A message to my beloved customers,

Keivan here, owner of Zendiggi Kebab House. For nearly 15 years, it has been my honor and joy to serve you our delicious and wholesome Persian food here in Closter.

The last few years have been incredibly difficult for us and restaurants in general. The pandemic changed everything: dining rooms don’t fill up the way they once did, ride-share delivery services take large commissions (often destroying profit entirely), and remote work has nearly eliminated the lunch crowd. Despite these challenges, my wife and I kept pouring everything we had—our savings, our time, and our hearts—into the business.

We work long days, seven days a week, often staying open late and on holidays. I focused on making every plate better: creating delicious specials, cooking traditional Persian dishes with the quality ingredients, and even mastering the art of baking our own sourdough pitas. We built a top tier espresso bar and created our flagship Rose Pistachio Latte. We served our local schools working with the wonderful PTO moms who run the school lunch programs. We started live music nights, which have brought incredible Jazz, indie and vocalists to our community and turned Zendiggi into a beautiful, intimate venue.

But after a brutal winter and other unexpected emergencies compounded with some difficult life events, we’ve fallen behind on rent and bills. Our wonderful landlords have been incredibly patient and supportive, but we’ve now reached a crossroads. We either come up with the funds we need very soon, or we’ll have no choice but to close our doors forever.

I love this restaurant, our amazing team, and the deep roots we’ve grown in the Closter community. More than anything, I love serving all of you. Instead of quietly disappearing, I felt it was the right thing to do to give those who care about us the chance to help keep Zendiggi alive.

We still have so many dreams: more specials, more live music, more fresh-baked sourdough breads, giant group platters, and new community projects. We just need a little help to get through this rough period of time.

If you’re able, please consider supporting us through our GoFundMe, come in for a meal, bring a friend, or simply share this message. Every bit of support—whether a donation, an order, or a kind word—means the world to us.

If you can’t help right now, please don’t feel bad. I’m deeply grateful for every meal I’ve had the chance to cook for you over the years. And if these next few weeks end up being our last, I will be here working on perfection till the last moment.

Serving you has been the privilege of a lifetime. I hope things work out and we can continue serving you for many more to come.

Thank you for everything,

Keivan

Zendiggi Kebab House