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Corner stores in NYC have some advantages, competition. If
In the burbs and rural areas, the stores are spread out, and if you have a shitty store a couple miles closer than a decent store, they can just produce the cheapest crap and sell it to you for exorbatent prices.
New Yorkers are ok with walking a few blocks. So if your corner shop can’t complete another one 2 minutes away will draw away their customers.
Even corner shops in Baltimore and DC are pretty anemic comparatively, but they tend to have more actual restaurants peppered about.
Wait till I tell Americans that small discount supermarkets exist within walking distance in Denmark.
Wait until they find out Denmark is filled with Danish people.
wait, you mean like people made out of pastries, or . . . ?
No, it’s even worse
Pastries made out of people?
Good god, no!
Well, that’s different than a Bodega. You see, the bodega is only stocked with inventory the owners purchased at a retail grocery store down the road, so the markup is like paying a convenience surcharge. No discounts.
Nyc is one of the few cities that you can walk in though
It’s all about the relationship you cultivate with the owners and operators of the bodega.
Soooo, same as any corner store?
Depends on the locale, but I believe so.
Where I grew up the market had been cornered, so to speak, by a small city level chain. 26 stores for a proper city and it’s ~6 suburbs.
You got the good food, and some extras like fresh donuts and ice cream from their bakery and creamery, but the staff were almost exclusively university kids with weird schedules you would never see more than a few times.
It was weird for a minute when I lived near a corner store where the owner also was just at the register and talked to people. (To be fair, he was also a university student, he just wanted to let the family manage the family business while he became a pathologist of all things. )
And their Bodega cat.
The most important part of the Bodega!!!
Yep. It’s simple and human. That’s it. That’s the magic.
What’s disappointing is that bodegas are as close to a “third space” as you’re likely to get. It’s not a place you’re meant to hang out, there isn’t even seating, and you are supposed to buy something. And yet, there’s a hint at some kind of community.
UK, Ireland and Australia have a slight improvement on that with pubs. They’re also commercial establishments, but culturally it’s more of a community thing. It’s also not just about alcohol. You can get a hot meal too. Even if someone isn’t going out to hang out with friends down at the pub, it’s often perfectly normal to go there and eat alone while reading a book. Even that is a bit of a community activity, because you’ll see some of the same faces and exchange greetings or at least waves or nods.
Places with serious winters (and I’m including NYC in that), really should have third spaces that are not for profit and designed for various kinds of hanging out: board games, indoor sports, gaming, cooking. That just doesn’t seem to be a common thing in the English speaking world, at least for adults.
The real beauty of the pub/local/neighborhood bar is that is is local and in your neighborhood! You can walk there and walk back after and nobody gets a dui
A difference between the two (at least from what I’ve seen) is that if you go to a bar, you’re going to drink. Whereas a pub always has drinks, but that’s not always the reason to go.
Til https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place
In sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home (“first place”) and workplace (“second place”). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, bars, clubs, libraries, gyms, bookstores, hackerspaces, stoops, parks, and theaters, among others.
here bodegă means a cheap, low-quality and often run-down bar/pub, I think that’s close to its original meaning - wine cellar/warehouse. How did USA go from that to corner shop, I wonder
How did USA go from that to corner shop
The used a brimful of asha.
On the 45?
Everyone needs a bosom for a pillow!
Now I’m not from NY and I agree that it’s mostly a corner shop, the only connection to that that I can think of is that usually bodegas will have a kind of deli section where you can buy prepared foods. Usually sandwiches, sometimes things like tacos or rice plates.
I think new yorkers don’t get that that’s common across corner stores around the US.
So, a corner store?
Yep, that’s what I said.
You tried making the distinction between a corner store and a bodega. Yet both of them have a deli section.
They are just synonyms, aren’t they?
No, I tried making the connection between an American bodega and it’s origin as a dive bar/pub. I then said it’s the same with many corner stores in the US. Re-read the post.
Iirc, is from Dominican’s immigrants on New York
That’s what the shops are.
Not New York but “Topeka Bodega” is a common “practice sentence” in phonics and oratory and I think its a more mellifluous phrase than “cellar door.”
“Topeka Bodega” is quite pleasing to say. I’ve just said it like five times and my wife was like, “What the hell are you going on about now, dear?”
NYC here.
If someone asked the average New Yorker what a bodega was, the most probable answer is “What are you, stupid?”
Not me, because I would be mugging you.
Wow! NYC!
