The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Quiñonez, Ernesto. Bodega Dreams. New York: Vintage Books, 2018.

At the beginning of the novel, the narrator Julio “Chino” Mercado, a young Puerto Rican/Ecuadoran man living in Spanish Harlem, reflects on his childhood and teenage years. Spanish Harlem is a rough neighborhood in New York City, and Chino and his best friend Sapo often participated in street fights growing up. Chino fell in love with Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia, whose nickname was inspired by her religious devotion. Chino and Blanca got married and she soon became pregnant with their first child. They attend Hunter College together and live in a one-bedroom apartment. Blanca disapproves of Chino's friendship with Sapo.

Sapo is a drug dealer, and one day he asks Chino to deliver some drugs to someone at the Hunter College library. Afterward, Sapo tells Chino that his boss, Willie Bodega, wants to meet him. At the meeting, Willie tells Chino that he and his business partner, a lawyer named Edwin Nazario, have a plan to improve Spanish Harlem. They are renovating old tenement buildings and renting the apartments at cheap rates to neighborhood residents, as well as paying tuition for those who wish to attend college. Willie wants Chino to work for him, but Chino declines. On the way home, Sapo tells Chino to ask Blanca about her aunt Vera.

Blanca tells Chino that her aunt Vera fell in love with a street activist when she was a teenager, but that her mother made her marry a rich Cuban man instead. Vera currently lives with the Cuban in Miami. Chino assumes the street activist is Willie Bodega and that Willie is still in love with Vera. He wonders if he can get a two-bedroom apartment in one of Willie's buildings if he can find out more information about Vera for him. Chino talks to Blanca's sister Negra about Vera and learns that Vera is coming to New York City because her old elementary school is naming an auditorium after her. Blanca asks Chino for help finding a man to marry her friend from church, Claudia, who is an undocumented Colombian immigrant. Chino visits Willie to tell him about Vera's imminent arrival and he overhears Willie and Edwin Nazario talking about a man named Alberto Salazar. Later, Chino hears that this man was found murdered with a bite mark on his shoulder.

Chino recalls an incident in junior high school in which a teacher named Mr. Blessington insulted Sapo and the other Latinx students. Sapo responded by insulting the teacher. Mr. Blessington put Sapo in a headlock and Sapo bit him, removing a piece of flesh and spitting it back at him. Chino believes Sapo must have killed Alberto Salazar. Blanca remembers this as well and asks Chino if he thinks Sapo is responsible for the murder, but he lies and tells her he does not. Willie asks Chino to come to the school on the day Vera will be there for the auditorium naming ceremony. Nazario picks Chino up and talks to him about his and Willie's plans for improving Spanish Harlem. At the school, Willie tells Chino that Alberto Salazar was a journalist working with Willie's drug kingpin rival, Aaron Fischman, and that Salazar was going to publish a story about Willie's drug empire. Chino introduces himself to Vera as her niece's husband and then reintroduces her to Willie. Vera is impressed with Willie's nice car and the buildings he owns. Chino returns to his apartment—the two-bedroom given to him by Willie for his help—and takes a nap.

Chino is awakened a short time later by Vera and Willie knocking on his door. They are drunk and flirting with one another. Vera hands Chino her wedding ring and then tells Willie she wants him to teach her how to shoot a gun. When Blanca comes home, she tells Chino he must return the ring. He refuses, and they argue about Blanca's religion, and about Chino's association with Sapo, Willie, and Nazario. Feeling guilty after the argument, Chino goes to Blanca's church to apologize. He sits beside her and her friend Claudia and they watch a sermon delivered by a 17-year-old named Roberto Vega, who the congregation believes is anointed by God. When Chino and Blanca return home, they discover their apartment building is on fire. Chino believes the fire was set by Aaron Fischman as retribution for Salazar's murder.

Nazario takes Chino to Queens to talk to an Italian mob boss named Mr. Cavalleri. Nazario asks Cavalleri's permission to murder Fischman, who had worked for the Italian mob in the past. Mr. Cavalleri approves the murder. Returning home, Chino discovers Claudia and Roberto Vega in his apartment with Blanca. They are in love and want to run away together. Chino approves of this plan, but Blanca convinces them to talk to Roberto's mother about their relationship. Later, Willie tells Chino that Vera's husband John Vidal is coming to New York and he wants Chino to meet with him.

The next day, the police knock on Chino and Blanca's door and ask Chino to come to the station. They ask about Willie, but Chino tells them nothing. Blanca tells Chino she is going to stay at her mother's for a while. Chino goes to a restaurant to meet John Vidal. Vera and Willie arrive a short time later. Vera tells Vidal she is leaving him for Willie and they all begin arguing. Vera pulls out a gun and shoots Vidal. Willie tells Chino that if anyone asks, he should say that Willie shot him.

The following day, the police arrive and tell Chino that Willie has been murdered. Nazario says that someone shot Willie while he was on his way to confess to John Vidal's murder. Chino assumes Aaron Fischman was responsible for his death. However, a short time later, Blanca arrives and tells Chino that her mother told her it was not Willie that Vera was in love with as a teenager, it was Edwin Nazario. Chino realizes that Nazario and Vera have been deceiving Willie, that they planned to use him to get rid of John Vidal and then kill him to take over his drug empire. Chino goes to the police and tells them everything. He then attends Willie's funeral, where the police arrive and arrest Nazario and Vera. At the end of the novel, Willie comes to Chino in a dream and they discuss Willie's aspirations for a better Spanish Harlem. It is a goal that Chino still believes in, maintaining hope for the neighborhood's future.