Out with the Old.......Welcome La Bodega

A new restaurant certainly has it's honeymoon when they first open.

When JP Wine Bar closed at 119th people some wondered aloud if a wine bar could make it in that area. The question should have been can a poorly run wine bar make it in that area? Nope. Even a good idea poorly executed will fail in this day and age......especially a restaurant. So from the ashes of JP Wine Bar comes the second location of La Bodega.

We went with some friends and it was slammed. Quite the place to be.

I'll keep it brief today. The food was just as great as the city. The wines were a great mix of names you know and some you don't at a good variety of price points. Old guy in the red corvette can buy his trophy wine or you can get a cool, hip Granacha from Spain for less than $40. It was too cold for me to drink sangria but several were and looked appetizing for a summer day to come. We ate our way through 4 or 5 of the hot tapas and they all were very good. Meatballs in cream sauce, Goat cheese balls, Ahi Tuna in Olive Tapenade, Breaded Artichoke hearts wrapped in bacon, grilled beef tenderloin in bleu cheese were all very good and brought as they were ready so we had a constant stream of warm food. Potatoes in red sauce reminded me very much of 3 AM in Madrid at a bar near the Plaza Mayor.

The decor hasn't changed enough to make you forget JP Wine Bar which is fine. It was a beautiful build out. They are smarter about the use of the space and it seems to seat quite a few more people.

Don't think about walking in on a weekend right now......they are quite busy.....unless you don't mind hanging out at the bar for a couple hours. In a couple months things should get reasonable as far as access.

These are good operators with a track record. Tapas will be in SOJOCO for awhile. Once this honeymoon is over we will still be in love with La Bodega South.