Steel City Pops Brings Avocado Popsicles to North Campus

Steel City Pops, the Alabama-based popsicle chain, is opening its first brick and mortar shop on Guadalupe today, Wednesday, September 6. “We want to be around families but also college students, and this was the perfect blend of both,” said unit manager Brooks Veazey about the location.

The north campus store’s menu features 11 fruity pops, nine creamy flavors, and five cookie options. Options range from the popular strawberry lemonade to more out-there flavors like avocado. The store includes a dipping station, where customers can enhance the pops with chocolate, cinnamon, sea salt, pecans, toasted coconut, and others.

Everything is made fresh every day by kitchen manager Oliver Thomas and his staff. More vegan options are in the works, and they’re open to adding additional Texas flavors like the hatch green chile lemonade when it’s in season.

“I think the people of Austin really value high quality things,” said Veazey. “Usually, the best things take time to create and so I think because we do go out of our way to find local providers like Austin Orchards, I think [Austinites] appreciate that and value that.”

The Guadalupe location includes a viewing window where customers can watch the popsicles being made. The outdoor patio with cornhole isn’t currently open, but it should be in the near future. Veazey’s wife, Mary Ann, painted the colorful murals that cover the outside walls of the shop.

Steel City Pops strives to give back to communities as much as it can. The store only sells Provid water, a brand the company created that funds clean water initiatives in India and Africa. All proceeds go straight to those charities.

The Alabama popsicle chain now has 12 locations in Texas. It first arrived in Austin in May 2016 as a food cart, which will remain at food truck park The Picnic on Barton Springs. New carts will be added to campus and Westlake. There are also plans to open a second location in the Domain next spring.

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