Beloved Bridgeport Restaurant To Close Next Month

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Bloodroot, the endearing "feminist restaurant & bookstore" in Bridgeport, announced this week that it is closing next month after 48 years.

"As perhaps you may know by now, Bloodroot will be closing on December 21, 2025, after 48 amazing and wonderful years in business," the owners wrote on Facebook. "This decision, though sad, is also necessary given many factors in our lives at this time."

The Ferris Street restaurant, which specializes in vegetarian cuisine, was owned by the late Selma Miriam and Noel Furie, who were written about in The New York Times and other publications, and were the subjects of a documentary about their lives and the restaurant, called "A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot."

Miriam, who co-founded the restaurant in 1977, passed away in February at the age of 89, and close friend and business partner Furie has been running it over the last several months, the Connecticut Post reported.

Bloodroot has been a beloved part of Bridgeport's Black Rock neighborhood, and has often been named among the city's favorite restaurants.

Its pending closure has hit customers hard.

"This news makes me so sad," one fan wrote. "You have always been one of my favorite restaurants ever since I first visited as a Trumbull High kid in 1979. Coming back is ALWAYS a special treat. A genuine thrill. I will obviously make the trek as many times as I can between now and then (I live 62 miles away), but know that I will miss everything you are. Bloodroot has a permanent place in my broken heart. You are unique and unreplaceable."

Added another, "It is heartbreaking to think of Bloodroot closing. It has been such an important part of my life and so many others’ lives. What you built will live on in all of us whom you have touched with your feminism and your community-building. I am so grateful to have benefitted from your amazing mission all these years. Thank you for the delicious food, the books, the inspiration, and the memories."

Bloodroot's closing date has special meaning.

"We’ve chosen December 21st because it is the day of the Winter Solstice (which means sun standing still) and heralds the beginning of the return of the light," the owners wrote. "The days start to get longer and it is a time for hope and celebration.

"We hope you will continue to visit us during our usual business hours in the remaining weeks that we are open."