First walking into Pop Soda’s, I felt like I was in a dream sequence.
It’s an eclectic mix of the old and new: 7,000-square-feet of pre-loved vintage furniture, abstract art and sunken woolly couches. Upon entry, you’ll find yourself walking into a brick room painted over in orange, white and red. They call it The Coffeehouse. There are booths, tables and a few couches in the seating area best known as the quieter side of the restaurant.
The diving brick wall connects the two main rooms with little peek-through windows. These openings peer into what they call The Shoeless Gallery, but socks and slippers are permitted. There are dining tables, couches and a tall bookshelf with reading material and board games. The walls are adorned with adorable depictions of the solar system, a massive white tree and a pop soda top.
From http://www.popsodascoffeehouse.com/
There’s also a stage at the front of The Shoeless Gallery where local performers set up during the day for family-friendly events, and at night to belt their hearts out.
From http://www.popsodascoffeehouse.com/
This building sure has personality, to say the least.
I was a little confused when walking in, but the staff member at the front was both friendly and accommodating. We picked up a menu, decided on two small dishes for the night and made our orders back at the front till. Instead of table numbers, they have cards with different exotic animals. We had the Koala.
We started off with two root beer floats; because ordering pop is a given if you’re going to Pop Soda’s! We got two cool bottles of Dad’s Root Beer and two glass mugs filled with ice-creamy goodness. All of their sodas are reasonably priced at $2.25, their floats at $3.50.
Our food order came out in less than 15 minutes. From their menu of salads, soups, paninis, flat breads, nachos and pastas, we opted for Kiki’s bruschetta (spicy white cheese with garlic and onion, $7.00) and Baba’s perogies (served with sour cream and your choice of hickory bacon or kielbasa, $11.95).
Their appetizer bruschetta platter was massive. I had six huge morsels of toasted bread covered in ricotta, cheddar cheese, red onion and hot sauce. They were tasty and filling, but here’s a warning – they can get quite spicy after a few bites.
The perogies were sprinkled with herbs, onions, garlic and large pieces of kielbasa sausage on a bed of lettuce leaves. They were gooey, tasty and the flavours all blended together quite nicely, but careful of the huge pieces of garlic on your plate.
If you’re feeling adventurous, they have something called The Devil’s Ball Challenge. If you finish this 21” Panini loaded with corned beef, bacon, sausage, meatballs, spicy eggplant, three cheeses, lettuce, hot sauce, tomatoes and potato salad in 45 minutes, you get to have it for free! If you opt this route, let them know the day before so they can get their ingredients in line and their video tape rolling.
I loved my experience at Pop Soda’s - if not for the food, for the atmosphere. There’s something so homey and welcoming about being able to take your shoes off, curl up on the couch and read a book or two.
