May 10, 2010 | First Look, Food + Drink, Kids + Babies

First Look | Popbar – Gelato on a Stick

Lovers of gelato in New York have their share of haute ice cream shops with Ciao Bella, Il Laboratorio del Gelato and Grom. But, a new player in the frozen dessert market has taken the traditional Italian recipe and served it the American way. Newly launched in the West Village, Popbar is the first ever gourmet popsicle shop that serves handcrafted authentic gelato and sorbetto on a stick. Made daily on site in small batches of 24, the popbars, which are kosher certified and gluten free, use only fresh, natural ingredients with no artificial flavors.

The popGelato bars are made with Stick House gelato from a unique artisanal recipe that uses imported Italian ingredients. Flavors include basic chocolate and vanilla as well as banana, coffee, mint, lemon and strawberry among others. Each popbar can be customized by adding one or more poppings such as chopped almonds, biscotti crumbles or brownie chunks and then dipped or drizzled with white, milk or dark chocolate.

Some of the fancier combinations on the menu include the Coconut Premium Chocolate (coconut popGelato bar double dipped in dark chocolate and covered with shredded coconut flakes) and Pistachio Premium Drizzle (pistachio popGelato bar covered with freshly chopped pistachios and drizzled with dark chocolate).

Fruit based and dairy-free, the popSorbetto bars comes in single flavors including mango, peach, pineapple, lime or in layered combinations such as raspberry, mint and lemon. The shop also offers popYogurt bars, popShakes and popSmoothies.

A basic popbar starts at $4 and personalized mypops (covered in poppings and dips) start at $5 each. Sign up online to get a free mypop on your birthday. Catering is available for special events. Popbar is open from 11AM to 11PM on Sunday through Thursday and til 2AM on the weekend.

Popbar, 5 Carmine Street (at 6th Avenue), 212-255-4874