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Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure |
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Motorcycle TourMagazine |
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Great roads, superb food, good times - do we need more? Without any doubt our most popular column. The Great All American Diner Run, or GAADR, gives our readers some of the best places ro ride for a great meal. Whether it be some hidden barbecue in the Adirondacks or a crab place in the Chesapeake, the GAADR gives the very best eateries, and like most things in Backroads, we'll supply a super way to get there as well with our own Rip & Ride® Route Sheets. |
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729 Haddonfield Avenue, Collingswood, NJ 08108 • 856-869-0111 |
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Rip & Ride • The Pop Shop Exit Kosco H-D in Pompton Plains Make U-turn up Rte. 23 north Left on Rte. 94 Right on CR 661 Beaver Run Road Left on Rte. 15 Right on Rte. 94 south Follow through Newton stay on Rte. 94 Left at Silver Lake Road Left at CR 521 south Straight at CR 519 South - in Hope Cross Rte. 46 Right at Brass Castle Road Right at Hardwick St. Left at Water St. Cross Bridge into Pennsylvania Straight at Martin's Creek Highway Bear left onto Rte. 611 Through Easton - follow signs for Rte. 611 Bear left at Rte. 32 In New Hope bear right up Rte. 232 Left at Rte. 413 Follow signs for Rte. 413 Pick-up I-95 south towards Philadelphia Cross at Ben Franklin Bridge into New Jersey (Rte. 30) Right at Rte. 130 south Left onto Haddon Avenue Follow signs for downtown Collingswood The Pop Shop on left in the middle of town |
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Sometimes we like to get back to basic comfort food. And, for some reason, cheese is usually involved with just about any said "comfort food." Take the good ol' Grilled Cheese. Most folks think it rather basic. Some bread, some American cheese - maybe a tomato sliced into it, some butter and a pan, throw on some heat and you have the classic Grilled Cheese. But, there are some places where the "Classic" is only the beginning.
Truth is that Shira spotted this stop on the Great All American Diner Run while watching a "Throwdown" with Bobby Flay. The talented chef had heard that The Pop Shop made the best grilled cheese sandwiches on the planet and headed down to South Jersey to see if he could do better. He did well, but The Pop Shop was still voted the best on that episode. Being that Philly and Collingswood are just a neat half-day ride away from Backroads Central we took advantage of one of the first days of the spring to meander down that way to check out some Great All American Comfort Food for ourselves. Hey, it's not just a job, but a culinary adventure! Our ride was 85% successful, as the last half hour had us heading straight in on Route 130 out of Burlington, we think the parallel CR 543 might be a better way, or even a quick jaunt down I-95 into Philly and then crossing on the Ben Franklin Bridge might work as well; for this part of New Jersey is not known for its classic riding. The rest of the ride through the PA wilderness and the river run made up for the last 20 minutes. The town of Collingswood has a great main street, where all the businesses reside, called Haddon Avenue - and it was here that we found the famed Pop Shop. On this Wednesday they were busy with the lunch crowd but easily had room for Shira, our Philly-riding buddy Dick Singer and me. The menu at The Pop Shop is huge. Really huge! I seriously recommend you scope the entire menu out on the internet before you ride down, as you could be there for awhile just deciding what meets your fancy after the trip down. Burgers, sandwiches, enormous salads and breakfast served all day. The Pop Shop also had some good-looking Blue Plate Specials including Fried Chicken and Waffles and Lobster Macaroni & Cheese. Truthfully, if this pace were near us it would be a staple and probably would take a year to get through all the goodies they offer.
They all were superb and we can see why - when it comes to Grilled Cheese - The Pop Shop is the world's best! This place is super and we know when we are cruising through the area it will be a must. We'll start this Rip & Ride from the Great All American Diner Run's home at Kosco Harley-Davidson in northern New Jersey and spin our way into Pennsylvania for a while then around Philly on I-95 before dropping across in New Jersey not far from The Pop Shop. |
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The Pop Shop, in the little burg of Collingswood, New Jersey - within eye-shot of Philadelphia - is such a place.
But, being we were following Mr. Flay's lead we all opted for one of 31 grilled cheese sandwiches. Dick went with the basic American cheese with tomato and bacon. It looked awesome. Shira bit into her Haddon, caramelized apples and onion with brie, ham and grain mustard on wheat bread. I wanted what beat Bobby Flay and that would be The Clavert - jack cheese, roasted turkey, bacon, avocado and a house dressing on fococcia bread.