Bodega Poll

sandra dee · May 2006

Just want to see what other people think around here...

brookfetish · May 2006

The "bodega" next to may apartment, on Underhill and Bergen, is great in my opinion.

idlewild · May 2006

I like the one on Prospect and Underhill. Before that the recently closed one on Vanderbilt between park and Prospect.

stacey · May 2006

BrookFetish wrote: The "bodega" next to may apartment, on Underhill and Bergen, is great in my opinion.

I second that!

rossmelanie · May 2006

underhill and bergen or vanderbilt and st marks

stacey · May 2006

rossmelanie wrote: underhill and bergen or vanderbilt and st marks

Underhill and Bergen

alafairnadia · May 2006

I use both of the ones at st. johns and washington.

bill c · May 2006

i am a big fan of pena's, the one on vanderbilt and st. mark's. now that they are becoming rarer i have begun to really appreciating the look of some of the old bodegas.

rossmelanie · May 2006

stacey wrote: [quote=rossmelanie]underhill and bergen or vanderbilt and st marks

Underhill and Bergen

sorry, i meant i go to either one of those

stacey · May 2006

rossmelanie wrote: [quote=stacey][quote=rossmelanie]underhill and bergen or vanderbilt and st marks

Underhill and Bergen

sorry, i meant i go to either one of those

Doh I feel dumb :oops: :oops:

muteflute · May 2006

stacey wrote: [quote=rossmelanie]underhill and bergen or vanderbilt and st marks

Underhill and Bergen

give it up! i love those guys...i get breakfast from them every second or third day.

teddyballgame · May 2006

Saba, the one right outside my apartment, on Underhill between Eastern Parkway and St. John's next to Sepia, is... umm... dare i say... showing signs of gentrification... About a month ago, they cleaned up the place a bunch, got a nice new counter, and got a grill. Then, last week, they started carrying Odwalla products and Honest Tea. Regardless, it's a pretty good bodega.

pensodyssey · May 2006

bill c wrote: i am a big fan of pena's, the one on vanderbilt and st. mark's. now that they are becoming rarer i have begun to really appreciating the look of some of the old bodegas.

I like the one right off the 2 stop on the manhattan bound side at Bergen. I also like the one right at the Q on Park and Flatbush.

But I choose my bodegas on only 2 counts: cigarettes and beer.

sterlingguy · May 2006

Subject: bodega upgrades

I have noticed a few bodegas on Washington between Sterling Place and Eastern Parkway that have put up new banners (including the Key Foods) in the past few months, and one was gutted and totally remodelled, which to me indicates gentrification. It is nice to see that these places are being improved and not forced out of the hood. I wonder if the business incubator for Washington (WAMA or something?) is helping these folks get a facelift to stay competitive as gentrification grinds ever forward...

My personal favorite bodega remains Yellison on the corner of Sterling and Washington (see my posting last year about Yellison's secret cigar stash). And they have not upgraded anything, but rather remained its same, decent self... (although they do carry the Sunday Times now).

laura b · May 2006

Idlewild wrote: I like the one on Prospect and Underhill.

Really? What's the appeal? They seem to have almost NOTHING except for lottery tickets and a few stray peppermint candies.

sterling2000 · May 2006

Subject: Re: bodega upgrades

SterlingGuy wrote: And they have not upgraded anything, but rather remained its same, decent self...

One "upgrade" to my liking was my request for carrying American Spirit cigarettes over two years ago when I moved in around the corner...they've carried them since, and I don't even need to say anything when I walk in, they just slide the yellow pack across the counter.

(perhaps a cigar on the rooftop by summer's end, Mr. Secretary?)

whyfi · May 2006

Subject: Re: bodega upgrades

SterlingGuy wrote: I wonder if the business incubator for Washington (WAMA or something?) is helping these folks get a facelift to stay competitive as gentrification grinds ever forward...

WAMA hasn't done squat in the last year, unfortunately... Maybe it was just a matter of one guy taking the initiative and the others had to follow or potentially suffer?

carnivore · May 2006

I like the " ssoc at d" on the corner of Underhill and St Johns. Nice guys.

I just wish they were open later...

pete_c · May 2006

The newstand at the PH side entrance of the B/Q stop for smokes and Vitamin Waters -- their American Spirits are always nice and fresh.

Beer usually comes from Met, but when Met is closed, its all about the very friendly old couple at the SW corner of Sterling & Underhill.

And the guys next to Sepia? All nice, glad to see someone trying to clean up their business for all us 'new' residents.

liftandcut · May 2006

Ok, guys, let's get the terminology right first. The stores you have been mentioning are not necessarily bodegas. Yelison is a Bodega because it is owned, or was owned, by Dominicans. Yelison is actually not the technical name of that store anymore, as the family that owned it sold it to the new owners about two years ago. The previous owners named it Yelison in honor of their eldest son. Other Latino-owned stores are also called Bodegas. The stores on the two corners of Washington and St. Johns are not Bodegas. They are "Muslim stores." However, my friends and I usually refer to the smaller one as "Muhammad's," or sometimes, "Abdullah's." I call the renovated one "Sal's," and more recently it has aquired the tag of "corner store."

carnivore · May 2006

pete_c wrote: And the guys next to Sepia? All nice, glad to see someone trying to clean up their business for all us 'new' residents.

