Bodega (store)

A man walks into a corner bodega late at night

A bodega is a small owner-operated convenience store serving hot and prepared food, often open late hours and typically with ethnic market influences.[1][2][3] The NYC Department of Health defines a bodega as any store of sufficient size "that sells milk, meat or eggs but is not a specialty store (bakery, butcher, chocolate shop, etc) and doesn't have more than two cash registers".[4] Most famously located on New York City's street corners and associated with immigrant communities such as the Puerto Rican community and the Dominican community, they are renowned for their convivial culture and colorful character.[5] As of 2020, there were an estimated 13,000 bodegas across the city.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Untapped was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gothamist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "New York City Bodegas And The Generations Who Love Them". NPR. March 10, 2017. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  4. ^ Bel, Pierina Pighi. "Bodegas: The small corner shops that run NYC". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  5. ^ Randle, Aaron (22 February 2020). "Inside the New York City Bodegas Going Viral on TikTok". New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  6. ^ "New York readies to say goodbye to a staple of city life: plastic shopping bags". New York Daily News. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.