The California Store Dedicated To Everything Soda Pop (You Can Even Make Your Own)

Your options are relatively limited when you're buying soft drinks in most grocery stores. There are mainly colas, root beers, ginger ales, lemon-lime and orange sodas, citrusy Mountain Dew, and the mystery flavor of Dr. Pepper from its 23 secret flavors. Additionally, a majority of them are owned by either Coca-Cola or Pepsi. But that's far from the case at a more than 125-year-old Los Angeles store where it's all about celebrating the fizzy drinks.

Galco's Soda Pop Stop more than lives up to its Freedom of Choice motto, lining its aisles with 700 to 800 kinds of soda. (Here's why its name varies as soda or pop across the U.S.) Owner John Nese likes to stock brands that are hard to find, such as ones from small makers, classic brands, or unusual types. Regional sodas we wish were available everywhere? Galco's almost certainly has them. As you peruse the aisles, you'll notice the sodas are all in bottles. Nese rejects canned sodas because he believes they pick up a taste from the metal.

As if Soda Pop Stop doesn't offer enough of a selection, customers can create their own personalized flavor at the Soda Creation Station. There are more than 100 flavor syrups to mix and match — Galco's claims more than one million possible combinations — and patrons choose how strong they want the carbonation before filling the 12-ounce bottle with soda water. After a stop at the capping station, each bottle gets a label for customers to write the flavor they created.

Galco's gets most of its sales in the store, but does sell soda online. Its website lists sodas by categories, like Brews & Sarsaparillas, Classics, Citruses, Ginger Beers & Ales, Cream Sodas, and Something Different. It also lists flavors to shop by, with a range of fruity options, such as orange, lemon, and grape. Other less common natural flavors include cucumber, dandelion, and rose.

The store began in 1897 as an Italian shop in downtown LA called Galco's Old World Grocery that sold imported Italian products and deli sandwiches. The family ownership eventually changed hands to Nese's father after several decades, and the store moved to its current location in the Highland Park neighborhood in 1955. Galco's began faltering due to competition from big chains in the '90s, and Nese came up with the idea of reorienting the business to selling soda, beginning in 1995 with a focus on smaller brands.

The Soda Pop Shop also sells more than 600 craft beers from around the world, hard ciders, and other alcoholic beverages like French wines and Japanese sakes. It additionally sells "Old Tyme" candies that shoppers may not have seen since their childhood and others that are popular in different parts of the country. An Italian deli still remains, where shoppers can pick up a sandwich with their soda purchases. The highlight is the Blockbuster sandwiches, which supposedly got their name when boxing legend Rocky Marciano stopped in and had one in the 1950s, and said about their large size: "Wow! This is a real blockbuster!"