MA TAKE A PICTURE I’M GETTING MUGGED BY THE CITY ITSELF :D
You her mother? Give me some money or your next.
My next what?
You care about spelling?
It’s gone from a mugging to grievous bodily harm!
Don’t make me use my accent on you!
Cannibalism???
I learned from the movie Half Baked. https://youtu.be/KIncGi-Ne2Q
A shame Dave Chapelle turned out to be a terrible person who only cared about his rights specifically.
These comments are so weird. I only found out what a bodega was recently, so I’ve added it to my brain as “corner shop”. I didn’t even know they were peculiar to a specific area until this post.
So they’re corner shops. Everything people comment about them being different still comes under the umbrella of “corner shop”. It’s weird to see people yapping about how they’re different and then giving reasons that… still mean corner shop.
I’ve always called them “convenience stores”, but, yeah, same thing. I once worked with a woman who took me to this place on our break which she introduced by saying “Okay, I’m not trying to be racist, but I honestly don’t know what else to call this place. It’s a chink shop.” So, I’m wondering what this store is going to be like. We walk in, and…it’s a fuckin’ convenience store. Which happened to be run by Asians.
Americans have so little culture for themselves they have to make even something as common and ubiquitous as a corner shop, all about them.
All this yapping and not a single one of you geniuses figured out the real difference of a bodega. You can get loosies. Single cigarettes and buy beer in single cans/past legal hours.
So what you’re missing is that the defining features of a bodega aren’t offered to foreigners like you because you aren’t part of the culture.
I can do that in my local corner shop.
You ain’t special.
Taiwanese laughs in local 7-11 or FamilyMart
new yorkers think having an american, chinese, indian, italian, and mexican restaurant to choose from makes them unique. im not even kidding i saw a new yorker tweet that those choices can only be found in new york city
But this is just on one block.
Lol, maybe if it was 1980.
Swap Indian for Thai and you just described the food options in my Redneck SoCal city.
Lol, the old “American food is the best because we have every kind of cuisine”. Oh sweety, that’s just every city now.
They also think they have the best of all of the above, they do not. I was there last month the pizza was ass I’ve had better from just about every other state I’ve been to, and they have fuck all for good soul food. Ask a New Yorker for some grits, biscuits and gravy, fried spaghetti, porkchop sandwiches, or collards and watch their fucking head spin. Then ask about barbecue, and when they answer, ask what style that barbecue is and the head twists right off because half of them don’t know Memphis style from Western NC style if they even knew there were different styles at all.
Then they move anywhere and get pissed off that other places aren’t the exact same as NYC, go the fuck back then idiot!
they actually have new york barbecue, but its so sad and pathetic youd mistake it for pig feed
Now that I’ve never heard of, so I assume you’re correct lol.
In fairness to them… BBQ comes from Virginia. But we didn’t really develop our own unique style, so it sort of faded out somewhat. We have BBQ here and it’s usually NC or some other style (I think generally sort-of-TX more than anything, but NOT quite TX). We have some good places and some meh places.
It sucks that we don’t have VA style BBQ, but… eh. I’ll take good food whatever the source. :)
Always cute to watch Americans argue about good food 😶🌫️
I’m a food enthusiast, personally. I love the fusion of cuisines. For example, many European cuisines were able to do amazing things with tomatoes and potatoes. And one of my favorite dishes involves Japanese curry, which went from India to England to Japan.
We have so many tasty food options these days, and it’s because you can get so many more ingredients all over, and people share ideas and “steal” ideas and make them their own and make them better. :)
my dude i live in california our barbecue is grilled.
the grass can always be browner
Oh my god, I’m from central North Carolina, we call New Yorkers “halfbacks” because they move to Florida, hate it there, so they move halfway back, to North Carolina. And then you get “where I’m from, we…”
I have now decided to no longer tolerate that behavior in my presence. Next time I hear a fookin noo yoaka start a sentence about where he’s from, I’m taking hostages.
I grew up in Florida (sorry about us clogging up your mountain towns in the Fall). I share the rage. That accent actually triggers me.
I had a coworker years ago that was from Miami originally. I still remember the bumper sticker on his car that read “Miami. Flee it like a native”
I was back in Florida a couple years back. I’d been away about five years (I now live in Hawai’i) and had to go to Miami for a day. The overwhelming feeling I got while driving in Florida was that everyone wanted to be somewhere else lol
Tell 'em to keep going!
“Where I’m from we-”
“I don’t fucking care. Go back if it’s so great. Now.”
