The Soda Shop

Wow! So much for potential. With such a great location this place should practically sell itself. The staff is unbelievably rude (this coming from a New Yorker!) and the food not worth it. Maybe they’ll start reading these reviews and get new management.

How this place has stayed in business is beyond me. In the 8 years I have lived in the area, this is only the second time I have eaten at the Soda Shop. I was not impressed the first time a few years ago and I was still unimpressed the second time. With all the college students at Davidson, this could be a real hot spot if they would try. I was on my lunch break and had a craving for grilled cheese. I ordered it with tomato.50, extra. I asked for it as takeout. After about 5 min and from looking at the menu I realized they had not asked me what type of bread I wanted. At this time, it was not crowded at all in there. I could not get my waitresses attention, so asked another server to please make sure my grilled cheese was on white bread., Not Texas Toast which I deplore. It took 20 minutes to get this pathetic sandwich. In looking in the clear plastic container, I questioned whether it was really a grilled cheese! The bread was still white!
I was in a hurry so when I got in the I peeked at it. I had a bit of butter in the center of the bread, the cheese was melted but the whole sandwich was like ¼ in thick!!! It looked like an 8 yr old had made it. It was Awful and the total price for this terrible sandwich and a soda was over 9.00
Never again will I eat here.

I really liked the décor, but the food left a lot to be desired. Standard grill food. Nothing special. The biggest problem was the parking. I was meeting friends at 1:00 (after the lunch rush) and was 15 minutes late because I had to circle the block 4 times looking for parking. Don’t expect to park nearby. Street parking is non existent. And there is no lot easily accessible by non-​students.

Pretty cool small town diner. Not many seats, first come first served. Sit at the bar or in a booth. You will see a family, an elderly couple of a group of teens in here. Ate the BLT, and it was decent. Hard to mess one up. Great place to come when toast is packed.

Adorable soda shop in Davidson. The food was fine, it’s nothing extravagant but it makes it even more nostalgic… that it’s just basic. Our server was just a college kid and he was very nice. All the employees seemed friendly unlike what other reviewers have said.
I thought $ 3.99 for a Coke float (and I asked for just a tiny ice cream) was unreasonable. But whatever, it’s a fun experience.

Wow… customer service was really bad. Take out Turkey Reuben took 23 minutes at 2:15 with more staff than customers.
Brunette acted like she hated life and passed it along. Watched them take more than 10 minutes to make this couple’s milkshakes. I could go on and on but not worth it.
Sandwich was good but experience ruined it. They never even apologized!

Okay food, but service is horrible! Not friendly and very slow. Almost every time we try it. So disappointing. It could be great with better employees!!! I just don’t get it. Maybe they need new management.

Good is mediocre. I was hoping to love this place so that it could become a tradition to eat there Friday’s as a family. The employees didn’t check on us and we had to go inside to place our orders and ask for refills. The prices aren’t terrible but a bit overpriced for what we received. We probably won’t go back but it was worth a shot.

A cute little spot in downtown Davidson. Great sandwich shop with a good selection. I had a delicious grilled veggie and cheese sandwich and topped it off with a float. YUMMMM!

I would really like to give this place a good review because of its kitschy nostalgic décor and makes you feel like what it was like going to a diner back int he ‘50s. However, the staff in this place make sure you don’t linger over an order of just coke or shake and fries for too long. As soon as you sit, they ask you what’d you’d to drink. I was here to try their phosphates — homemade soda basically, but they did not give me the menu prior to asking what I would like to drink.
And if you order just water, they give you an attitude. Also, they’d want you to order as quickly as possible. As soon as you’re handed the menu, they are right back before even you are done perusing or deciding on what to order. And as soon as you finish your meal, even though you’re still drinking your soda or having your shake, they’d quickly drop the check onto your table. You don’t have to time to enjoy your meal and fantasize on what it was like dining in the ‘50s. I mean what this is what this place is trying to sell — that fantasy and décor and not the food.
I understand if they were busy and there are people waiting, but the place was almost empty when I was there. Staff didn’t really give sh*t if you were there or not. They were giving each other disapproving looks whenever patrons would take time to place their order or have their meal. Food is overpriced ans portioned small and standard fast food quality. Have to give them credit for their phosphates and shakes though. You’re better off getting take-​out but then again the whole point of going to this place is to experience ‘50s dining, which they fail miserably and because of the staff’s draconian attitude.

