Food and desire in Carroll Gardens

There are certain naming conventions for bodegas. Initials are popular (“L&L Grocery Deli”); so are street numbers (“513 Deli & Grill”). Many bodega names pay tribute to the owners’ city or region of origin (witness the Punjab and Himalayan groceries in Kensington, or the Pueblas, Cholulas and Chinantlas scattered across the borough). In gentrified neighborhoods, bodegas often incorporate “gourmet,” “organic,” or “fresh” into their signage – even as their shelves overflow with Doritos and Red Bull.

This post pays tribute to bodegas that break with convention, adopting names that are especially evocative, sweet, retro or just plain odd.

A sampling follows.

There is nothing particularly hip about the Hipster Deli on 7th Av in Park Slope (thank goodness)

News stands were the orginal bodegas (this one is deep in South Brooklyn, by the F station on Av U)

We should all aspire to the spirit of inclusion displayed by this bodega on Gravesend Neck road

On Church Av in Kensington – it’s not the name so much as the style