Galco's Old World Grocery

When I moved to Eagle Rock, my co-worker friend, Aaron suggested I check out Galco's Old World Grocery (5702 York Blvd.) a.k.a. "The Soda Pop Stop." I didn't know what to expect when I walked in this place. I'm not much of a soda drinker. I prefer the other kind of drink (the kind with alcohol). Nevertheless, I was floored when I walked in this store. It's a grocery store with rows and rows of every kind of soda made from all over the world. Their website doesn't even begin to illustrate how amazing this place is. I wandered through the store for about 20 minutes taking in all the various birch beers, cream sodas, ginger ales and sarsaparillas. They also have a substantial array of hard to find candy too. Somebody still actually manufactures candy cigarettes. Remember the chalky white ones with the red tips ?

Galco's also houses an impressive import and micro beer selection. I left with a six pack of New Orleans brewed Abita beer and a bottle of Dublin Dr. Pepper, from the oldest operating Dr. Pepper bottling plant in the world. It is still made with the original Dr. Pepper recipe which uses pure cane sugar as opposed to sucrose or glucose or whatever our bodies are being tainted with by all the cola conglomerates.

Galco's has a deli counter too, offering a few different types of sandwiches. An Italian sub is always a good gauge on how well a place makes sandwiches, so I ordered one. The bread reminded me of the bread that Dave's Chillin and Grillin' uses. Maybe they call on the same bread guy. The sandwich itself, however, was standard and unexciting. But, hey, what kind of cuisine were you expecting from a run-down grocery store that houses a war chest of soda pop. The sugary Dr. Pepper went down real good with my sub. I then chowed down a few candy cigarettes for old time's sake. After my visit to Galco's, I was sure of one thing: I had better eat a salad for dinner.