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Hey there, fellow hungry travelers, Mark here with Walter's World, and we're back in New York City
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And today we're going to talk about are the eats of the bodega. And you're like, Mark, what's a bodega
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Well, the bodega is the local corner store when you're here in New York. It doesn't matter if you're in the Bronx, you're in Queens, Brooklyn, or Manhattan, wherever
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Everybody has their local bodega, where they go get their snacks, where they go get their drinks
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where they pick up their toilet paper when they're running low. It is like your local general store or your local corner store you go to
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And it's actually something very important for New Yorkers because since you have all these people here and it's so compact, there's not a lot of room for a big box store to go to the grocery store and stuff
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So that's where you're going to get your essentials like your teepee, your milk, your Arizona teas, your all kinds of stuff
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And there actually are some snacks you want to get when you're there. Those are some foods you'll probably enjoy when you do hop by your local bodega because honestly, the locals will swear by them and they'll swear by their local bodega when they do go there
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OK, so if you go to one, no matter where you are, you'll notice that some inside actually have a like a deli counter where you can get sandwiches
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You can get, you know, breakfast, you know, all kinds of stuff. OK, but if you're looking at sandwiches, you should have at a bodega one in the morning
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Get yourself a bacon, egg and cheese. OK, it's a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a roll
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Oh, my God, it is so good. I mean, you get on a bagel or something else, but on a roll, it is fantastic
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Whenever you watch those TikTok videos about, oh, the best sandwiches in New York, they're always showing these places
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And they show that cheese pull kind of thing. A lot of times that is the bacon, egg and cheese
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You want to have that. That's like a must. Another must sandwich you have to have when you are here is a chopped cheese
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And what it is is just a ground beef and they put onions in it and peppers They cook it on that flat top and they put some cheese on there Then they put it on a hoagie roll with some lettuce and tomato and some mayonnaise or whatever kind of sauce you might want on there But you have that
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Those are the two most important bodega sandwiches you have to have because they're true New York legends
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and the bodegas do a fantastic job with it. But the thing is, there's tons of other sandwiches
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You want to get like a nice ham and cheese sandwich. We're going to get a grilled, whatever, heck
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you can get a tuna fish sandwich there if you want. There's tons of sandwiches you can grab there as well
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Though I will say, if you watch online, you think every sandwich at a bodega is amazing
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No, it's a sandwich place. It's bacon, egg, and cheese, and chopped cheese. They're normal sandwich kind of stuff
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but it's something you want to grab when you're there. But I always feel whenever you go to the bodega
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just ask them, hey, what's your best sandwich? And they'll probably give you a nice recommendation that you will enjoy, okay
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And if you're not sure, get one of your old favorites because you can't go wrong with a sandwich at a bodega
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No, I think another thing that you're going to enjoy when you go there is if you've ever been on a road trip
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anywhere in the U.S., you always have the gas station for your snacks, the bodegas have it all
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From your goldfish to your hostess to your honey buns. Yes, getting a honey bun
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Those kind of treats you're going to have there. Your candies and stuff. They have all those things
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You're going to get that when you're there. But sometimes you got to use a honey bun in your sandwiches
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Some of them. I've seen these too. And you're like, that seems a bit excessive. But you know what? The bodega, nothing's excessive
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It's what you can get when you're there. And one of the things is some people feel that, oh, the bodega stuff, it's just sandwiches
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They don't have anything else for people that don't want a sandwich. Actually, some of the bodegas will actually have like a salad bar or a pasta bar
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or have meat in there. So you can actually do like kind of a buffet thing where you pay by weight and you can do that
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Cause you know, if you're here late at night and these are open late like what I want to get I don want any more sandwich I want something else You can go through that little buffet line fill it up and take it back to your hotel No problem And Jocelyn she like I can do any more pizza I don want any hot dogs I don want any of those things
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She went through the, you know, the bodega little, you know, buffet thing. And you're fine with that
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I think it's cool about the bodegas. It's not just the sandwiches and the salad bar. There's also, like, you might see desserts there
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little snacks there. Like, you want to get a cannoli, you can grab one of those. You might see cakes
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You might see, ah, New York cheesecake and grab a slice when you're there. But also you might see some international fare
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You know, maybe you want to get a Jamaican beef patty. It's kind of like a hand pie with like spicy with the ground beef in there and stuff
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It's actually really good. You can do that. And there's a lot of international things that can pop up in there
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So do be aware of that. OK, so you can eat well when you're in the bodega. You know, and if you're not into the hand pies, like the Jamaican beef patties, you can go sometimes have empanadas when you're there
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I'm a big empanada fan. Of course, bagels. You want to get your bagels and your cream cheese
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You can get those. But there's just lots of different things you can get when you're there. And one of the go-to things you're going to have in the morning
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aside from that bacon, egg, and cheese, is your bodega might be your local coffee shop
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Yes, you can find the Starbucks and all those things all around. But your bodega, they'll hook you up with a good cup of joe
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And speaking of breakfast stuff, those flat tops that they make those great sandwiches on
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also they might make eggs for you. They may make omelets for you. They may make pancakes for you
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the breakfast platters for you. That's the thing is to kind of bring down the price
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when you're eating in New York City. The bodegas can really help. And sometimes your hotel doesn't have breakfast
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So why pay or they make you pay 35 bucks for breakfast? Hit the bodega
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You eat way better for that price. Or actually for a lot less than that price
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Another thing I think is important when you think about the bodegas. Also realize that is your go to kind of stock up spot for if you want to get some drinks Yeah your drinks there your snacks like i said but you have those well i think another thing is important to mention is the bodegas a lot of times we have a few tables there so you can actually eat there
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so instead of walking around and and bumping into people and like getting your bacon it can chew all over your face or whatever you can actually just eat there and just have a little
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bit of time to kind of get out of the craziness and have a drink also if you want to have a beer if you grab a beer when you're there you're going to have it when you're there so that's a nice thing
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too. But that's one of those things is when you go to a bodega here in New York, it's not just a
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mini market. It's not just a gas station food kind of thing. It's actually part of the community
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Like your friends that live here, you know where they get their Christmas trees? At their local
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bodega. You know where they meet the locals and their friends when they're there? At the bodega. When they walk in, their people at the bodega know them and they know them too. And so it's more of a
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very much a community thing. That's why New Yorkers are so big about their bodegas and are very much
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my bodega is the best so i care about my bodega person my bodega man if you watch snl they'll talk
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about the bodega man and stuff there's songs about it because it is really a part of the city so just
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go in and grab some when you are there but i will tell you when you go there someone has limits like
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you have to spend a certain amount of money to use your credit card so i have cash but if you're
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going to be buying a few things the card will be fine and a lot of might have an atm in there as
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well so you need to get cash for that you'll be okay but yeah bodegas they're good for some quick
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bites to eat but also good to get to know a little bit more about new york culture new york people
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because the bodega and the bodega whole culture is really New York City
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And that's what I love about it. So let me know what you like to get when you go to the bodega. I am a chopped cheese guy myself
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That is my go-to. Bacon and cheese is also awesome in the morning. But during the day, chopped cheese is the way to go
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Anyway, I wish you all the best. I'll say bye from here in New York City
