Bodega Latina [74]
“Restaurant” is occasionally a loose term around these parts. It doesn’t always mean waitresses or even locations whose primary purpose is serving prepared food. In the case of Bodega Latina, from the outside and in, it appears to be a exactly as billed. Scratch the surface though and there is a delectable lunch time treat inside.
Nestled beyond the rows of dried peppers, fresh produce and international calling card advertisements sits a cafe. Raised above the convenience store proper by a few feet and lit a few watts dimmer. Approaching felt awkward, like we had never ordered food before. The menus (two of them) were in Spanish only and the lady taking our order spoke enough English, but not English. When our orders were finally placed, I found a seat and watched as Ethan danced back and forth trying to deduce when we should pay. Finally settling on “after” we sat and waited for our meals as the cafe filled to near capacity.
Ethan had ordered 3 pork tacos and a side of pupusas. What arrived was 3 pork tacos (seen above) sans pupusas. For me it was steak fajitas with extra beans, no rice. It came with beans and rice (not the end of the world). Normally I’d chalk this up to shoddy service and go on to tell you all the others reasons you should avoid this place. Not today friend. You should go to Bodega Latina despite the difficulty in communicating your order. Throw out what you would like or want. For us we got close enough and it was amazing. The best Latin American cuisine I’ve had in Richmond hands down. Barely squeaking by Habanero and miles apart from the standard Tex-Mex that dominate the river city.
Lunch topics: Diablo 3
