The corner bodega's hot sauce selection vs. the grocery store chain

Used to get my hot sauce at the big supermarket on Broadway. Overwhelming wall of bottles. Tried maybe 20 of them over a year. All mediocre. Last month stopped into that bodega on 43rd for a sandwich. Guy behind the counter pointed me to a dusty shelf with maybe 8 bottles. Picked a homemade habanero from a local guy in Queens. $5. Best hot sauce I ever had. Now I skip the chain completely. What small shops near you have hidden gems?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper_burns1d ago

Isn't variety the whole point of a big store though?

simon71712h ago

Wait, eight bottles total and one of them just happened to be a homemade habanero from a local guy in Queens? That's insane luck. That's way more personal than a giant wall of mass-produced stuff you'll never remember.