'Opa' in New City earns title of 'Big Cheese': Greek restaurant puts twist on BEC

Ashley Catherine Fontones, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·4 min read

Bacon Egg and Cheese lovers assemble: it's time to crown our first "Big Cheese".

Through weeks and weeks of fierce online competition, one eatery came out on top: Opa Breakfast & Sandwich.

The shop, located at 29 3rd St. in New City, has been serving up bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches (also known as BECs or BEnCs) and Greek staples in Rockland County since 2010.

In the first round of our Big Cheese bracket, Opa Breakfast & Sandwich took home the title of the New City Wildcard. And they kept that momentum going — the Greek eatery straight up yolked the competition, earning a massive amount of votes in our online poll each week with a grand total of 116,545 votes overall.

Those votes translated into plenty of traffic, with customers flocking to the eatery to show their support, according to Yakelin Ruiz, daughter of owner Frank Ruiz.

Owner Frank Ruiz shows off a fresh bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at Opa Breakfast & Sandwich Shop in New City on May 2, 2024.
Owner Frank Ruiz shows off a fresh bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at Opa Breakfast & Sandwich Shop in New City on May 2, 2024.

Yakelin, whose family is from Haverstraw and West Haverstraw, mentioned that breakfast items like the gyro meat, egg and cheese sandwich (yours for just $7.25) are popular, along with the traditional BEnC ($6).

If you're looking for something different, try the Challah French Toast (starts at $8.50 for a short stack with two pieces). If you're craving brunch, Opa's got you with specialties like Greek salads (starting at $12.95, you can add any protein, even falafel for an additional cost) or Junior Spinach Pies for $9.95 (mini spanakopita... and yes, they have regular-sized, too, Ruiz said). Overall, the traditional gyro is a go-to for many ($10.95).

For customer Angela Palmiotto, it's all about the Bacon Egg and Cheese, with "very crisp" bacon. But she changes it up with Swiss cheese instead of something traditional like yellow American.

"Opa does a very perfect job making it. It's very tasty." Palmiotto said. "They make an 'eggcelente' sandwich."

Lohud's Big Cheese: Bacon Egg and Cheese 'King' talks his perfect sandwich order

Check out delis and eateries from this year's 'Big Cheese' competition

Our runner up for this year's Bacon Egg and Cheese battle is JV Bagels. JV Bagels has three locations: 2505 Carmel Ave. in Brewster, 1426 E. Main St. in Shrub Oak and 325 NY-100 in Somers. The local chain pulled a loyal following every week, earning a total of 20,994 votes overall. Learn more about the popular bagel spot at jvbagel.com.

Read on for our list of competitors from Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties.

Westchester and Putnam counties

The Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at Opa in New City May 2, 2024.
The Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at Opa in New City May 2, 2024.

Rockland County

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Greek eatery in New City sweeps Lohud.com bacon, egg n' cheese bracket