Two years after watching Bodega bloom with a loyal following in the Sunnyside neighborhood, Cliff Blauvelt says he “knew we had something special, and I wanted to keep growing this.”
His wife and co-owner, Cara, was apprehensive at first about a second location, but as he tells the story, “I said, ‘Do you want to work harder now or when we’re 50?’”
They decided to put in the blood, sweat and tears now. The couple will open Bodega’s second restaurant on the ground floor of Novel RiNo, a new luxury apartment building at 1350 40th St., in the fall. The Blauvelts, who live five blocks away from the new location, “love the idea of feeding our neighborhood,” Cliff said.
Bodega will join Magna Kainan, an upcoming Filipino restaurant from James Beard-nominated chef Carlo Lamagna, and Corvus Coffee in the 12-story, 483-unit complex.
Known for its highly craveable breakfast sandwiches, burritos and burgers, Bodega first opened at 2651 W. 38th Ave. in 2022. Cliff grew up in Sunnyside and wanted to offer the neighborhood an easy spot for breakfast and lunch, where the menu is simple but high quality, and the space is playful not pretentious.
Customers flock to the fast-casual brunch restaurant on weekends for The Basic breakfast sandwich with eggs, bacon, hash browns and American cheese on a poppy seed kaiser roll, or a Mississippi Gyro with braised beef and shoestring fries on a baguette for lunch on weekdays.
The restaurant usually does about 500 covers a day on the weekends, especially after now, after a TikTok of the restaurant went viral, Cliff said. Bodega boasts 15,000 followers on Instagram, as well. “The volume alone is really shocking to say the least, and it just keeps getting busier and busier. We don’t even have to pay for marketing.”
Bodega’s 70-seat location in RiNo will have a similar setup to the original, with one register for customers to line up and order before claiming a table. Cliff said he’s toying with the idea of combining the lunch and breakfast menus to create one, all-day brunch menu throughout the entire week. He also wants to slowly introduce happy hour with craft cocktails and $10 sandwiches and expand hours to 6 p.m.
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