Whos Your Popper?

Off the Cob- Gourmet Popcorn
5301 Bosque Blvd Suite 150
Waco, Texas 76710
254-776-7800
Website

Mon: 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tue - Sat: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Today while running errands I decided to FINALLY stop by Off the Cob to snag some popcorn for the season. It is right next to Target, which is a great location, central to Waco and who doesn’t shop at Target these days? It is a locally owned and operated joint that opened up earlier this year. Appears it might be a mom and daughter business, but that’s just a guess based on what I observed… I didn’t go into too much detail while talking to the nice lady behind the counter.

When you walk in you are greeted with a light scent of sweetness and of course popcorn- it isn’t over powering, just a nice hint of it all. To the left you got your counter, to your right you got shelves covered with tin cans to choose from, sample views of the popcorn sizes and plenty of other sweet treats to satisfy your sugary needs, in the back there are dozens of tubs filled with a variety of colorful and tasty popcorn.

So while scanning over the many flavors to choose from, the lady explains to me how the whole deal works. There are 3 main categories to choose from: Savory, Sweet and Specialty; and they are each priced differently. Example; A small savory is $1.75, while a small specialty is $2.25. I’m sure it’s due to complexity of flavors and ingredients. They also have classic popcorn, kettle corn, several different chocolate popcorns, nut blends, popcorn balls, gift boxes and tins.

So after looking over the choices and sampling a couple of flavors I settle on a 2 Gallon Tin that comes with 3 Flavors (minus chocolate & nut), I choose; Mac N Cheese, Carmel Apple and of Course Dr. Pepper (had to get Dr. Pepper, this is Waco after all). This runs me about $18, and next time I come in I get it filled for half price. Good Deal.

First I try the Mac N Cheese; its powered cheese popcorn. The popcorn tastes fresh, the cheesiness is definitely there. Much better than the cheese popcorn you get in those premade ones at the super market around this time of the year. Next I try the Caramel Apple- which is a mix of two different flavors; part of the popcorn is Apple, the other half is classic caramel. The apple alone looks like something out of a sci-fi movie with its bright neon green glow with a great aroma. It tastes pretty dang good, a lot like a green apple candy. The caramel is your classic, but it is a lot fresher, and the kernels are covered much more… unlike the prepackaged stuff that has a lot of gapped corn or pieces not really covered. Together it is a pretty awesome combination… this is one of their Seasonal Specials. Last but not least the Dr. Pepper. To be honest, upon looking at this I had my reservations… It’s a rather solid Purple glaze on the kernels with a sweet aroma to it. At first bite you get sweetness and popcorn, then a medium-strong lingering of… Dr. Pepper. It reminded me of the Dr. Pepper bubble gum I used to buy at the Pepper Museum. The Dr. Pepper was my favorite. But the whole time I was trying to clean my room, I kept going back to the tin to snag some more of each flavor. I finally had to move it to another room to keep it from distracting me. This is great for snacking, for the munchies, for a gift, or just for the hell of it.

So next time you want some flavored popcorn, forget the stuff prepackaged at HEB or Target stop by Off the Cob. Not only will you be getting a much better product and more choices, you’ll also be supporting one of Waco’s fine Locally Owned and Operated Joints.

And we all know its popcorn season with Halloween (horror movie nights and parties), Thanksgiving (great way to end a big ole meal), and of course Christmas. So stop on it and tell’em Davie G sent ya.


I can’t wait to go back and try more of their flavors… I hear they are working on a Pumpkin Flavor.