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.
The real magic is I can walk to several open bodegas almost any time of day or night.
Just like a corner store!
It depends where you live. Most places in the US you can't (safely) walk to anywhere, and many places aren't open 24/7.
I experienced that first hand. Colleagues going to their cars to drive 200m down the road to park again and then walk 100m back on themselves to a deli.
It’s baffling how something as simple as a corner shop that can be walked to is a novelty yet here in Europe, it’s the norm everywhere.
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
Lol, maybe if it was 1980.
Lol, the old “American food is the best because we have every kind of cuisine”. Oh sweety, that’s just every city now.
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.
Iirc, is from Dominican's immigrants on New York
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 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
It's all about the relationship you cultivate with the owners and operators of the bodega.
And their Bodega cat.
The most important part of the Bodega!!!
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.
Diaclamer: never been to new york or any store that called itself a bodega.
I think its similar to "all bodegas are corner shops but not all corner shops are bodegas". They have unique features that group them closer to eachother than to most other corner stores. But they are still a corner store.
All poodles are dogs but some people just prefer poodles.
Keep your bodegas. Ain't none of you guys can beat our local gas station/post office//DMV/liquor store/UPS pickup point. We don't even need a special name for it. It's just The Store. Sure it's not within walking distance. But then not even the neighbors are either.
You can fill up your car, get your mail, buy new tabs for that car/boat/UTV/truck or get a fishing/hunting license, buy a 12 pack of beer, send a fax to your parole officer, and buy a gallon of milk with a frozen pizza to either cook there or take it home. It also has 2 tables and 5 chairs to relax at, (no purchase necessary). I know people who do all of that in one visit.
Now try asking the Québécois about dépanneurs
Nothing special about them. It's just a different name for a regular convenience store.
This is just new yorkers being new yorkers - a city full of Emperor's New Clothes.
Speaking of which, did you know in NYC it’s legal for a woman to be topless anywhere a man can be? That’s why we walk around naked all the time. Sorry carry on.
Yeah but Columbus Ohio is the same. In Washington you can be full on naked as long as it's not sexual. Topless legal cities are a minority, but they're not nearly as rare as people think
bodegon deez nuts
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.
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.
How bazaar
OK, but couldn't you wait for 20 more notes to appear before taking the screenshot?
A small shop? What's an incredible concept. Who would have thunk it?
America truly is the land of innovation.
One of the main things I miss from the UK is the cornershops - generally run by an Asian family and you can find almost anything a human could possibly want to buy in there with “multipack, not for individual sale” writ on the side.
Australia used to have milk bars, which were basically the same thing, but they’ve all been closed down or gentrified into delis and brunch cafes.
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."
As a New Yorker... I mean yeah what did you expect? The only real difference is that bodegas typically serve a wide variety of hot foods that are actually good. Other than that its just a small store, many other places have them.
I’m from Texas and I know what a bodegas is. It’s like a gas station with no gas and hot food that depending on the place can either be great or give you ecoli. It’s a gamble.
Also black people and kids get yelled at for any small movement.
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Don't be mean. I promise to do my best to judge that fairly.
