Galco’s Old World Grocery (Soda Pop Stop)

The Aisles

Walking into Galco’s means stepping past shelves stacked floor to ceiling with glass bottles in every color. Twenty-nine different colas fill one section. Root beers take up another. Then come cream sodas, ginger beers, fruit flavors, and categories you didn’t know existed. The bottles themselves tell stories. Some labels look vintage because they are, reproduced from original 1950s designs.

John Nese, now in his eighties, often works the aisles and knows the history of each brand. Ask about Manhattan Special and he’ll tell you about New York coffee soda culture. Mention Green River and he’ll explain its cult following in the Midwest. He stocks sodas made by monks (Trappist), sodas from Austria (Almdudler), and sodas with flavors like mint julep, habanero lime, and guava.

Individual bottles run $1.50 to $3.00, and you can buy them cold from the fridge or at room temperature from the shelves. Coke and Pepsi are nowhere to be found. Nese built this business supporting the little bottlers who got squeezed out by big distributors.

The Soda Creation Station

Can’t find your perfect flavor? Make it. The Creation Station offers 100+ syrup flavors, three carbonation levels, and blank bottles. Pick your syrups, add carbonated water to your preferred fizz level, cap it, and label it. The station has become a destination for kids and adults who want to experiment with combinations like cherry-vanilla-lime or strawberry-cucumber.

Beyond Soda

The back corner holds the deli counter, a carryover from Galco’s grocery store days. The Blockbuster sandwich (Italian dry salami, mortadella, salami cotta, ham, and provolone on a French roll) got its name when boxer Rocky Marciano supposedly walked in during the 1950s and declared it a knockout. The recipe hasn’t changed, still using Molinari cold cuts and the same sourdough bread.

Bins of vintage candy (Lemonheads, Razzles, Scooter Pies, ZERO bars) line another wall. The craft beer and wine selection rivals specialty liquor stores, with American microbrews and European imports carefully chosen by Nese.

The Story

Galco’s started in 1897 in downtown LA as an Italian grocery. It moved to Highland Park in 1955 and operated as a neighborhood market until the 1990s, when chain stores bought up distribution channels and made it impossible for small shops to compete. Nese’s father warned him that switching to specialty sodas would fail. His bookkeeper was told to find another job.

Then Nese’s daughter Noelle wrote to PBS host Huell Howser. After the 2000 “Visiting with Huell Howser” episode aired, lines stretched to the back of the store. The inventory sold out overnight. Publications from the New York Times to German television came calling. The shop that couldn’t compete with chains became a destination people drive across LA to visit.

What to Know

Plan 30-60 minutes to browse. The free parking lot makes it easy to load up bottles. Nese or his staff are happy to make recommendations. Just mention what flavors you usually like. The store ships sodas nationwide through sodapopstop.com, though you’ll miss the experience of wandering the aisles and discovering bottles you never knew existed.

Some visitors come for nostalgia (finding the soda from their childhood town), some for curiosity (what does rose petal soda taste like?), and some just want to see what 700+ varieties looks like in one place. Families make it an outing. Collectors hunt for rare bottles. And everyone can leave with at least one flavor they’ve never tried before.