Soda Pops

I used to come here every now and then when I lived up here a few years ago, and it was a nice little place to go for lunch. We came back on vacation and were very excited to go to Soda Pops again. I’m not sure what happened since then but it really seems to have gone downhill. We were seated right away, but it took at least 10-15 minutes for the server to even acknowledge us. Then our order wasn’t brought to us until we had been in the restaurant for an hour. We didn’t even have a complicated order; just a hot dog, a Reuben sandwich, and sweet potato fries (which were not even warm). There was a ton of food just sitting under the warmers for a really long time, and I’m not sure why. The food was tasty, but not worth the wait. They only had a limited soda pop menu too, which seemed weird for a place called Soda Pops. We could have gone somewhere with higher quality food with less of a wait time. I’m not usually an impatient person but this was ridiculous.

We have been coming here for 15+ years because our kids love the kitschy atmosphere and huge variety of sodas in bottles. The food and service have never been great. The wait for a table is always 20 minutes at a minimum. After being seated there is almost always another 20 minute plus wait for the waitress to take your order (even for drinks) and then 20 minutes minimum more for the food. You basically can never get in and out in under 90 minutes and generally it's longer. We went again this year because it's a "tradition". Same waiting, same mediocre food, except now most of the cool sodas on the menu were not available. The fries and onion rings were good but the onion ring portion was not great for the price. One positive was the addition of a veggie burger. Overall even the kids (now high school age) are over it and said maybe we should just get sodas to go next time. . .much better burgers sandwiches and salads available around town without dedicating most of your afternoon.

Good food but pricey. Gyros and Chicago dogs were very good but you have to know the recipe as it is meat on a medium which you then add your own from a humongous selection of condiments. The big draw in the dog days of summer are the soda jerks. You can get a real taste of soda flavors made the old fashion way with syrups and seltzer. A perfect cap to a trip into town with the kids. Staff is very friendly and good with kids.

Service was awful. Our waitress, Lina, took our order and she was very rude. We had to ask for our drinks, a fountain drink and water, twice and they did not come until after our food was delivered. There was a problem with the servers and we had to listen to them discuss it. We interrupted the server conversation to ask for our food. The food was slammed on the table. When the drinks came she once again slammed them down and moved on. We were never checked on during our meal, which the food was awful compared to years ago. When she came to take my credit card I told her I though she was being rude and she said it was us. She said that she has to work with non English speaking workers that don’t know what they are doing. She said it was rude that we asked for our food bc she had not been told it was up. Nothing about the drinks-we were to be understanding. I told her we as customers should not have to listen to employee disputes she said they have no where else to have the conversation. I said then go in back or wait until after hours. She took my card and had another waitress bring it back. We have been to Soda Pops a few times but it has been years. We loved this place, but we will never go there again.

Soda Pops appears to be permanently closed. When we went there today (June 22nd, 2019) for lunch, the sign said that the “establishment would be open limited hours from Oct. - May”. In reality, the shelves are bare, and the antiques are all gone. The neighboring business said that Soda Pops has been slowly liquidating all their inventory over the past Winter 2018/Spring 2019 Season. In some aspects, it’s sad to see Soda Pops go, and in others, it’s probably for the best. The selection of soft drinks from around the World used to be awesome, but significantly diminished over the last 5 years or so. The food was never great. About the only thing going for them food-wise was the beer battered onion rings. For many, Soda Pops was a destination, and a Northwoods tradition. It would be nice to see new management come in and buy/take over the establishment, and revive the business. Hopefully, the City of Eagle River will help “restore life” to this place before more of the downtown stores shrivel up and close.

I would recommend the fast food restaurant across the road. We have been here in the past and the service and food was ok. Our experience this year has been quite different. It started well. We were sat quickly and greatest by our waitress Maggie. It went down hill from there. It took almost 45 minutes to get our food which when busy I do not mind. The issue was we were sitting where we could see the kitchen and watched our food sit under the warming lights for 13 minutes before we were served. The was going on while we watched our waitress sit at the counter on her phone. Our food was cold when we received it and almost inedible. I usually expect a little seasoning on my burger such as salt and pepper. Maybe you have to pay extra for that here. To the wait staff credit they did ask how we were doing but this was in passing. By in passing I am saying they asked as they walked by and we're two booths down from us before they finished asking. Without hearing a response to thier question, they answered good as if that was how we were expected to respond.

This retro diner is a local favorite and a must for seasonal visitors! Known for their exhaustive list of sodas in a myriad of flavors, classic sandwiches are served on delicious homemade rolls, soups and other comfort foods round out the lunch & dinner menu. Finish with an excellent milkshake, classic sundae, or root beer float from an authentic vintage

We would've given it zero stars, but couldn't. This was the worst place we have eaten at to date. Our total bill with tax was close to $25! We had a Vienna hot dog for $4, and the server asked if we wanted chili and cheese, but failed to mention that both of these were $1.50 each, making the hot dog $7! And it wasn't even a big hot dog. We also ordered chicken tenders which were just a tad larger than a chicken nugget. Fries were separate at $3 for a paper cup full. Two soda's at $3/ea. Server told us they had a diet orange soda and then brought out a orange cream soda, which we drank because they already opened it. Could've had a better experience at Timmy's Dairy Corner right down the block with only $2 hot dogs.