Episode 476: It's only a bodega if it's owned and operated by a Puerto Rican or Dominican
Summary
A straphanger raised in his dad's bodega drops some serious knowledge on Kareem: it's only a bodega if it's owned and operated by a Puerto Rican or Dominican. Everything else? Korean delis, Punjabi convenience stores, and yes, Yemeni hookah delis. The rider, who's working on a bodega documentary and whose uncle was president of the Bodega Association, traces the history from the Spanish-American War through waves of immigration. Puerto Ricans ran the original bodegas, sold to Dominicans, who then sold to Yemenis. The word means "warehouse" in Spanish. He loves that the name's kept alive even if the ownership changed. Just don't call it what it's not.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? It's only a bodega if it's owned and operated by a Puerto Rican or Dominican. 100% agree. It's unfortunate for my brothers. Listen, shout out to all the Yemen habibis. Asalamaikum kefikam. Alhamdulillah. Uh, I love y'all. Akiway, all that, but you know those are hookah delis.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Buddy, that sounds a little stereotypical. They literally sell hookas in the window.
That's true. Um, and uh, I mean, you know, you think about it, the Koreans have produce stands, right? So, what are the Korean delis called? Korean delis.
Korean delis, right? The Punjabis and the Indians own convenience stores and the Yemenis have hookah delis. So, bodega is only exclusively for Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Yes. 'Cause even if a Mexican person owns a deli, there you go.
Where does the word bodega come from? It means warehouse in Spanish. Um, and if you think about to the mid-1900s in New York, you had Polish delis, Jewish delis, Italian delis. Uh, bodegas were a Puerto Rican staple in New York City since they came here since the 1900s in the Spanish-American War. After that, most of the Puerto Ricans sold their bodegas to Dominicans, who was the second wave of Latin American immigrants from the Caribbean. And uh, yeah, after that, um, a lot of the Dominicans left and sold their delis to Yemen. And the Yemeni uh, uh, are doing a great job. And listen, I love the fact that there called bodegas. They're keeping the name alive, you know, like there's not that many bodegas anymore, right? There's not that many Puerto Rican, Dominican bodegas. And so I don't mind that they call themselves bodega, but it's technically not a bodega.
How do you know so much about bodegas? I was born and raised in my dad's bodega. My mom and my dad met in their uh his her grandfather's bodega. My uncle at one point was the president of the Bodega Association. And I'm actually working on a documentary about bodegas as well.
All right. Well, uh you learn something new every day, people.