Tag: popcorn

Review of Pop Pop Shoppe in Little Rock

Pop Pop Shoppe recently opened here in Little Rock (416 South University Ave, Suite 130) in the shopping center with Target. It was originally opened, and still remains, in Texarkana. Facebook ads of rainbow-colored popcorn brought my childhood memories back to me. Plus, their reviews online were pretty great. So, naturally, I had to drop in. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment:

So cute! While this shop is on the small side, it only sells one thing, popcorn. And it sells it well. The shop is decorated with vibrant colors, displays, and many gift options. Best of all, when you walk in, you smell fresh, hot popcorn for purchase. Getting out of this place without buying any popcorn is near impossible…heads up.

14800200_10100542308462496_731333364_o
Halloween Display/Gift Options

14787552_10100542308492436_610675351_o         14787057_10100542308482456_941184559_o

Food and Service:

In this shop, these go hand-in-hand. First off, the displays do not “display” prices, but they are prominently listed on the menu at the counter.

14795986_10100542308382656_1175125283_o
Menu with prices, because they aren’t marked next to the actual items.

Then, there are FREE SAMPLES of popcorn, many different flavors. The woman working today was absolutely great. She was so kind and welcoming to everyone. She gave samples (as many as some patrons wanted) without hesitation. She explained any questions, and she let me take all of these photos.

14808093_10100542308098226_2117016139_o

At the counter, as seen above, you can sample many flavors of popcorn (though none of the fruity-type flavors). It is very sanitary, as the employee divvies out samples with her own tool, into individualized mini-cups. I tried the cajun popcorn, which was very tasty, as well as the vanilla popcorn. (I would feel guilty trying more than that….hint,hint other people in the shop that didn’t end up buying anything.) I am more of a salt lover than a sugar lover, but that vanilla was my favorite, so good!

Also seen above, they have hot, fresh popcorn for purchase that changes each day. Today was a combo of their cheddar pop and their caramel pop, which was called their Chicago mix. I skipped out on that one.

What I did end up purchasing was the small (about $5 after tax) bag of “confetti” corn. It was too pretty to pass up and reminded me of my childhood, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong.

14741059_10100542307888646_1144880275_n

14801169_10100542307838746_1654483387_n

The confetti popcorn was different. It is not salty or savory in the least. It is candy-coated. If you are craving sweets, this will be perfect for you. It is full of flavors: grape, blue raspberry, blueberry, cherry, vanilla, orange, banana, strawberry, watermelon, and green apple. Though, I swear I ate a couple pieces of bubble-gum flavored, and about died. Yuck. (I hate that flavor, nothing against the popcorn). The rest are pretty tasty and have enough of a flavor difference that you can definitely do a blind-folded taste-test…which is the sort of thing I like to do for fun.  Anyway, that small bag is now gone. It was enjoyed.

Extra Info:
The Pop Pop Shoppe offers not only bags of different flavored popcorn, or hot popcorn to go. It also offers many gift options, which are super cute. I would love a gift like these (hint, hint, Drew). Even more, they offer catering services with a popcorn bar. What?! And there are even fundraising offers.

I think this place is a great addition to Little Rock! I will be buying more there. HOWEVER, get some garlic flavored pop corn, please. I mean, come on. Everyone loves garlic, right? =)

Food Review: Nashville’s Merchants for Appetizers

Before visiting anywhere, I always do some food research and make a list of anything that I MUST try. On a few different lists, such as the Thrillest 50 Things You Must Eat Before You Die (in Nashville), the duck fat tater tots from Merchants could be found. So, this was my first stop! Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Merchants Front

Merchants is located right in the heart of downtown Nashville, right on Broadway. Since we were here during CMA fest, it was in the middle of the crazy crowds. This meant it was mostly packed, as people are trying to get out of the heat for a cold drink and nice meal. However, at about 4:00 on Thursday, Drew and I got a table.

There are two floors here. The first floor is what was open this time of day, and is the casual dining room. I haven’t seen it, but the second floor, meant for dinner dining, is supposed to be very upscale.

13435907_10100468026025096_360783211_n

Even though we ate in the casual dining area, the interior is very clean, bright, and felt like a fancy diner.  With all black and white tiles, counters, booths, and decor, it had a classic and elegant atmosphere. Since it felt very fancy inside, I was a little uncomfortable in my sweaty romper. But, hey, it was CMA fest, we we were all wearing sweaty rompers….well, the girls anyway.

Free Ranch Popcorn!

As soon as we were seated, we were given two glasses of water and the glass bottle was left at our table for refills. I really appreciate this, since Drew and I both drink a  lot of water and hate waiting on refills.

13444410_10100468025990166_2050251276_n

Next, our waiter brought us the best popcorn I have ever tried…and I make my own homemade garlic popcorn which I always bragged was the best. Well, can’t brag about that anymore. #ifyourenotfirstyourelast

13451259_10100468026035076_1315198871_n

This was house-made ranch popcorn. Encrusted with that perfect salty, garlic, and herb flavor that ranch has.  Just look at all that flavor! You know it is good if you can SEE the flavor. I ate every crumb of that free popcorn. It was delicious.

13434063_10100468025975196_1781486359_n

Duck Fat Tater Tots

13453783_10100468025925296_1904106689_n

Well, this is what I came here for. I was excited. We got a half order (I wasn’t even hungry after I ate the popcorn) for $5. It came with a large handful amount of tater tots that are fried in duck fat. With those come three sauces: chipotle mayo, bearnaise, and ketchup.

13453776_10100468025955236_985926431_n

The tater tots were surprisingly not greasy, which is great. They were very crisp on the outside and very soft on the inside. A perfect texture for tots, in my opinion. The flavor was very one-noted, though. It literally tasted like fat. And not the bacon fat kind of deliciousness, but a more bland, dull version of fat. I guess that is what duck fat tastes like.  They also needed more salt, but there was no salt to be found. So, the tots on their own were not that impressive.

The sauces were fun, though, and made the tots delicious. The sauce that I favored and dipped all of my tots (except for the two that were wasted trying the other sauces) in was the bernaise. It was so sweet, it added a perfect flavor to those savory tots.
The ketchup tasted like a good brand of store-bought ketchup. Nothing special. And the chipotle mayo tasted mostly of mayonaise, with a strong, again one-noted, chipotle heat that hit the back of your throat.

I do not think I would get these again, but I’m glad I tried them. I really don’t understand why these are on so many “must eat” types of lists.

Deviled Eggs

13454081_10100468025920306_256854835_n

These deviled eggs sounded great, especially since I love deviled eggs. The menu only stated that they came with pop’s sweet and spicy pickles, and they were only $5.
So disappointed. These eggs were so bland, there could not have been anything in the filling besides mayo, egg yolk, and maybe the tiniest amount of yellow mustard? Where’s the salt and pepper, people?! The paprika on the top was fine. But the pickle under each egg was AMAZING. This really was a spicy and sweet, all at once, pickle. This was probably the best pickle I have tried. Eating the pickle with the egg, in the same bite, made the egg edible. But I just ate the pickles and left the bland eggs. I don’t have calories to waste on anything bland.

After the bad experience with the eggs, we decided not to try anything else at Merchants and save room for a dinner at Mas Tacos that night.

Overall, the restaurant is very beautiful and nice. The service was professional and very good. The location is perfect, making it a nice place to drop by for drinks or snacks on days such as the ones during CMA fest. But I probably won’t be back.