Get The Best Bacon, Egg, And Cheese At The Bodega When You Know These 2 Ordering Tips

The bodega-style bacon, egg, and cheese has long since broken containment from New York, the city it will forever be associated with. Still, there are some things New Yorkers know about ordering this breakfast sandwich that you might not. To get the absolute best bacon, egg, and cheese from a bodega, you should know the two classic ways it can be ordered, and what these orders mean.

If you're a newcomer to bodega breakfasts in New York or New Jersey, you may be baffled by other customers' use of seemingly mysterious acronyms — "BEC SP" and "BEC SPK." "BEC", as you might guess, stands for "bacon, egg, and cheese." Though there are many variations, this will typically be a bread roll or bagel sandwich of crispy bacon, melted American cheese, and fried, scrambled, or "bodega-style" eggs, which will be griddled and partially scrambled. "SP" means "salt and pepper", while "SPK" indicates salt, pepper, and ketchup.  

In addition to knowing this lingo, there are a few other rules for ordering a BEC from a bodega. Know what your order is before you reach the counter, have your money ready, and allow the cook preparing your sandwich to work without interruption. Do all this, and you will hopefully be greeted with a sandwich so unctuous and delicious you will understand why the bacon, egg, and cheese has become a historic New York icon.

As with the vexed question of whether ketchup should go on eggs, there are fierce partisans for both SP and SPK. On a Reddit thread devoted to the debate, one commenter wrote: "I'm BECSP. Absolutely no ketchup for me, hard pass. No quicker way to ruin my morning than to find ketchup on my BEC." 

Next to ketchup, hot sauce is one of the most common condiments used on a BEC. One devotee on Reddit argued that "BECSPK is the standard, but BECSPHS is superior." Another Redditor proposed a further option: "#TEAM BECSPM That's right, mayo. Rich on rich on rich on rich." Some even favor a BEC with jelly, though purists have disputed the authenticity of this choice. Bear in mind that not every bodega may offer any modifications beyond the classic SP and SPK.

If you are in New York, the BECs at Don Juan Deli & Grocery on the Lower East Side and the O.H.S. Mini Market in Williamsburg were both divine enough to land on our list of the best bodega sandwiches in NYC. If you're making your own BEC at home, you can elevate your breakfast sandwich with a bacon weave – whether you add ketchup, however, is entirely up to you.