Bodega Has a New Name: The Popular Sunnyside Spot Is Now Odie B's

"It was heartbreaking. I thought everything in my world that I ever worked for was being taken from me," says Cliff Blauvelt, a longtime hospitality pro who opened his first restaurant, Bodega, at 2651 West 38th Avenue in 2022.

The Sunnyside sandwich shop was a buzzy addition to the scene, thanks to its top-notch breakfast game, creative lunch specials and killer burger. But about two months ago, Blauvelt received a cease-and-desist letter from the group that owns a restaurant called La Bodega Tapas & Lounge in Kansas City, Missouri. "They've been open for 25 years, and they've had the trademark on the word 'bodega' for 25 years," he explains. "I was worried. I was scared."

When he was opening Bodega, "I had asked my branding people, should we get this trademarked?" Blauvelt recalls. But they advised him that 'bodega' wasn't a name that could be trademarked. "So I was like, yeah, they're right, they know what they're talking about. This was my first time doing all of that stuff."

After the cease-and-desist letter arrived, his attorney advised Blauvelt that the best course of action would be to change the name of his restaurant — not a simple swap. "I didn't like that response, so I got a second lawyer, and he said the same thing," he says.
So Blauvelt talked to the Kansas City group. La Bodega "wanted a licensing fee if we wanted to continue to use the name," he adds. "It was a 2 percent licensing agreement of total sales. I was like, I can't do that. I'm a brand-new restaurant. I've only been open for a year and a half. I've got a loan to pay off still. I put up my house for collateral. I can't do that."

Blauvelt tried to negotiate, but La Bodega wouldn't budge, and "it really fucked me up," he notes. "I was staying up all night, reading a million books. It was like, we have this amazing thing, and it's being taken from me."

He started researching patent law but ultimately decided, "I can't do this. We can't afford it," Blauvelt says. "So the next thing is the rename, right? What do you do? How do you rename something that already has a strong identity?"

Many ideas for a new name were tossed around. Ultimately, Blauvelt landed on one that stuck: Odie B's. "It's trademark-able. I'm doing my due diligence now," he says.

The new name is in part an homage to the original name. "It's like old Denver bodega, the 'b' stays — and 'b' has been running through everything. My LLC is Bougie Buffalo, my last name starts with a B," Blauvelt explains. "It's hip-hop. It's a little bit of Wu-Tang."
Another bonus: Since Bodega opened, several other restaurants with the word "bodega" in the name have debuted in the metro area, so the new name is a fresh start and a chance to remove the confusion some customers had regarding the various "bodega"s being related to each other. "This creates brand protection. We can also grow. I'm also not having to pay someone. So in the long run, it's worthwhile. Was it a shitty lesson? Yeah. It was horrible."

But the change is coming at an exciting time for Blauvelt's growing business: It's set to open a second location in the Novel RiNo building this fall. "We're also gonna launch a food trailer," he notes. "That'll be branded Odie B's, and we're going to try to do pop-ups and find a home over in the neighborhood where the new location is going to be so we can really start trying to get the brand recognition of the new name over there, but also so we can start feeding people so they know exactly what we're doing."

While the name change was an unexpected challenge, "we're just going to have fun with it," Blauvelt concludes. "We're just going to do what we do and keep rolling. We're doing good shit, people are into it, so we're not going to stop."

Odie B's is located at 2651 West 38th Avenue and is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit odie-bs.com or follow it on Instagram @odie.bs.