The Soda Shop is a Davidson institution. it’s been here for a very long time, and it is a really neat place to enjoy some old fashioned food and ice cream. Nothing fancy, but the menu is fairly extensive and there are quite a few gems to be found. They also have spectacular freshly squeezed homemade lemonade which is very refreshing on a hot summer day.
I got a nice little surprise in the mail the other day. The Soda Shop wished me a happy birthday and offered me a free ice cream cone. I joined their birthday club a few years ago. So that was nice.
Today I stopped by for a patty melt and a cup of vegetable soup. The patty melt was spot on, and the vegetable soup absolutely delicious. it was made with a tomato base and had a deep, rich flavor. You get a few tasty corn nuggets on the side with soup.
You can also stop in for breakfast at 10 am on Weekdays and at 8 Am on weekends. I recently tried the Blarney Eggs– corned beef hash with sauteed onions, folded into scrambled eggs. Might sound a bit weird, but it was superb.
My favorite ice cream treat is the ice cream soda, but there are many to choose from.
Stop by and enjoy.

There are a lot of negative reviews for this place. I’m not sure what people are expecting, but I was actually quite pleased with my experience. I never expected something upscale or fancy. I like the atmosphere. While it was super crowded, that isn’t a bad thing actually. I ordered an Egg Club and potato salad. It’s possible that the place is a smidgen over priced, but the food was pretty good so I don’t feel like I wasted money. They have quite a large menu with really just about anything you could want. I was surprised how many things there are to choose from, breakfast items like omelettes and biscuits and gravy, a good selection of hamburgers choices, sandwiches galore, daily specials, salads, and plenty of other thing things. Don’t forget the sweets section with all kinds of milkshakes, floats, sundaes, and other «specialities»
If your in Davidson and want a fun experience, and a trip back into time I would stop in.

Sadly, there isn’t much to say except, ‘just say no to styrofoam.” Almost everything is served in styrofoam and plastic. They don’t have a dishwasher. Very disappointing.

I’ve only been here for lunch, and it was by far the worst meal I’ve ever had in my life, picture something worse than a school cafeteria, or a slummy ice skating arena where everything is frozen and tossed into a microwave. If this was the last place to get a meal on earth, I would gladly let my body eat it’s own fat till I perished..

Pretty much your old-​school diner, but a tad bit more expensive. For what it is worth, the place is pretty good. There’s surprisingly quite a few veggie options. Depends on what you’re into, but overall, it’s good. I wouldn’t say the food will rock your socks, but it shouldn’t disappoint either. Best for lunch and an early dinner.
Not much else to say about this place. Ideally, better if you have kids. Not really a date-​worthy kind of place. Kind of small too.
Parking isn’t great. Good luck with that.

Ugh… I was so excited to take my daughter to an old time soda shop, and when she was off from school one day we did just that… But it went from good to gross over the hour and a half it took us to get out of there. The service was slow and the food was not eatable, I sent everything back except the mini-​corndogs because my daughter said «Meh — I’m so hungry I’ll eat them…» The place couldn’t even get the ice cream shake correct — gezz people your name is The Soda Shop for goodness sakes!

I have gone in a few times, mid-​late afternoon when it’s quiet. somehow I wait 15 – 20 minutes for a tuna sandwich that’s overpriced. and the portions are kind of small. the people aren’t incredibly friendly, but that doesn’t bother me much. never super impressed. the fries are pretty good though. maybe that’s what takes so long.

Best milkshake of my life:) get the cookie dough!!! stopped by here while visiting Davidson. Cute 50’s style diner and must be popular. The place was packed!

My boyfriend and I were going through Davidson and decided to stop off at The Soda Shop on Main Street for lunch. First off the food is way overpriced for what you get. The portions are small, and the food is mediocre.
My boyfriend and I both ordered a wrap and when his came out it had a long black hair wrapped up in it. When we told our server she didn’t apologize at all she just took it away. We waited a long time for him to get another wrap. Another girl, not our original server, just plopped it down on the table without a word of apology. We never saw our server again and no one came to our table to check on us. I got up several times and had to go to the counter to get our drinks refilled. We were never even given a ticket to checkout with.
For what they are charging this is the worst experience I have had at a restaurant, which is really a shame because it could be something special. It really feels like they don’t care if you ever come back because they must have their regulars who keep them in business who don’t mind paying for overpriced food without a smile.
I will never go back.

Overpriced, overrated, cash only, small tables, rude people. What else can I say?
I wish I could post a better review, but, for a small town restaurant which has a big competition right next door, looks like they just do not want to change the way they do business to attract more customers.
The food is mediocre at best, served in disposable containers, fork and knifes. They will only accept cash, the portions for the price paid are very small and the service is really slow.
The tables can barely fit an average size person, so that means if you are overweight, skip this place.
The only thing I really like at this place is the ice cream and the shakes. If you are in just for that and have real CASH in hands, go for it! If you are here for brunch or other meal, go to Toast next door. It is worth the wait.