The Bodega

This place has interesting and well-​prepared sandwiches. I wish the service was a little better. It might serve them well to hire a couple of sweet folks to take orders and let the owner stay in the back.

A decent spot for lunch.
I’ve been to The Bodega several times and have mostly enjoyed my experiences. I typically get a pork sandwich with spicy cheese added to it. Their sandwiches are extremely tasty and come with a side of your choosing (potato salad, coleslaw, etc.). They also have a large selection of craft brews.
My beef with the place: a portion of the market is stocked with items from supermarkets and marked up (like the SimplyNature brand of organic food, which is solely distributed by Aldi), the sandwiches are too small for the $ 8 – 10 price point, you can get fresher and bigger sandwiches for the same price a block down at Mulberry St. Also, if you say ‘thank you very much’ to the owner, she will respond in a very sarcastic tone ‘YOU’RE WELCOME VERY MUCH.’ Lady, I get you’re trying to be cute and all but please knock that off.
Other than all of that, The Bodega is an above-​average place to eat. A few tweaks here and there (maybe bigger servings) and they could be a real force on the Huntington food scene.

The décor was great. I love the idea behind the place, and what (I hope) they’re striving for. But it’s so poorly executed that I have no desire to eat there again.
The first time we went, there were a couple of people sitting at a table by the window, but no one at the counter, so we weren’t sure if we were supposed to order at the register, seat ourselves, etc., since there weren’t any signs. We stood there for a moment, waiting for someone to show up, and eventually just sort of wandered around trying to figure out the market situation. The «market» area is just generic shelving with random items laying on them (a few packages of poptarts, some ramen, etc.). I felt awkward as soon as we stepped back there because it’s the same area where the dishes are washed and you can see into the kitchen area. I immediately thought we’d made a huge mistake and were actually walking into their work space. (Which, we had, but that’s just how it is.)
So we went back and stood around at the front some more, and, after nothing happened, sat down. Turns out the guys sitting by the window who were staring at us the entire time were the staff. They yelled over to us asking if we wanted anything after we’d been sitting for a few minutes.
The food prices were higher than I was comfortable paying for what I got. Normal white bread, sliced ham, and a piece of cheese? Nothing special. Oh, and the side was a tiny cup (maybe 2oz) of coleslaw. My sandwich, the tomato mozzarella, was still cold on the inside. Again, on plain white bread. People throw around the phrase, «I could make a better sandwich at home for $ 3,» a lot, but it is absolutely true in this situation. The length of time it took to prepare the simple sandwiches we ordered was confusingly long.
I sincerely hope the service, quality, and vision even out, because I really want to like this place.

The overall idea of The Bodega is exciting purveying unique ingredients, beers, wines. I’ve had a few items on the menu which have been delicious, however, like many others, the prices need to parallel with the location.

Nice place, simple but good food, friendly staff. I encourage you to try their Cuban with a glass of wine.

This place is such a refreshing change from everyday boring sandwiches! The bodega and staff are still top notch. I’ve learned to trust the chefs and their choices of selections for the sandwiches they offer and not make substitutions. (There’s a really good reason that fig jam is on #3. And the apple too. The chefs know their flavor profiles and my taste buds now appreciate that.)
It’s fun to share different sandwiches when there are two or more of us dining together and a great way to try something I might not have ordered.
Make your tastebuds happy with a thanksgiving sandwich and a salted caramel Italian soda. YUM!

The Bodega has a charming atmosphere and the wait staff is friendly. I can tell they use fresh ingredients, and their beer selection is extensive too, i love that! I’ll be coming back for more!

Tasty sandwiches & salads at a reasonable price. The order taking cashier did get defensive and a little rude when asked for a courtesy ice water. She became curt & a little irate telling us that they had no ice machine, had to buy ice and pay for cups, so we would have to pay $ 1 each for tap water. We replied, «No thank you.» We did enjoy the Cuban Sandwich & a deconstructed Gyro sandwich they call a Greek Nacho. Very delicious.

Love love love The Bodega! Their food is delicious and everything is made from scratch. The inside is an awesome atmosphere with craft beer that is decently priced. It’s totally worth it to come here and get fresh, great food. Great local business!

Love love this place! there is a cute unique grocery store in the back that had things like Gorgonzola crackers and watermelon cupcake mix. Sandwiches were amazing very good and unique. I had the chicken and feta and my boyfriend had the buffalo chicken and we both agreed they were excellent sandwiches. Lots of eclectic beers and drinks, we will be back

A few things to note about The Bodega, their food is delicious; the ambiance is lovely; and the amount of unique options they offer for groceries, beer, wine, etc are vast and desperately needed in the Huntington area.
However, they are overpriced on both the grocery side and café side by around 20%. For one, people in the Huntington area don’t necessarily have a lot of income to spend on quality food, which is unfortunate, but even if The Bodega was located in a larger city it would still be considered overpriced. They need to have more aggressively competitive pricing, period. It’s like they are driving to the nearest Trader Joe’s, buying at full price, then tacking overhead on top of it.
And I wouldn’t harp about pricing so much if I didn’t want a place like this to succeed, again, it is desperately needed in Huntington and I truly love what it offers. But when you’re overpriced AND you serve sides in super small portions (they’re served in those tiny plastic sauce cups) AND you make me buy bottles of water rather than serving free cups (number one pet peeve anywhere. seriously it costs your business maybe 4 cents to provide patrons with a cup and essentially free tap water) you just seem cheap or that you’re doing a poor job of negotiating for more aggressive wholesale prices.
Again, everything they offer whether it be café or grocery is top notch and varied, but they really have to address the pricing issue.

This café looks very cute, and I was excited to try it, but when I asked a question about one of their sandwiches the woman at the register was very rude. I’m not a meat-​eater, and there seemed to only be one ‘hot sandwich’ that didn’t have meat (a mozzarella and tomato) but I didn’t want to eat a pound of cheese either. When I asked how much cheese (how is this a difficult question?) she replied. «Uh. Enough to cover the bread.» Ok. Well that’s not really very helpful but thanks. Especially since she turned out to be the owner.
Next I tried to use a coupon from Entertainment Book and she accused me of having a counterfeit coupon. Allllright. Way to win over a new customer. Brilliant.
I canceled my order and left. I won’t be back. I’m sad about this because it looked cute and I like supporting local businesses.
Other note– the prices are a bit high (higher than Panera), and they don’t offer tap water.
There’s also a little grocery store in the back that has marked up items from Trader Joe’s and Aldi’s.

Unique, really tasty sandwich options! A little pricey but a great stop for lunch right downtown.