Ahhhh, Saba. My favorite stop for caffeine on my way to the train for a night shift! The guys who run that place are nice, and I like the face lift. One of them always seems to be yelling at someone over the phone though (seriously, like almost every time I go in there). Also, there's a kid who always seems to be around, even mid-day, making me wonder why he isn't in school.

wahoo · May 2006

Are you nuts? How can a bodega that doesn't sell beer be considered "a pretty good bodega." Those guys at Saba are nice enough, but they don't know the first thing about running a business. What are the two things you figure a bodega might be counted on for? Cilantro? No. Fancy-ass organic milk? No, and no one should expect that.

But howzabout coffee and beer, life's staples? This place used to carry beer but no longer seems to have a liquor license (whether it lost it for selling to minors or something, or just doesn't carry booze on religious principles, like the market on Washington near Eastern Pkwy., I don't know; but if they had religious principles that prohibited them from making money by helping me get a buzz on while watching the ballgame at home, why did they sell beer in the first place?).

And trying to get a cup of coffee from that place is ridiculously labor-intensive. First, they make you get it yourself; then, they often don't have milk, so you have to ask for that; often, there's no stirrer, so they have to give you a straw; and lastly, if you just want a napkin with it you have to ask again, and then they'll mutter in Arabic for awhile, putter around under the counter, and ultimately produce a roll of paper towels, off of which they will pull a sheet for you. (What the hell? Sorry to interrupt your Arabic phone rant, homeslice. Would it really be too much trouble to invest in napkins??!!?? Have you ever BEEN to a bodega before?)

The coffee is bad, which is just what I want and expect from a bodega, but I would really like my bad coffee to be obtained with less effort. Is that so much to ask, when the store has essentially nothing else to recommend it besides proximity and milk that is only sour on Sundays?

And did I mention they don't have BEER!?????!

carnivore · May 2006

Wahoo wrote: Are you nuts? How can a bodega that doesn't sell beer be considered "a pretty good bodega." Those guys at Saba are nice enough, but they don't know the first thing about running a business. What are the two things you figure a bodega might be counted on for? Cilantro? No. Fancy-ass organic milk? No, and no one should expect that.

But howzabout coffee and beer, life's staples? This place used to carry beer but no longer seems to have a liquor license (whether it lost it for selling to minors or something, or just doesn't carry booze on religious principles, like the market on Washington near Eastern Pkwy., I don't know; but if they had religious principles that prohibited them from making money by helping me get a buzz on while watching the ballgame at home, why did they sell beer in the first place?).

And trying to get a cup of coffee from that place is ridiculously labor-intensive. First, they make you get it yourself; then, they often don't have milk, so you have to ask for that; often, there's no stirrer, so they have to give you a straw; and lastly, if you just want a napkin with it you have to ask again, and then they'll mutter in Arabic for awhile, putter around under the counter, and ultimately produce a roll of paper towels, off of which they will pull a sheet for you. (What the hell? Sorry to interrupt your Arabic phone rant, homeslice. Would it really be too much trouble to invest in napkins??!!?? Have you ever BEEN to a bodega before?)

The coffee is bad, which is just what I want and expect from a bodega, but I would really like my bad coffee to be obtained with less effort. Is that so much to ask, when the store has essentially nothing else to recommend it besides proximity and milk that is only sour on Sundays?

And did I mention they don't have BEER!?????!

All good points. The lack of beer is a major deficit. I'm not sure if that's about religious conviction or not, since they do sell cigarettes.
As far as the coffee goes, it's so bad that maybe they're surprised anytime someone actually wants some. I never get coffee there, just Red Bull.
That said, I appreciate when proprietors of local businesses recognize me and say hi when I come in. They know my routine, and make my transaction go quickly (I don't have to tell them "no bag, yes straw").

I suspect that it'll take them some time to make back their investment from the renovation, but I bet their inventory will expand once they do. Maybe they'll even get beer.

heit · May 2006

Subject: someone may have said this one already, but

the one on Bergen, next to Bergen Bagels is by far the best in the area

it doesn't hurt that I live around the corner

but I always feel @ home in there, not so much in other area spots

bigguy · May 2006

Saba doesn't have ham either. Could be a religious thing except for the cigarettes.

liftandcut · May 2006

I think Muslims smoke tobacco. Or maybe there's just less profit in ham.

bigguy · May 2006

I had a Pakistani friend who says he wasn't supposed to smoke for religious reasons. Of course he did anyway...

mikewalton718 · May 2006

Me likey Yellison, why? it's close, I get good banannas, milk, cookies, sometimes beer from them.
when did a bodega have to bee owned by dominicans to be a bodega? who da hell cares? everybody calls 'em bodegas. they aren't "convience stores" that's what they have out west where everything is 7-11 and circle K. in nyc we have Bodegas. :roll:

alafairnadia · May 2006

well,a bodega does NOT have to be owned by hispanics (because bodega is an actual Spanish word, not slang, thus, not limited to only Dominicans). but my issue with Yelison (one L, fyi), is that I've had a lot of violent experiences in that joint. kinda scary. it's generally my last resort, esp with Galed reopening.

whyfi · May 2006

BigGuy wrote: I had a Pakistani friend who says he wasn't supposed to smoke for religious reasons. Of course he did anyway...

Eh? But hookahs (sp?) are filled with fruit-sweetened tobacco, right? Is he Muslim?

liftandcut · May 2006

"Bodega" refers to a grocery store located in a Latino or "Hispanic" neighborhood. They do not necessarily have to be owned by Dominicans. But to say that any corner store is a bodega is incorrect, and rather arrogant. It's a mistake often perpetuated by people who are not from New York and quite frankly, it's very annoying.

Bodega Poll

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