Author Archives: GABRIELLA GONZALEZ

One of my favorite local hangout spots is a diner in Brooklyn called Bridgeview. This place is the definition of “feels like home”. I discovered this gem when I was around 14 years old. I was a theatre kid and after our final performance we had this tradition of going to dinner as a cast. The original diner we had always gone to closed and we found this one. That is my first memory in that diner. I am now almost 19 and have become a regular as I’ve grown. My best friend and I go there quite often, it’s our comfort place. We can sit and talk and talk and talk for hours at those booths as I order my chocolate chip pancakes and she, a cheeseburger as well as the occasional waffle fries we share. Bridgeview was the first place our other friend Danny hung out with us for the first time, and although he is away at college now, we still go with him anytime he’s home. My mom, dad, brother and I have all gone there for breakfast a couple times, had dinner with my aunt there and I have even gone on a date at the diner. It’s a staple to my teenage years, sitting amongst the same, but much older people each time I go. The dinner is only fully packed on Saturday mornings, there you will find families out to breakfast. However, the other 6 days out of the week are filled with seniors sipping their coffee and reading the newspapers they have out front.

What is your reaction to the article? What aspects of the dining experience at Sarapes are most appealing to you? Which images or quotes stood out most? Would you ever want to dine at Sarapes?

Just reading this article made me want to take the drive and eat at Sarapes. The pictures made it feel so homey and welcoming. The inside seems to look like an at home kitchen which adds to it, along with the genuine smiles. My favorite picture is the one where a man and women are dancing in what seems to be the middle of the restaurant as well as singing karaoke.

Adrian Martinez Chavez, the photographer whose grandparents started the restaurant, said, “Knowing that my family has provided food for the community for so long and people depend on it and love it, it is so special to me.” How do local restaurants, or food in general, bring your community together?

Local restaurants can be a staple to both big and small towns/cities. There are usually regulars who go often and get to know each other as well as the staff. These places assist residents in forming connections.

If you were asked by The Times to write an article about your favorite local hangout, what would be your headline? What photographs would you include? Whom would you interview?

If The Times asked me to write an article about Bridgeview Diner, the headline would be “A Bay Ridge Gem”, I would include pictures of the old couples sitting in their booths, the hostess who is always there to greet you, the bar stools by the cornbread and the families who go there for birthdays. I would interview the regulars who always sit at the same booths, the girl working the register to pay your bill, the hostess, and the families that go there.