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A bacon, egg and cheese is a no-frills sandwich, cut in half and wrapped in wax paper and foil. It is ubiquitous, like bagels, pizza and pastrami on rye. But unlike those New York City staples, no single establishment crowns itself king of the bacon, egg and cheese. Ask any New Yorker where to get one and they are likely to tell you to just go to the nearest bodega.
At El Vacilon, the cook, Solano De Los Santos, fires up the flattop grill not long after the sun comes up, and soon neighborhood regulars, from schoolchildren to hospital workers, roll in. On a busy day, Mr. De Los Santos will make up to 60 bacon, egg and cheeses before lunch.
“They say it’s the sandwich of New York,” said Mr. De Los Santos, 35, the store’s cook for the past nine years.
The Melos handle the orders at the front of the store and holler them to Mr. De Los Santos. When it is a bacon, egg and cheese, the couple relays it to him with shorthand they devised: bandera, or “flag” in Spanish, because the sandwich represents the city and bodega culture.
There are roughly 15,000 bodegas in New York City, according to United Bodegas of America, an association of store owners. Most are just a few hundred square feet, often on a street corner, and serve as both a convenience store and a deli, serving other local classics like the chopped cheese.
It is a challenging business, even more so today.
Because of their cramped size and limited storage, bodegas cannot buy in bulk at a discount like bigger grocery stores can. El Vacilon caters to customers who want items in a hurry — like beer, the store’s top seller, but also canned food, cleaning supplies and snacks. Every so often, a customer asks the Melos why they charge more than the supermarket across the street.
