The Bodega at Felice

Sadly, my first visit to Bodega will also likely be my last. We were greeted by a sign proclaiming «Going out of business! 40% off all groceries, 15% off beer & wine.»
Since it’s unlikely that Louisvillians will be able to enjoy the excellent lunch entrees we tasted and the delicious mascarpone mixed berry cake, or the impressive selection (even in its picked-​over state) of groceries and alochol, suffice it to say that downtown Louisville is losing a gem.

A group of friends and I came here on Friday night in the midst of the Trolley Hop night and what appeared to be an open mic night inside. We were really just looking for somewhere to have some drinks and chill while we waited for our pushed back reservation at Rye to come about (about 3.5 hours later than we made it for… but that’s another story).
I was already partially familiar with Bodega. And it really worked for what we wanted. We bought a couple six packs of beer and cider and a couple bottles of wine from the grocery area, were provided with cups and bottle openers and we took ourselves outside to the courtyard-​y area to chat and enjoy.
A couple of us also ordered some food to tide us over until our VERY late dinner. And I was particularly surprised at how delicious the fish tacos were! Like… really really good. Presentation was nice as well.
And I must say, the service was quick and pleasant, the employees were helpful and patient. This is important to note considering the place was PACKED inside, and shortly thereafter outside as well, with an event going on and a lot of people coming and going in and out. I was impressed!

My boyfriend and I wandered in here the other day by accdient. We were looking for another place, got frustrated becuase we couldn’t find it, so tried the Bodega instead. Such a great location on Market Street and a beautiful building with an extensive patio area and rooftop seating. It was a cold day and we both decided on the special of the tomato basil soup with sourdough grilled cheeses. I have never had more delicious tomato soup. It is perfectly creamy with a little kick of spice, perfect for dipping with your sandwhich. I would like to come back here and shop the little gourmet grocery and liquor store. It looked like they had a pretty varied collection of wines and beers. I would also like to sit on their patio when it’s warmer.

Dear Bodega
Are you a Coffee House? Are you a bar? Are you a gift shop? Or are you a restaurant?
I really had high hopes for the Bodega. The building is beautiful, it looks like a building that you would find in a Spanish Villa. But that was the best part of our visit.
When you enter the Bodega there is a chalkboard that lists the day’s specials. They had a interesting looking Breakfast special that included Hash Browns and Mini Ham Sandwiches. The Bread and ham were bone dry and the sandwiches were the size of a quarter. The hash browns were wet and goopy with very little flavor. I can’t tell how disappointed I was at the Bodega’s sorry-​ass attempt at a Breakfast.
The Bodega should take this as constructive criticism. You have a beautiful venue, but you really need to work on the food that you serve. I would have been embarrassed to serve that stuff to a guest in my home. If you get your act together, I would be happy to give you a second chance.

The Bodega is a small market and restaurant located within the Felice Winery. Honestly I would never have known about it had I not bought a Groupon for it. The Groupon stated that they served breakfast and lunch, so on a chilly weekend morning we went to see what it was all about.
First off the building is beautiful. Grapevines grow all along the side of the building, and soften the harshness of what would normally be a rather industrial looking area. The painted stucco and the metal furniture is inviting, the tiny market inside offers everything from beer, to grits, to laundry detergent.
The restaurant part looks very much like a coffee house, with a small counter, tiny bistro tables and a few overstuffed chairs. The menu was virtually nonexistent for breakfast (three choices, all heavy and carb-​loaded, like pancakes and biscuits), so I ordered a panini at 9:30 in the morning. It sounded promising — eggplant, artichokes and cheese, but the outcome was so disappointing.
The bread was lovely and crisp, but hidden between were small, dark and slimy eggplant pieces, 3 tiny artichoke leaves (leaves! not even a whole heart), 2 teaspoons of some kind of cheese (mozzarella I assume, but impossible to know), and what I think was black olive tapenade. Even though the tapenade was stingily applied, it still packed a wallop with a strong balsamic vinegar taste. This, plus the sort of mushroomy –tasting eggplant was the only thing you could taste. The dish also came with a tortellini salad, which was about a ¼ cup’s worth. What should have been an amazing mix of the tortellini, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, only ended up tasting old, dry and too heavily coated in oil.
The saving grace was the coffee, which was strong, rich and delicious. So good we each took a cup to go. After the sadness that was the meal, it was nice to have one bright spot.
I hope they address these issues with the food, because if they do, it would be a charming place to go and hang out on a Saturday morning.

Fiancé and I stopped by for lunch today. Were actually thinking about using this as a rehearsal dinner venue. It took 20 minutes to get our two sandwiches and the server never spoke a word to us. In fact when I asked her about the drink menu, hoping to get some information on the wines at the vineyard, she just gestured to the blackboard in the back with coffee options from Java Brewing. We had to pay after we ate which seems odd for a place which you order off the wall — and it was especially frustrating to pay after picking at an inedible lunch.
The boytoy had the muffaletta with a cup of chicken and dumpling soup. Soup was mediocre at best, undersalted/​seasoned and tasted like Panera’s chicken noodle only not quite as good — which is not saying much, clearly. Muffaletta was on stale ciabatta bread with poor quality, rubbery lunch meat and thin cheese. I had the tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto panini. Proscuitto was cheap domestic lot — tasted more akin to canadian bacon than real proscuitto and should really have not been a part of a $ 9 sandwich. Mozzarella was not fresh and was rubbery and tasteless. Olive salad as a side was oily with low quality olives. Total rip off for the price ($ 22 for two). Will not be coming back and will definitely not be spending the big rehearsal dinner bucks there. Such a shame because the place is really adorable and the outdoor patio was quite charming, but cheap lunch meat at that price is a deal breaker.

Very interesting place. Combination market, deli and coffee bar nestled behind the Felice Vineyard. Excellent service. Menu offers a variety of Itialian-​esque dishes (Paninis, pizzas, muffaletta, etc.)
Friends had the bisque and reported it was excellent. I had the pepperoni pizza, which is served real Italian style — thin crust, lots of cheese and yummy sauce. They allowed me to get a bottle of Pepsi product from the market as opposed to the Coke product taps — nice. The market had the widest selection of microbrews and niche beers I’ve seen in one place in a while.
Outdoor seating by the vineyard space for Felice make it a great atmosphere for a nice day lunch or evening meal with wine, etc.
It’s been there for three years and none seems to know about it. I do now and will go back. Excellent place.

My friend and I came to Felice on a Friday night only to discover it had been changed to Saturday night. The owners/​managers of the Bodega welcomed us to sample some cheeses, wine and beer. We enjoyed the unusually warm evening on the patio only to discover that we had kept them past closing by 45 minutes! The guys never said a word to us about it and let me browse/​purchase a few items to bring home to Georgia. This was such a wonderful experience, the food and drinks were great and the guys being so hospitable to let us linger were fabulous!