Image by gabila’s

Bad news for fried knish lovers: New York is in the midst of a shortage.

Gabila’s, the country’s largest producer of fried knishes (which according to its website has sold over a billion doughy pockets), has had to suspend production of its “Coney Island Squares” until at least the end of November. The reason: a small fire that broke out in the company’s Long Island factory on September 24.

Gabila’s supplies many of the city’s delis and hot dog carts with their fried knishes (which can best be described as mashed potatoes wrapped in fried dough, and which go incredibly well with mustard alongside a deli sandwich). Delis from Katz’s on the Lower East Side to Essen New York Deli in Midwood are out of them.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Believe me, if I could give you a square knish, I’d give you a square knish. I just can’t right now,” Katz’s fifth-generation owner Jake Dell told CBS News.

Katz’s normally sells 1,500 of these knishes a week (for $3.75 each), according to CBS.

So what does this mean for those of us craving knishes? For the next month you’ll either have to go with the round, baked variety (which sell for 50 cents more at Katz’s) — which are often homemade at delis and restaurants — or try to go over a month without knishes. Hey, your waistline might thank you.

If you’d like to make your own, check out a cooking video from The Forverts.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount