Pops

What is Pops?

The building is a long, modern glass-and-steel box with a roof that reaches far out over the gas pumps. The bottle sign by the road is 66 feet tall, a nod to the highway, and weighs about four tons. It looks like neon at night, but it is lit with LEDs.

Inside are a restaurant and a store where the soda does the decorating. The bottles line the window shelves by the color of the drink, so the walls glow like stained glass on a sunny day, and many brands are hard to find elsewhere. Coolers in the store hold cold bottles to take on the road.

History of Pops

Pops opened in 2007 on the site of an older gas station. It was the idea of Aubrey McClendon, the Oklahoma energy executive who led Chesapeake Energy, and it was designed by the Oklahoma City architect Rand Elliott. The name has a double meaning: McClendon called his father Pops, and a company vice president has said that, together with the soda pop on the shelves, gave the place its name. After McClendon died in 2016, the property was sold in 2020 to an Edmond family, who said they were spending on repairs, including new gas pumps.

Visiting Pops: tips

Pops sits right on Route 66 in Arcadia, northeast of Oklahoma City, so it is an easy meal and fuel stop on a day crossing central Oklahoma. Allow 45 minutes to an hour to eat and browse the shelves. The Arcadia Round Barn is about 0.6 mile away, so the two pair naturally, and the Threatt Filling Station is about 11 miles off. If the timing works, pass by after dark, when the bottle sign is lit. Hours can change, so check before planning a late stop.