Photography by Kathy Tran
Photography by Kathy Tran
Photography by Kathy Tran
Drawing on her years of culinary experience and a deep connection to her community, Skye McDaniel is delivering fresh, customizable dishes at La Bodega that have become a local favorite in Oak Cliff.
McDaniel was inspired by a trip to Spain. Her travel companion was a picky eater and developed a habit of ordering a simple dinner — rotisserie chicken and fries — every night from a corner shop near their lodging in Sevilla.
La Bodega opened in 2022 with a concept geared to neighbors who want to pick up weeknight meals for their families. Lunch is served on Friday and dinner on Sunday, but the shop is closed Saturday.
McDaniel has been in the industry since she was 14, and she had her first big kitchen job at Bolsa. She later worked at an underground restaurant called Frank in Deep Ellum run by three Master Chef finalists.
Then, the pandemic hit, and she decided that if she was going to go back to the industry, she would start her own place.
Javier García del Moral, who owns the adjacent Sketches of Spain and the Wild Detectives, was originally a partner in La Bodega. He wound up having to pull out of their agreement but encouraged McDaniel to keep going. So she did.
“It’s Spanish influence, and a lot of the food here is influenced by travel, but also my family’s Sicilian,” McDaniel says. “So I grew up kind of eating a lot of very Mediterranean diet-type things, and it’s what I’m most comfortable making because I eat it all the time.”
The concept of La Bodega is based around rotisserie. The staff runs the rotisserie twice every day, and everything they don’t sell as a bird or a half bird is pulled and goes into sandwiches and salads.
“It’s very much a concept based around no waste, which is a big factor for me,” McDaniel says. “I’ve worked in so many restaurants, and restaurants are just wasteful by nature. So, I wanted a way to kind of make sure that we weren’t really participating in that as much as possible.”
La Bodega composts all its food scraps for Elmwood Farm, and chicken skins are an add-on for sandwiches and salads. Bone broth is also made in-house.
“I’d say we’re probably a 90% no-waste situation, which is about as good as I could do,” McDaniel says.
With a prime location on West Eighth, McDaniel says she has plenty of regulars.
“We definitely lucked out with this location,” McDaniel says. “Business has been steady and good. We are super happy with the amount of regulars we have. We were raised in Oak Cliff, and that’s why I wanted to do the business here, because it’s my community. I’d say we’re probably 40 to 50% regulars, which is awesome.”
While La Bodega is largely chicken-based, with whole chickens available for $30, many regulars come in for their vegan and vegetarian options.
Everything is customizable — the fryer is gluten-free, there’s no flour in-house and meat is put into products as it is served. McDaniel can accommodate nearly any allergen, she says.
“It’s Mediterranean food, so we’ve definitely filled that void in the neighborhood. I think we’re providing something that the neighborhood wanted,” McDaniel says. “And that feels really good.”
La Bodega, 208 W Eighth St. 945.233.8225, labodegaoakcliff.com
