After 100 years, Brooklyn pork store Esposito & Sons closes its doors

A beloved piece of Carroll Gardens disappears

April 11, 2023 Mary Frost

Tears were shed on Monday as Esposito & Sons Jersey Pork Store, beloved Italian butcher shop in Carroll Gardens, closed after 100 years in the neighborhood. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

Share this:

CARROLL GARDENS — Esposito & Sons Jersey Pork Store, beloved Italian butcher shop at 357 Court St. in Carroll Gardens, closed on Monday after 100 years.

Customers stopped by to say goodbye to third-generation store owners George and John Esposito, have a piece of cake and reminisce about the neighborhood’s Italian-American heyday — when families cooked and ate meals at home.

One neighbor told a young woman holding a microphone what the store’s closing meant to her.

“These shops, and especially the pork store, this is Carroll Gardens,” she said, choking back tears.

George Esposito, left, who operated the pork store with his brother John, oversees the last day of business. George and John were the third and final generation of Espositos to run the shop. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

By mid-afternoon, the sausages, soppressata, escarole pie and meatballs were gone, the pictures were off the walls and the iconic giant pig statue had vanished. (It was on wheels.)

“To our patrons, April 10th will be our last day. It’s tough to say goodbye after 100 years,” a sign on the window said. “We thank you for your loyalty. Love, the Espositos.”

The New York Times called Esposito & Sons “a meat store grandma would love.”

In a video of the shop created in 2015 by filmmaker Brinda Adhikari, George Esposito told the filmmaker, “You gotta treat the customers with respect and love. That’s what makes it keep going for the first hundred.”