Thrifty Hipster

Average User Rating: 3 out of 5 (from 5 users)

Pop! has two locations: a home base in Northeast and a satellite restaurant in downtown St. Paul. Pop art covers the walls; get the right table, and Marilyn Monroe will stare at you seductively throughout dinner. Besides the colorful art, the walls themselves seem to pop out at you, painted what a more pretentious restaurant would label saffron and tangerine, but what I’m sure a Pop! employee would just call yellow and orange. The place has a comfortable neighborhood vibe; when you’re here, you’re family.



With an all-encompassing Americana theme, the menu is really diverse. The appetizers are dominated by latin-influenced offerings: empanadas, tamales, and a queso fondue. The salads, on the other hand, include the standard caeser, wedge, and, getting fancier, warm beet and blue cheese, and, out of nowhere, a Thai chicken satay with peanut sauce. There’s also something for every sandwich lover: burger, chicken, portabella mushroom, pork, and, whoa, panko-breaded Walleye with bacon. To really understand the melting pot that is Pop! cuisine, check out the main courses: two Italian pastas, an Israeli couscous, Swedish meatballs, and a Spanish steak, among other options. Wine is cheap: the cheapest red is only $20, the white only $19.



Every table gets what looks to be a small round cake with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The cake is actually cornbread, the ice cream, butter; where else do they start you off with a heaping plate of cornbread and more butter than you should reasonably consume? If you can’t finish your meal, and you won’t with these portions, not to worry – the accommodating staff at Pop! will send you home with all the leftovers, even the cornbread. Pop Northeast is a great place to bring a date on the cheap.