John Nese is a man who’s in love with soda. His old world store, Galco’s sells almost any kinds of soda of any brands. They have 60 different kinds root beer alone! Talk about choices. This is a Trader Joe’s size grocery store that sells almost exclusively soda with a range of vintage alcoholic drinks and also chocolate bars and snacks that you can’t find anywhere else. This store is located in Northeast Los Angeles in Highland Park, which make it an easy stop for those in downtown and Pasadena area.
Overview
Where: Highland Park neighborhood, Los Angeles, CA
Address: 5702 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Parking: private lot and street
Contact: (323) 255-7115
Hours: Monday – Saturday from 9am – 6:30pm and Sunday from 9am – 4pm
Website: www. galcos.com
Visiting Galcos was a delight. It was like you have just been transported back in time. This is a regular grocery store size that dedicates to selling only vintage soda, wine, beer, and snacks. This takes soda shopping to the next level. I’ve never spent so much time deciding which soda to get. I didn’t know any of the brands and most of them cannot be found at any other stores. I was also lucky to enough to get to meet John, the owner. He was extremely happy to help me pick and introduce me to a variety of root beer and give me suggestions of what to get based on my own preferences.
The store also serves sandwiches, so you can grab lunch and try different kinds of soda at the same time. This place is more than just another quirky attractions. There’s a reason why they’ve been in business in so long. This place is truly unique and i definitely see myself revisit this place regularly to try other kinds of soda. As a fan of root beer, i bought 5 different kinds. John even told me which one is best with vanilla ice-cream for float.
On of all this, you also make your own soda pop at this store. For only a few bucks, you can create your own soda from a variety of flavors that they have here.
This place is truly a gem. It’s beyond any other quirky shops in the city. This isn’t a place where you come once and feel like you never need to revisit again, but the store truly provides both historic value and alternative to those who’s tired of the lack of diversity of choices that we get at regular grocery store.
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