Now you can have dessert after your tacos. Lil’ Pop Shop, a locally owned artisan popsicle shop, officially opened today at 265 S. 44th Street, between Honest Tom’s Taco Shop and Tampopo. The owner, Jeanne Chang, lives right around the corner and said that she was very excited about opening the shop in the neighborhood.

The shop hours are Tuesday-Saturday 12-9 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m., maybe longer or shorter depending on how traffic is, Jeanne said. Also, a mobile cart will be out starting Wednesday and hours and locations will vary.

The popsicles are made on the premises using mostly locally grown ingredients.

The current popsicle flavors include Chocolate w/ Salted Caramel Brownie, Lime Mint, Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade, Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk and many others. All flavors sell for $3 each.

Jeanne is still working on her online presence. We’ll pass that along once it’s up and running. For now, the shop can be reached at 510-919-0784.

Two West Philly establishments have received nominations in Philadelphia Magazine’s Best of Philly 2012 list. The Rotunda was nominated in the Best Indie Music venues category and Fiume (45th & Locust) received a nomination in the Best Bar category.

You can help The Rotunda and Fiume win by casting your votes on this page. You can come back and vote daily until Monday, May 21. The awards will be announced in Philadelphia Magazine’s August issue.

Mariposa Food Co-op celebrates its new store at 4824 Baltimore Avenue with a Grand Opening ceremony, and a day of food, special sales & sampling, and fun for the whole family this Saturday, April 21. The ceremony will feature Congressman Chaka Fattah and other special guests.

Mariposa has been open to the public for shopping in its new location at 4824 Baltimore Avenue since March 17, and the response has been great. “Since our initial opening, we’ve had 151 new members join, bringing our member count to over 1,300,” says Mariposa’s Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Chakka Reeves. “This event is our way of thanking the many people and organizations who made our expansion possible.”

During the ceremony, Fattah will talk about the National Cooperative Development Act, legislation that calls for increased support for cooperative businesses to encourage economic growth and job creation. Mariposa expansion, Reeves says, “has created eight new jobs and leveraged $2.5 million into the local economy.”

The Grand Opening ceremony will take place from 11-11:45 a.m. The special sales and samples will be throughout the day and there will also be an opportunity to sign up to become Mariposa Food Co-op members. For more information on how to join Mariposa, call 215-729-2121 or go to http://www.mariposa.coop/join.

The construction of Mariposa Food Co-op‘s new store is complete. The new store at 4824 Baltimore Avenue is officially opening this Saturday, March 17 at 10 a.m. There were a few bumps on the road, but the final result looks to be worth it. The new store includes a beautiful produce section, meats, cheeses and lots of packaged and bulk foods. For the first time in the Co-op’s 40-year history it will also be open to non-members, though members (working and non-working) get a nice discount on everything they buy and some other sweet perks.

Project manager Bull Gervasi was kind enough to accompany us on a video tour of the new digs so that you can see for yourself what has been achieved by a group of dedicated Mariposa staff, members and volunteers. To join Mariposa, visit: http://www.mariposa.coop/?page_id=27.

Exciting news is coming from Mariposa Food Co-op. Mariposa has announced that the new store at 4824 Baltimore Ave. will open on Saturday, March 17 at 10:00 a.m. The last day you can shop at their old location at 4726 Baltimore Avenue is this Wednesday, March 7.

Mariposa is also going to reveal a new official logo to go with their new store. The logo was designed by their member-worker Cecily Anderson of Anagramist Design. Look for it this week on Mariposa’s Facebook and Twitter pages and on their website later this week.

Stay tuned for more news about the new store opening.

 
Powelton residents will soon get more access to fresh, locally grown food. The West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a mobile grocery store, is launching in April to serve Lancaster Avenue and the surrounding communities. The truck will sell groceries like rice, flour, milk, peanut butter and eggs and fresh fruits and vegetables supplied by Preston’s Paradise and Greensgrow Farms.

Ryan Kuck, West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub project manager, says that they’ve been running a push cart market for about five years and were “looking for a way to scale up and be a more consistent access point to fresh food in our neighborhood.” The idea is “to be a grocery store more than a farmers’ market.”

So, look for the Fresh Food Hub starting next month along Lancaster Avenue, between 37^th and 40^th streets. The truck will also travel to senior housing communities, block parties and community events. The schedule for Lancaster Avenue (near 37th) is Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when it’s not at a community event. They’ll have additional hours at the Mantua library on Wednesday evenings and the West Philly Senior Center on Friday afternoons (they are still working on the details).

For more information about the West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub and people behind it, read this Plan Philly article or visit their Facebook page.