Pop Ellis Soda Shoppe and Grill

Efficient, warm service from staff who really know how to take care of you, and an owner who dropped by our table to thank us personally for visiting. Delicious milkshakes with darling old-​timey environs. We did not expect so many vegetarian options at an all-​American place like this, and were pleasantly surprised. A great place to stop for lunch during an I-​81 road trip!

Owner could be the biggest jerk ever! Food was overpriced, service was not bad, but the attitude of the owner was unbelievable! Pulled into the parking lot for lunch, decided to take a look in the little thrift shop next door after going in to eat, and he comes out saying we couldn’t park here! I just ate in your restaurant and now I can’t use your parking lot!!! Never again and I would recommend looking elsewhere for food in abingdon. They are closed until feb. 2, hopefully never to reopen

Lunch Nov 5
Returned back after over a year and guess what? STILL my favorite Pimento Cheese Chili Dog EVER! LOVE IT!
This place continues to deliver great food and at an extremely Reasonable price! I love to see the quality and great taste still remains– Keep it up Doug!
If you are traveling by on I-​81 and you don’t stop and grab a bite — you are missing out!

Wonderful food and very friendly staff! Recommended by my in-​laws and we were not disappointed.

While on a day trip from Boone exploring Abingdon, I came across this little soda shop. I was welcomed with a friendly
greeting and ushered to one of the cute tables adorned with pictures from the town’s past. The décor is charming and filled with history. They have a large selection of menu items from standard fountain foods to vegetarian choices. I ordered the fried bologna sandwich with fries and a French onion/​green salad plate. The sandwich came with two slices of cheese, two slices of bologna, lettuce and grilled onions and was very good! I liked that the condiments were served on the side so that I could use as much or as little as I wanted. The fries (crinkle cut) were cooked perfectly, crunchy on the outside while soft on the inside. The salad was refreshing with onions, radishes, cucumber and tomato and came with a tasty and thick ranch dressing. The onion soup was good, filled with onions, croutons and cheese. I had planned on getting a takeout container for my leftovers and ordering dessert but it was all so good, there was nothing to take home and no room for dessert. I’ll try their ice cream dishes another time. Thanks to Jane for her warm, friendly and efficient service. I would definitely stop again here when in town!

This is a regular stop for me when I’m in Abingdon to see a show at the Barter Theatre. Consistently good quality food in this old fashioned «soda fountain» setting. Today I sat at the soda fountain bar since I was alone and enjoyed the banter with the servers. Perfect before a matinée for lunch or after for dinner. I love their grilled pimento cheese on sour dough bread and their hearty mushroom-​loaded mushroom soup is the best I’ve ever had. Chicken salad features grapes and the honey mustard salad dressing tasted home made. Top it off with an ice cream treat. Often they feature ice cream related to a Barter show. During the Wizard of Oz they had a delicious «Emerald City» with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Enjoy!

We came here after going to the Barter Theater, as many people do. The food was… ok. The burgers come with plain potato chips, so we ordered French fries to share. These were generic crinkle cut, nothing to get excited about. Our waitress was very nice and helpful. Behind her, a gaggle of teenagers working the soda fountain area. The restaurant itself was cute and quaint, being an old pharmacy. Next time though, we’ll plan ahead for any other restaurant.

My mom and my son saw this cute little restaurant as we were driving through Abingdon and said we should eat there! We had spent the morning stopping at thrift stores, quilt shops, artist studios, etc. As we pulled in we noticed a thrift store was next door. Oh goody, we’ll check out the thrift store then get something to eat. We had already planned to eat at the soda shoppe. There was a sign posted that said the parking lot was for soda shoppe customers only. My mom and I said we’ll be right over there, like in five minutes. The owner of the soda shoppe came out and placed a wheel lock on my van. He was still in the parking lot and I said why did you do that. We are on our way to eat at the soda shoppe. He said how was I supposed to know that? He and I argued for a few minutes more and he took the lock off. We did eat there, but as we were finishing up he came and explained that he does this insane wheel-​locking because otherwise his business would be hurt. The whole time I looked away hoping he would realize how intrusive he was being. I was there to enjoy a day out with my family, not hear about his crazy business plan. I’ve got to tell you: the food was nothing special. I ordered the chicken salad. One quater cup of chicken salad on a single leaf of lettuce… for $ 10! Stingy is this guy’s MO. the chicken soup had hardly any chicken. I will say at the French fries were fine, but it was restaurants supply crinkle cuts… I can run a fryer too. There was nothing here to come back for… unless you just want a good story about small-​town crazies to take home. Tis place is best avoided. Fortunately, you have lots of other options in Abingdon. New restaurants pop up all the time in the TriCities area. But we won’t be returning to this one.

