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn which opened in 1939. This restaurant was founded by an Italian immigrant named Ludovico Barbati. Since then, the ownership of the restaurant has been passed down for multiple generations and still maintains its authenticity. This restaurant still stays true to the Barbati family’s Italian roots no matter how many generations they are removed from the original Italian immigrants in their family. From the example of Spumoni Gardens, it is evident that a restaurant can remain successful by staying true to its roots and not commercializing. In addition, Spumoni Gardens is a restaurant that is known for its square pizza by all Brooklynites and most other New York City residents. Moreover, the cuisine of this restaurant represents the historical makeup of this neighborhood because Bensonhurst is a historically Italian-American neighborhood, even though that does not still hold true today. Currently, Bensonhurst is a melting pot of people of many different nationalities such as Italian and Chinese.
This restaurant still has strong ties to the neighborhood of Bensonhurst even though the ethnic composition of this neighborhood has changed. Today, people of all different races and nationalities go to Spumoni Gardens to either get Italian food such as pizza, or desserts such as Italian ices. This restaurant serves as a place where family and friends can either sit down and have a nice dinner or sit in the outdoor section and socialize with friends while eating good Italian food. When you go to this restaurant, you see all different kinds of people eating side by side, and often even at the same table. This is a fine representation of the neighborhood of Bensonhurst because although there was initially backlash by the Italians towards people of other races and nationalities entering the neighborhood, today everyone gets along and views themselves almost like family because they all live side by side in the same community.
Today, Bensonhurst is dotted with numerous Chinese takeout restaurants. These restaurants such as Panda Chinese restaurant in Bensonhurst represent the growing Chinese-American population of Bensonhurst. In these Chinese takeout restaurants, Chinese immigrants serve Chinese-American food to the people of Bensonhurst. Chinese-American foods resulted from a combination of a variety of influences. Throughout the many time periods during which the Chinese were immigrating to America, Chinese immigrants have originated from many different provinces in China such as Guangdong, Shanghai, and Fujian. These regions of China all have distinct cuisines, which is why there are now different forms of Chinese food available in the United States depending on which area of the country a person goes to. In addition, Chinese immigrants working in the restaurant business need to appeal to American audiences, which has led to the creation of American-Chinese food, which differs, significantly from traditional Chinese cuisine. Instead of cooking traditional Chinese dishes, Chinese restaurants often make food that appeals to the culinary tastes of Americans. For example, Chinese restaurants in America serve dishes like Chicken and Broccoli, which are food items that would never be found in China. Also, many Chinese-American eateries will serve foods that have absolutely no Chinese influences, such as fried chicken and French fries, simply because that’s what they believe that their American consumers would like to eat. This Chinese-American food also represents a large portion of the current demographics of Bensonhurst because Chinese-Americans are the second largest ethnic group in Bensonhurst after Italian-Americans, and the neighborhood even houses one of Brooklyn’s many Chinatowns.
These Chinese takeout restaurants are also of great value to the community. These Chinese takeout restaurants provide a quick and inexpensive option for either lunch or dinner for many people in the neighborhood. Also, these Chinese restaurants provide a source of income for Chinese immigrants that they might not have been able to attain through other businesses, and has helped the Chinese-American community fit in the neighborhood. These Chinese takeout restaurants have helped Chinese-Americans fit into the neighborhood because if you frequently attend a restaurant owned by people of a specific ethnic group, and you enjoy the food as well as the price of the food, then you will most likely be happier about having people of this ethnic group living in your neighborhood. By cooking tasty inexpensive meals for the families that live in the neighborhood, it’s almost like they have become part of the “family” of the community.
A neighborhood’s ethnic makeup changes throughout history especially in a city as diverse as New York. Family-owned restaurants are a good indicator of the ethnic makeup of a neighborhood because they are usually owned by families that live in the neighborhood, and the type of food served will tell you something about their ethnic background. The restaurants that I have chosen to look at in Bensonhurst (Spumoni Gardens and Chinese takeout restaurants) really exemplify the ethnic background of this changing neighborhood which was historically Italian-American, but is now mainly Italian-American and Chinese-American with smaller sprinklings of other ethnic groups. These restaurants become large parts of the communities since they are places that families eat, hang out in, or both which allows ethnic groups to gain ground in the neighborhood through the serving of their ethnic food in restaurants.
Citations
“Bensonhurst Two Albanians and a Jew Go to 86th Street.” Bensonhurst. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017. <https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/peoplingofbensonhurst/>.
Mooney, Jake. “Real Estate Accessible, From All 4 Corners of the World.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 May 2017.
Robins, Liz. “With an Influx of Newcomers, Little Chinatowns Dot a Changing Brooklyn.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 May 2017.
United States of America. Department of Health. COMMUNITY HEALTH PROFILES 2015, Brooklyn Community District 11: BENSONHURST. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017. <https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2015chp-bk11.pdf>.
