The Pop Shop

Just had lunch. Waitress was great! Food not so much. Mac and cheese tasted out of a box. $ 8.99 with soup and some string beans. I got the same but a topping of cheesesteak meat and frizzeled onions. $ 5 more and not much meat. So $ 13.99. Way overpriced. Aunt got cheeseburger. $ 10 with no fries. We voiced our concerns and stated we would not be returning. The manager took off 10 percent but did not come over talk to us. Oh well…

My boyfriend and I surprised my daughter with another visit to the Pop Shop yesterday. I had known that there was a Superhero theme the weekend prior and was surprised to find out that it lasted all week! When we walked in, they gave us a kids menu with superhero themed options such as green lantern onion rings, ironman pizza, flash fries, wolverine claws (chicken fingers), etc. My daughter also got to choose from themed desserts and went with a venom chocolate sundae which was a sundae with a twizzler as the tongue. A guy dressed as Batman came around and took pictures with the kids and made balloon heroes. There was face painting for the kids. Swarms of children and parents came in dressed up as heroes or decked out in their hero gear. If we had known we would have totally dressed up, capes and all. They even had The Avengers playing on the tv the whole time. Our food was good. I didn’t really like my surf and turf burger but we ordered an appetizer of buffalo fries, huge chunks of actual blue cheese and served with a side of buffalo sauce. They were so amazing. My boyfriend loved his inferno burger. The best part, in my opinion, was dessert. He got the butterfinger milkshake. I got the chocolate fudge brownie. It was a huge, warm, moist chocolate brownie iced with fudgy chocolate. It was surrounded by vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream. I could have ordered just that and been completely happy. As my boyfriend said, everytime we come here it somehow gets better and better. It’s a great place to take the kids and has SO many options to suit everybody’s taste buds.

Long food wait on Mother’s Day… but well worth it ! The food was hot, fresh and delicious !

Yesterday I called in a to-​go order for an adult portion of gluten free chicken strips and fries. When I picked up the order I was appalled at the small size of the order compared to the price– $ 20.95 for 4 tiny chicken strips and 10 – 15 french fries. My husband asked if that was seriously all that was included for the price and the teen at the counter said that was the standard size. I had already told my daughter about her special treat so we paid and left but we definitely won’t be returning. There are many other places in Medford that have gluten free options and don’t jack up the prices sky high so we’ll stick to those restaurants in the future.

To be fair, I have never been to The Pop Shop in Collingswood to compare, but after all the hype I heard about the Pop Shop I did have high expectations when I went to the Medford location. After a very long wait to receive our food, I was hoping that it would be worth the wait especially since I got their Grease Truck sandwich (basically a fat sandwich that features mini hamburgers, hot dog, onion rings, and fries) and a classic NY Egg Cream. When I tried both my items plus the entrees and milkshakes my cousins got, everything I tasted was pretty much average. Certainly not bad, but just ok. Pop Shop seems more of a novelty type restaurant. While I appreciate that this place has unique and quirky menu items, I just wish the food tasted better and was less expensive. I mean I would still come back every once in a while, but just at a time when it’s not so overcrowded and noisy.

Yikes!!! Food was terrible!
My friend and her young daughter and I went for lunch.
We ordered a vegetarian hot dog and fries… hamburger…crab and cheese melt
on a pretzel.
Food order took foe-​eveh!!! 35 minutes???
My hamburger was tiny – greasy and tough. Even bun was all greasy.
My friend’s crab melt was cold-​hard as a rock and unappetizing-​looking.
Now – the «ambience». I fully realize this is a place for kids.
Fully prepared for the din of babies and toddlers screaming and crying.
However – this restaurant allows children to run all over — very disturbing
to other diners… very unsafe… and if you are there with a young child
who sees this – they want to run also!!! They need to enforce some type
of rule about this.
Still have indigestion from the food plus watching the «Nascar» kiddies!