Ice cream, shakes, burgers… all great! A rather nostalgic shoppe. It’s not very large and it’s busy enough most all the time you may find a seat difficult… it’s a bit crowded. I had a great chocolate shake… what else? The grill cheese was good, too. The cheese burger is probably the best in the very western part of Va. Certainly in the area!

My hubs & I start out on the trail at Damascus, have lunch at Abington, turn around and go back to Damascus. We wanted to go to different spot then a previous visit (pecan st) so consulted Unilocal!And headed to Pop Ellis. We are in good shape but It’s VERY hilly, so if u have to get off your bike and walk it a couple blocks to get there, Don’t worry, it’s worth it! The outside is «so-​so», no pretty flowers or hanging baskets that would add to the outside dining area. You must park your bike to an adjacent parking area.
Once you enter, you will say, wow! Very clean, pretty, unusual:) the gleaming glass tabletops with shining Chrome stools stand out and look amazing! Once seated we looked around and noticed beautiful natural wood apothecary cases highlighting a bygone past and other memorabilia. For lunch We ordered «gourmet» grilled cheese sandwich, nacho cheese tortillas, cheeseburger & fries. Very nice. Also our server was attentive and made sure our unsweetened teas were always full :) thank you!

Best Burger in Abingdon.

Loved the quaint little diner! Grilled pimiento cheese was good but wish you could choose your own side. Chips are just Ruffles but soup or potato salad would have been awesome. Limited seating so don’t go with a crowd. Great before theatre choice. Eat then go to the latest show at Barter.

Stopped in to the Soda Shoppe last night. Unfortunately I should have read Unilocal first (as always). Our group of 6 had nowhere to sit. But we saddled up to the «bar» and were able to get service there.
The menu was pretty extensive and loaded with your standards. I was debating between a burger and the pimento cheese sandwich. I asked our server of they could add pimento cheese to the top of burger. It seemed like it would require an act of god to get this done which surprised me. Eventually, and thankfully, she said yes. So that’s what I ordered.
The burger was a good sized but the pimento wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t especially creamy and was just lacking in general flavor. My family member who just got the Pimento cheese sandwich was also disappointed. It came with just plain ruffle lays. In the age of homeade chips, this was also a disappointment.
I split a cookies and cream milkshake with my Mom. It was probably the highlight of the evening. Great consistency and really creamy and thick.
The interior was nice and reminiscent of Soda Shoppes of old. As someone else has mentioned, seating for groups of 4 or more does not exist.
Our server was.. . ok. I think she was training so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt but I question whether she was ready for a big group. This could have been overlooked if she was overly friendly, but she wasn’t.
The last oddity was when she told us that we could only have our checks all together or all separate (like one check for each person). Strange eh?
Oh well. Next time I’m in Abingdon I may choose another place for dinner.

After biking the Creeper Trail from Damascus (easy, a little uphill), we ate a late lunch here. I ordered the Chef Burger which was DELICIOUS. It was a very wet burger on bread (not a bun) so messy… but that added to the excitement. The potato salad was very tasty and obviously homemade. I swiped some of Brent/Autumn’s «peanut butter and chocolate» shake. Heaven-​like.
I highly recommend you come eat here. It does have limited seating so if you have a big crowd or are coming for lunch on the weekend, I’d recommend you come early.

This was a great little soda shoppe we found in Abingdon! They did a great job re-​creating the original soda shoppe feel. The people were friendly and the shakes and sodas were delicious! The place was filled with memorabilia from the area and the atmosphere was very friendly and reminiscent of a simpler time. I love it when they bring you a milkshake in a glass and bring the tumbler with it for a refill :)

Great sandwich place with sidewalk seating when weather permits. Try the chicken salad on coissant. Yummy recipe that’s sweetish with walnuts and grapes. Also try the Kentucky derby pie a la mode– chocolate heaven!

on a suggestion from a friend, we tried to go the starving artists café. unfortunately, they appeared to be closed permanently so now we were the ones starving. so we walked down the main street drag and happened on Pop Ellis’s Soda Shoppe and Grille. It was very similar to Borrum Drug in Corinth MS. Pop Ellis’s had actually been a functioning pharmacy with drive thru until 2007 when they converted it into a restaurant and soda fountain. you can see remnants of the old drug store setup and old drug store memorabilia in the glass showcases that line the walls. In addition to soda fountain items, ice cream sundae, and shakes, you can get a sandwich, burger, or salad. i did not try the salad but they appeared to be quite the large portion. i got a shrimp salad sandwich (shrimp in a mayo-​cream cheese mixture with dill) and my hubby got a black bean burger with guacamole. Both our portions were large and served with potato chips. we were too full to get a shake or dessert. also, we found out an interesting bit of trivia near the bathrooms. apparently, barack obama made a stop in abingdon and ate at pop ellis’s soda shoppe and grill. he ate a burger and had a vanilla shake. so if you are in abingdon or just passing through, you might want to try this place.