What Happened to Ferdinando's Focacceria After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 6, Episode 5

A segment of the Halloween-themed 'Frightfully Good' episode featured Ferdinando's Focacceria, a Sicilian restaurant at 151 Union Street in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. According to Wikipedia, the restaurant was founded in 1904 and was described as New York City's oldest Sicilian restaurant and the city's third-oldest Italian restaurant behind Rao's and Bamonte's. Panelle, a chickpea-fritter dish, was its most popular item, according to Wikipedia. The restaurant began as a sandwich shop serving longshoremen near the Brooklyn waterfront. Wikipedia's entry, revised 2026-07-11, listed Ferdinando's Focacceria as closed in 2025, after 121 years in business. Our research did not turn up a second, independently dated news source confirming the closure date or cause, so that fact rests on the single Wikipedia listing noted here.

Food Paradise, Season 4, Episode 4 Aired 2012

"Sausage Paradise" (aired 2012) featured Ferdinando's Focacceria's Sicilian sausage and focaccia sandwiches at the century-old Carroll Gardens restaurant. Founded in 1904, Ferdinando's was among Brooklyn's oldest Italian restaurants, according to Wikipedia. According to Yahoo News, the restaurant closed in February 2025 after more than 120 years in business, with the owners citing "unforeseen circumstances" in their closing announcement. Patch reported that restaurateur Sal Lamboglia, known for Cafe Spaghetti and Swoony's, was chosen by former owner Francesco Buffa to open a new concept in the same space.

Wikipedia describes Ferdinando's as having been the third-oldest Italian restaurant in New York City, behind Rao's and Bamonte's, at the time of its closing. The address at 151 Union Street now operates as Bar Ferdinando, according to the business's own website, offering a full bar and dinner menu under new ownership.