Torn between 3 & 4 stars. 3.5 would be fair. 4 stars would be because of the 4 page, adorable newspaper looking menu with some fantastic vegan items including vegan milkshakes, tofu scramble and seitan yummies. Bteakfast served all day long, 14 different varieties of fries alone, pancake fries (say what!) and attention to things like gluten free and healthy options too etc.
Ok, cute concept. One of the kiddos favorite types of places to eat. Nifty Fifties style with the paper hats for the kiddos to color, meals served on classic black and white checkered paper in the plastic baskets and all EXCEPT not done nearly as well. No juke boxes. No music, period. That’s a huge deal for me as I think music really sets the tone and in this case can really make a huge difference. Other than a big 50’s style picture on the front wall and some 50’s style posters in the restroom, that’s all. I feel it’s a poor execution of what what could be a totally themed hit.
Service: We waited awhile for a waitress. We had to ask for hats and then for crayons for the kiddos. My husband’s meal came with soup which HE had to ask for and was brought out after his meal.
Food: 4 entire pages of comfort food! Yum! Brunch, lunch, dinner and icecream! We unlocked our Unilocal offer for a free make your own fountain soda. We chose vanilla cupcake with root beer. So good! I just had to taste it! Glad I did. Typical
Kids meals at reasonable prices. Way too much for my kids to eat. In fact, it looked like they barely touched it. Hubby got buffalo chicken mac and cheese served with veggies and soup. He said it was just ok. My meal however was awesome! I actually had a hard time choosing what to order as all of the veg options looked so good! The waitress said the Veggie burger was their most popular veg dish. It’s served open faced, topped with black beans, jalapeños, onions, roasted red peppers, chipotle mayo and melted Jack cheese on toasted ciabatta for just 8.99. The vegan cheese was so good and empty I had to ask if she accidentally gave me regular cheese. She didn’t. It was spicy and filled with delicious veggies underneath all of that cheese. The ciabatta was perfectly toasted. So good! The kids of course HAD to have icecream. This was their favorite part. They serve vegan vanilla and chocolate. Hubby ordered the fried cookie dough balls served with vanilla icecream, whipped cream and drizzled in chocolate sauce. He said it was awesome and I said «how are you not 300 lbs?»
The place was super noisy as there was a party downstairs and upstairs. It was insanely crowded by the time we left on a Saturday night around 5:30pm. Tons of families.
**Free hour parking right out front.
All and all we had fun! We always do, but just ok as a whole. Props for vegan options though!

We were so excited to try this place out for breakfast! On a Sunday morning, the wait for 2 people was about 30 minutes, we figured it was because it was so popular.
The experience started out quite bad; we ordered coffee and the waitress brought us cream and sugar. But, in reality, after tasting it first hand, it was actually cream and salt that she brought us. The waitress’ response was «omg I’m so sorry, that happens all the time!» She brought us out sugar, yet didn’t bring us new coffee (since ours now had salt in it) until we asked for it.
On to the food, we had the pancake sticks/​fries things; pretty tasty. We also had omelets, that were under cooked and watery.
It was incredibly difficult to try and flag down our waitress when these things were going wrong. Also, seeing that we were unhappy customers, we never actually received a real apology, not from the waitress or management. So, yes, service was not attentive and she really never came to check up on us.

I have been here about 6 – 8 times and every time has been a train wreck. I thought that it would be a good option especially because they offered a few GF options. Wrong!
Not only are the staff unorganized with getting you to a table but the they are very unprofessional. AND every time that I have gone there they have gotten my order wrong after making me wait extra time after they delivered my friends food. Once they put gave me regular pancakes when I specifically asked for gluten free ones then making me wait another 15mins. Another time they gave me an omelette with regular dairy cheese when I specially asked for it without, making me wait another 15mins. Within context I have a severe dairy and gluten allergy which make sick for weeks.
The only redeeming qualities is the interesting food choices and generally good tasting food when the order is RIGHT! Also, they offered my food at no cost almost every time when they got it wrong. Overall it has been a horrible experience.

