Whether you find yourself on the east coast, down south, or somewhere out west this summer, cool off with gourmet popsicles from a few of these top shops. Featuring everything from environmentally friendly pops to puppy pops, the frozen popsicles at these locations certainly aren’t your run-of-the-mill frozen aisle treats.
Las Paletas
Location: Nashville, TN
Featuring a long list of ever-changing flavors, Las Paletas has creative offerings and makes good use of both in-season and local ingredients. There is even an option to have your pop dipped in locally made Olive and Sinclair chocolate—which we find complements both their creamy and fruity popsicles well. Some popular choices are the deceptively good avocado, chai tea, Mexican caramel and wildly floral hibiscus.
People’s Pops
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Beginning as a one-day experiment, People’s Pops has definitely found its niche in New York City. The brand is dedicated to using the best local fruit they can get their hands on and a couple years back shared all their secrets in the bestselling People’s Pops cookbook. We are particularly fond of their recipes for Cranberry Apple Popsicles, Raspberries and Cream Popsicles and Watermelon and Parsley Popsicles.
The Hyppo
Location: St. Augustine, FL
Sticking to their philosophy of 100% home-grown, The Hyppo got its curious name from a combination of local influences. The business was created on the day of the Feast of Saint Augustine of Hippo and the main store is on Hypolita Street. Featuring a rotation of over 450 flavors of popsicles including a strawberry datil pepper popsicle and key lime pie popsicle, The Hyppo shows just how many taste opportunities there are available in Florida.
Pop Nation
Location: San Francisco, CA
Pop Nation is a family-run food cart business that creates all-natural popsicles you won’t feel bad giving to your kids. These pops are vegan and gluten-free and rely on ingredients like coconut palm sugar and raw organic cane sugar for sweetness—not to mention, they are currently working on a no-added-sugar pop. We also applaud the company for providing recyclable bags and biodegradable sticks. Pop Nation limits themselves to one bag of trash per week and composts all excess food scraps.
Six Strawberries
Location: Seattle, WA
Vanessa Resler and Will Lemke began their popsicle venture shortly after Vanessa’s cousin Alex, a man who dreamed of a popsicle business, passed away. Many of the flavors are drawn from ideas he brainstormed with the pair (think peanut butter and jelly sandwich) and thankfully, they are just as delicious as he could have imagined. You can pick up the pops at various Farmer’s Markets in Seattle or directly from their mobile bicycle cart.
Lil’ POP Shop
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Jeanne Chang of Lil’ POP Shop knows her sweets. She is a trained pastry chef from the Culinary Institute of America and has made it her life goal to create the tastiest and healthiest pops on the market. With unique selections such as creamy sweet and salty summer corn and Vietnamese Ice Coffee on her menu, we’d say she’s well on her way.
King of Pops
Locations: Atlanta, Athens & Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; Chattanooga, TN; Richmond, VA
There are few areas more deserving of a top-notch popsicle food cart than the sweltering South. Thankfully, southerners can rely on King of Pops. With selections such as Arnold Palmer, cereal milk and kiwi banana honey, they certainly have variations to suit every summer palate.
Viva Pops
Location: San Diego, CA
Aside from her brick and mortar location, Viva Pops owner Lisa Altmann sells her popsicles at Farmers’ markets alongside the very farmers who produce the pops’ fruit. The flavors are continually changing according to the season and Viva Pops even features a line especially for dogs. And it gets better—100% of proceeds earned from their pup pops line goes to the Even Chance Pit Bull Rescue.
Pleasant Pops
Location: Washington, D.C.
Dedicated to delivering the best pops to our country’s capital, Pleasant Pops spent a year crafting pristine flavors before they even opened their doors (ahem…truck window). Today, they have a store front, a collection of pristine pops featuring locally sourced ingredients and solid lunch menu for those that need a bit more to quench their hunger.
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