Lisa’s Passion For Popcorn’s New Ultimate Popcorn Bar
A popcorn bar? You’ve heard of salad bars, frozen yogurt bars and dessert bars, where you take a food and customize it with various toppings.
In Kaysville, we now have an “ultimate popcorn bar” at Lisa’s Passion For Popcorn. Although its official opening is July 3, my daughter-in-law Stephanie Phillips and I saw the Facebook announcement of a sneak preview July 29, and wanted to check it out.
When we walked in and looked around on Friday night, I joked with owner Zack Call that it’s like a Cafe Rio for popcorn. Patrons can choose from a different flavors, toppings and drizzles to get what they want. They pop it; you top it.
For over 30 years, Lisa’s Passion for Popcorn has been part of Main Street, selling house-made popcorn in a huge variety of flavors. Owner Zack Call said he came up with the idea of a popcorn bar after visiting various dessert bars. Also, he said, he tends to go for savory snacks and his wife likes sweet ones, so they had a hard time finding treats where both could get what they want. With a popcorn bar, you can do either sweet or savory… or both.
The popcorn and flavors are assembled behind the counter by staff in professional-looking chef coats. A sign on the wall gives the options, prices and what to do. Then there are signs listing the choices of popcorn, drizzles and toppings.
I asked for a paper cone of cheese-flavored popcorn. Then I added a drizzle of Buffalo sauce, and toppings of bacon bits and BBQ seasoning. It was a pretty good combination.
Stephanie went for the sweet side, with chocolate and marshmallows over caramel corn. She liked hers, too.
The cost for a paper cone of popcorn is $5 — not bad compared to the cost of most movie theater popcorn. (The Kaysville Theatre next door is an exception to high-priced popcorn — it’s great, and very affordable!). I guess it would be a similar price to frozen yogurt with toppings.
The store asked for feedback, and we gave it. One thing Stephanie immediately noticed is that after you get your popcorn, you want somewhere to sit and enjoy it. There are two small tables in the corner where you can eat standing up, with holders for your popcorn cones. But there’s nowhere that you can sit down. During summer months, it might be possible to set up a table or two on the sidewalk. There’s an empty storefront a few doors south of the Kaysville Theater, and maybe the popcorn bar could expand over there, while keeping the packaged products at the current location.
I think it would be fun to take your goodies into the Kaysville Theater and munch during a movie. But Zack Call said you can only bring the prepackaged flavored popcorn into the theater; but not the customized popcorn bar treats. However, he plans to keep the popcorn bar open later at night, so people can stop by after a movie.
Is Utah ready for a popcorn bar? Hey, this is the where we sing about popcorn popping on apricot trees. It’s an innovative idea, and who knows, a trend could pop up.