This is a fun place to go with really good food. It’s kind of like an old fashioned diner with hearty portions, good prices, and time-​tested recipes. No home cook could make you what is available here. They made me a custom burger, a custom dessert, and a custom shake; I had a one-​off meal! How could any other place make you feel more special?!
The reason for the ⁴⁄₅ stars is because they get busy often and I sometimes have to wait to be seated. But even with this, driving an hour to have a meal here is certainly worth it!

I am writing this review according to the type of restaurant it is so remember that please. It is not a fine dining establishment although the food is fine!
This is the second location of this restaurant. The original is in Collingswood NJ. Collingswood is not as close and I had passed this several times during the Christmas season so I stopped in twice. Well worth it too.
It is truly an old-​fashined ice cream parlor. Best known for the grilled cheese sandwiches. I believe it was on the Food Network with a throw down with Bobby Flay at the Collingswood location.
First visit I had lobster eggs Benedict and second a grilled cheese sandwich. Yum!
They have Old-​fashioned ice cream sodas, soda fountain cokes, soda fountain pops, ice cream sundaes, shakes and malts, deluxe bakery shop shakes, fruit bowl shakes, classic banana splits, additional desserts, grilled cheese sandwiches with tons of variations, hamburgers and so much more! Truly a fun place.
I highly recommend that you make the visit if even 20 miles away. They also have take out.
Visited January 2016

Very cool place and PERFECT for the family
This is one of the best places that you can take the family for a meal. The Pop Shop is all about the kids. We brought our 4 kids in tonight and was pleasantly surprised that they had a woman making balloon puppets and animals. Our kids loved it. They also have a big menu. The food is great and the staff are nice.

THE best burgers in town! And the fried pickles with their yummy dip are addictive. My kids love the chicken fingers and their hot sauce. I have gotten salads almost every time we’ve gone and haven’t been disappointed. Everything is fresh, crunchy and the ranch and blue cheese were yum.
And the fact that the kids love this place helps make this an obvious choice. We stopped in the other night and there was someone making balloon art. I know, people don’t go there for balloon art but this lady was incredible! And it doesn’t hurt to have a great distraction and fun activities for the kids while I’m sitting not cooking.

I must say I am ecstatic that they opened up a location closer to where I live. I have not been to the collingswood location in about five years but this place didn’t skip a beat from what I remember.
The food was amazing as always. Their menu is expansive and has something for everyone. They even have amazing vegetarian and vegan options for those with that diet.
This place is Aldo amazing for kids. They love it here so bring the family for a fun night out.
The only downside is the limited parking. I could see it becoming a problem on a very busy night but I had none on a Friday at 9pm.

My Sister heard about this place via food network I believe, I think it is the Collingswood location on that show, so we decided to have a night out to try it.
Myself, Her and my spouse all went together.
Upon arrival, it was obvious this place used to be a bank, considering a placard on the side of the old large brick wall stating so.
When you walk in, you can see their kitchen was built directly in the vault.
That was pretty cool.
We were seated quickly, as it was not to busy and perhaps an hour from closing time on a Friday night.
Our server took only a few minutes to greet us and then quickly left only to return a few more minutes later to take our drink order, I liked the birthday banner behind our table.
The place could use a fresh coat of paint and perhaps some new decorations but overall it was decent.
The menu is on what looks like a local newspaper, with sections for all of their different items.
They must have over 100. Plenty of chicken, pasta, seafood, burgers and many sandwiches.
I ordered the Jersey Devil burger, double cheeseburger basically.
My sister and spouse ordered a few things each, so we wound up with;
buffalo chicken fries (with cheese), pancake sticks (more like french toast but still good), candied bacon, and pancakes.
My sister ordered one of their grilled cheese sandwiches, which they are famous for.
My burger was decent, but really greasy. I mean, i expect some but this was enough for a big block diesel.
My sister had the «Calvert» grilled cheese with turkey I believe.
She proclaimed it to be dry and boring.
We all tried the pancake sticks, buffalo fries, candied bacon and a bite of their pancakes. Really, I can say all of this tasted pretty average. Maybe this is because the original Pop Shop in Collingswood is rated so well, this one in Medford does not seem to meet up to that level.
Also, I killed that Jersey Devil burger, and did not get my picture taken.
Thanks for reading!
Service ⁹⁵⁄₁₀₀
Quality ⁸⁸⁄₁₀₀
Atmosphere ⁸³⁄₁₀₀
Overall ⁸⁹⁄₁₀₀