If they wanted it to be a little similar but cheaper they should have moved to fucking NJ.
Tbf I wouldn’t want most of that soul food anywhere. Biscuits and gravy is good, the rest… Not my style. Unsurprised there isn’t a bevy in NYC.
“Ayy if NYC doesn’t have it, fuggheddabbouttid.”
-I’m walkin’ ova heah.
Southern food sucks. I fucking said it.
Bless your heart.
I’m just going to say it: NY style slice pizza is shit. And the thing is New Yorkers know it too. That’s why they fold the slices in half to eat it, they want it to be over as quickly as possible.
Tbh NY “style” pizza is fine, even great from some places, but it is better outside of NYC than inside. They’re not even best at their own style.
So you couldn’t find soul food in New York, and we’re supposed to take you seriously?
Hey I don’t live there, I ask where to go and I’m told “Idk we have a Popeyes.” If you come to my city and ask for good Italian I’m not gonna send you to fucking Domino’s (even though Domino’s is legit better than the last slice I had in NYC, thing had dough made of drywall.)
Do you have clue how many pizza joints are in New York City? For an idea, at night, look at the sky. But not in New York City.
I’ve been to enough of them.
Even if you do manage to find good pizza in nyc the prices are beyond absurd for what you get. I feel like NJ (I live in south and work in central) tends have more consistent quality pizza for much cheaper, although I must admit it’s been a while since I spent anytime in NYC so my info maybe a little out of date.
I have never tried Chicago or Detroit or any of those styles although I’d be interested if anyone knows anywhere in those parts of Jersey that are good at them.
I will also say that the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers I know talk about the almost omnipresent rudeness like it’s a positive thing? Always has baffled me.
Even if you do manage to find good pizza in nyc the prices are beyond absurd for what you get.
I mean most places raised the price from $1 to $1.50 for a plain slice but I wouldn’t call that absurd.
A big slice with toppings is ~$5 by me, which seems reasonable for what’s essentially a meal.
I’m in a small town in southern North Carolina. I’ve got all that plus 2 Peruvian, and 2 Thai, within a 5 minute drive.
We might be neighbors; is one of them a Thai Orchid in the building that used to be the old Pizza Hut, next door to the ABC store in the building that used to be the new Pizza Hut?
That doesn’t sound familiar, sorry. It’s good to know that other small towns down here have just as much variety though!
Plus you guys get Cook Out!
Never got the hype. It’s like a backyard burger at best.
It’s cheap which is nice but… That’s about it. IMHO.
Fair and I don’t disagree. Hush puppies are pretty good and when you’re road-tripping, it’s a nice option to have. My wife went to Wake Forest and introduced me to Cook Out. I’d seen the billboards over the years and never paid it much attention. When I was in grad-school in Northern Virginia, I would drive down to South Florida regularly and Cook Out was great for that run. Better than most fast food on the way (unless I was willing to actually stop for a bit, then I’d hit up Waffle House)
Can definitely respect waffle house. All star special ftw
So after reading through all the valuable comments here it seems like a bodega is a way to say you live in New York while trying to not seem like you’re bragging about it but you actually try to brag about it
As someone who used to travel to NYC a lot, bodegas are a marvel because the supermarkets are crazy expensive. I still can’t believe millions of people live like that.
boodegas, you say, and you’re not a little bit suspicious that it is far too close to the term bottega, italian for general all purpose shop and conmercial activity? like, ‘aprire bottega’ - ‘starting a business’? And i know for a fact that NY is full of Italians.
Nah clearly it’s because Americans are pieces of uncultured swine shit.
Bodega is spanish for bottega
zamn i need to think simpler at times, you’re right
See?! Way too convenient!
How bazaar
Now try asking the Québécois about dépanneurs
That would require me to go to quebec and defile my tongue with french.
Don’t worry, it’s not really French
That’s just a convenience store, in French.
Nothing special about them. It’s just a different name for a regular convenience store.
Huh, I guess you’re right actually. I’m in Québec often and I always thought a dépanneur was specifically a convenience store that sold alcohol but it seems like it does refer to any convenience store
Growing up in Ontario in the 80s and 90s, the fact that you could buy beer and wine at a dépanneur was revolutionary. Can’t get that at Mac’s Milk!
Haha I grew up on the border of Ontario and Québec (ON side) and we’d make trips over to the small town dep on the Quebec side to buy alcohol when we were 18.
Also re: Mac’s Milk, I’m still mad its not called that anymore
What I know from continental French that sounds like a repair shop