We went our with our friends and their 2 year old. We had good experiences at the Collingswood location, as the restaurant is child-​friendly and has vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-​free options. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon at lunch time. There was a 25 minute wait. They take your phone number and will text you when your table is ready. There is even an app you can download to see how many people are in front of you!
Our table was ready right in time. Drink orders were taken quickly and we were given a free egg cream for checking in on Unilocal.Orders were taken not too long after that. The food came out of the kitchen quickly, hot, and accurately. We ordered chili, the Greek platter, grilled cheeses, fries, and burgers. The two year old liked his food, so that was a win right there. The vegetarian chili met expectations and was a good portion. The Greek platter featured some tasty falafel balls, while the tatziki sauce and the hummus were a little blander than I would expect. All other dishes were average to good. The waitress asked about dessert while we were still eating our entrees so we told her to wait. She took that to mean that we didn’t want dessert so she brought us the bill. However, we did end up ordering dessert. Ice cream sundaes were average to good. We were able to split the bill on two credit cards with no issue.
Much like the other Pop Shop, this is a step up from a diner or fast food, with options for different kinds of diets and kids of all ages. I would return if in the area.

I’m so confused by the Unilocal reviews. This place is phenomenal and everyone that lives in the neighboring area loves it. The menu is overwhelming and EVERYTHING LOOKS DELICIOUS. I wanted to try one of everything. Don’t go if you’re trying to be healthy! Also save room for dessert. And the best part — there’s a million and a half things for vegetarians and vegans. The staff is super friendly and they will customize any meal to your preference. I can’t wait to go back!

This place is WEIRD.
The teenagers who work here are super weird. We had 4 different servers and it took forever for our food to come out when there was only 3 other tables. Everyone who worked there had nothing better to do so all they did was stare.
One kid who thought he was hot shit kept walking by our table (Table of 4 girls) and running his hands threw his hair and winking at us.
When we finally got our food my one friend did not like her fries when we told the waitress (who came back every 3 minutes) that she didn’t like them, she said «that’s not my problem»
People who work here are rude and WEIRD as I said before. We will not be coming back.

This was a pretty decent place. Extremely crowded when we walked in and they do not seat partial parties so have everyone in line. Took a good deal to finally get a seat but the food came out decently fast.
For the food I got the humus which was okay but the chips were pretty hard, seemed like they tried to fry or bake the chips themselves. For entrée I had the fields of green salad and it was okay for a salad but the honey vinaigrette paired with everything else in the salad made it taste very sweet. The good part of the meal was defiantly the desert. I had the black cow float and it was very good, the ice cream was what made the float.
Overall not a terrible experience even for the wait, I would say more kid oriented, but defiantly not a bad place to come and check out.

After reading the reviews so far I knew we’d be waiting a while to be seated and to get our food. Our family loves going to their Collingswood location when we get the chance. We were all really excited to see the new location.
The place looks great. We were seated in the room by the door so we didn’t get a chance to see what it looked like upstairs. The restaurant (both outside and inside) has a great vibe and ambiance. Perfect for families. It was a little cramped in our booth (family of 3) but we managed.
The wait was really long (about an hour on a Monday at 5:30) even though there weren’t many people waiting ahead of us. Our server was really friendly and many people came over to us to ask if we needed refills or plates cleared. Our food took about 40 minutes to come out, but I was prepared for this because of the reviews I read. Our server came over several times to apologize and update us on how much longer it would be. That was so nice of her and it was definitely appreciated!
Our food was standard Pop Shop quality. We enjoyed our meal! I’m giving 4 stars because of how long we waited I’m hoping as they get into a routine and a flow that their service will be quicker and more efficient.