Nickel City Gritty: What's Pop-in’ Gourmet Popcorn
Ya’ll, I don’t know about you, but I just love. snacks. so. much.
Snacks on snacks on snacks, just give them all to me. One of my favorite snacks of all time has to be popcorn. Not only is it super addictive and has a crazy satisfying crunch, but it’s a blank slate that lends itself to SO many flavors. Sometimes I have a sweet tooth and I reach for chocolate covered popcorn or caramel corn, and other times I’m feeling salty so I pick up some cheese or the classic butter deliciousness.
Stefan Coker & David Whelan of What’s Pop-in’ Gourmet Popcorn here in Buffalo have taken the popcorn of your childhood and flipped it right on its head. Sure, they have the “usual” flavors that we all know and love, but what about Beef on Weck or Tomato Basil or even Honey Mustard flavored popcorn?!
I’ll be honest, whenever I’m meeting someone for the first time for our interview, I never know what to expect and it makes me really nervous. Will they be open in their answers? Will they like my questions? Do they even want to be there? From the minute that I stepped into Stefan and David’s storefront, I instantly felt like I was part of the family. They were so excited to tell me their business stories, but their LIFE stories- what they’ve been through, their hardships, their successes, why they do what they do every day. I was honored to have been welcomed into their shop and trusted with their words, and I’m honored to share them with you in this post.
Check out their playlist below!
This is Nickel City Gritty, and this is Stefan and Dave of What’s Pop-In Gourmet Popcorn.
How did What’s Pop-In get started?
Dave: So we were both at Larkin Square Filling Station. We got sick of setting out salads and made some truffle popcorn and everyone loved it, the cheesy name came up and the corny little logo…that was in 2015. Last year we said, “You know, this is it. Either we’re doing it or we’re not.” We took the leap and here we are!
Stefan: So it really was a joke. It’s like, “Yo, we’re two big dudes, who’s gonna believe that we’re popcorn guys?” And then, we would sit at my house and would be dropping flavors, and I started becoming obsessed. I swear, we probably had 400 flavors. I would jot a flavor down every day. That’s really when it came to be. We own Three Brothers Catering, too, and at that time we were doing a lot of out of state weddings and showing people that we’d travel to them and people seemed to really enjoy that. But What’s Pop-in’ didn’t really start to form until I started going through a lot of personal things and Dave was like, “Ya know, are you just going to sit in a restaurant for the rest of your life?” You know, I had a phenomenal chef career, but the problem is that my mind is so outside of the box and some owners just couldn’t grasp it. It’s so crazy, I just sent a picture to Dave today, we were huge into crazy pizzas and now we’re seeing these crazy pizzas with cheeseburgers on them and stuff. We were doing that shit years ago, but people just didn’t get it. We knew that we had to do something crazy and wanted Buffalo to see something different. We were a little bit more conservative in the beginning, but now with everything going on with Covid, I’m like yo, this is really who I am, it’s time to let people know what we’re really about! And we’ve got fans now, and I’m thankful for that, because they’re amazing. I want people to realize that this business is structured around my kids, and Dave is my big homie, he’s been with me through so much. A lot of people don’t know that he’s 25, and it’s really showing these young people that they can be a boss at a young age. It really depends how much work you put into it, ya know? I want people to meet my children and learn my story, and this isn’t really for us, it’s to leave a legacy for them. I always say that if I had time to make ‘em I was gonna make time to raise ‘em. You know, I care about my children so much, and all that I really care about is making money every day for the kids, reinvesting in the business and community, making sure we expand, and making sure we love our customers. We love all of our customers, man, and they love us for who we are.
D: You know, we are who we are and we’re real. A lot of people think that if you speak out on certain things, you cut your customer base in half, and that’s fine and dandy, but are you going to respect an honest person or are you going to respect someone who is just doing it to please you? At the end of the day, we’re not in it to please everyone, we’re in it to take over.
S: We use this store as a platform for public speaking, you know what I mean? I want my kids to see that I’m a leader. I want my kids to grow up and be proud of their father. I’m a single father raising three kids, and I want people to understand the amount of work that goes into that. Fathers need to step up and raise their children! If you want to be a REAL homie, raise your children. So I’d rather have half the customers and keep it real instead of a million customers and us have to suit up and act a certain way. We’re stubborn as shit *laughs* But respect and professionalism are still always needed.
How would you describe your personal style?
S: Honestly I’m a huge sneaker head and a hat guy. You’ll always see me in a hat and some crazy sneakers, but other then that I don’t give a shit! Black tees from Wallmart…I don’t have a particular style, I think it’s my personality. I like looking comfy and just chillin. Shorts and a tee shirt.
D: Yeah, give me some sport shorts and a black tee!
If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
D: I’d work. I’d get further ahead.
S: Yeah, we’re workaholics. Honestly, the reason why we’re here is because of how much I talk and how much we work.
D: You know I’m a 25 year old single dude with no kids, all I do is work!
S: So, if I had extra time, I’d be slingin more popcorn or spending it with my kids.
What are some small things that make your day better?
S: Shit…I don’t know if I can say this, but like whatever…I love smoking blunts! Honestly, that shit keeps me rollin’. But I’m not a druggie and I don’t drink! I love coffee though. I drink a shit load of coffee.
D: I’ve been on sugar free Monsters lately! I gotta cut back because I’ll get a kidney stone *laughs*
S: Also, we listen to a LOT of music.
Well that goes perfectly into my next question- what’s on your playlist?
S: Awww man Benny the Butcher is my thing right now.
D: The Game, Biggie, Nas, Big L, Big Pun, J. Cole…
S: And then I love some love makin’ music! A lot of 112, Boyz II Men, Ginuwine, Luther Vandross…so I go from real hood to hug me and kiss me!
What is one story your family always tells about you?
S: I’m a wild boy, my family will probably tell you that.
D: So when I didn’t have a permit yet, I went to pick up some pizza and wings and I took my sister’s car on her birthday, and I took a corner way too hot and I hit a baby tree and totally fucked the front end of her car *laughs* So I roll back home, car is all smashed up, there’s chicken wings everywhere. I think that’s probably the story that gets told the most.
What is your spirit animal?
S: I don’t really even know what that is!
Is there a specific animal that you identify with?
S: Oh hell yeah, a black bear! Rawr! *laughs* Or like a lion….something fierce and sexy! I’ve always wanted to be that guy, ya know? Like, you look at me and be like, “Damn he is fine but don’t piss him off!”
D: Is Bigfoot a spirit animal?
S: Bigfoot?! I love that! I see your footprint and I’m like, “Whoa!”
D: You kind of see me and are like, who’s that dude in the corner? If I go out I find the corner and stand there with my arms crossed and everyone is like, “Oh fuck…”
S: Yeah, like that dude is scary over there with the mullet. But then if they just saw your blue eyes they’d be like, “Wow, this guy has to be fucking gorgeous!” But then the curtain drops and they are like, “Whatttt!”
D: Yeah, I don’t mind!
What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
D: I want to say that the first thing I bought when I had my own money was my Buick!
S: Yeah, you splurged on the Buick! I think I probably bought myself some candy. You know when you’re a kid you want to hit the corner store with a couple dollars. Candy cigarettes, honey buns have been in my life a long time, something like that.
What are some of your favorite restaurants in Buffalo?
S: I’m obsessed with Las Puertas, I love what he does. La Divina is bomb. Also Mulberry’s and Sinatras are great. Love the atmosphere. Roost is dope.
If you could be reincarnated as one of your popcorn flavors, what would it be?
D: Black Truffle
S: Yeah, Black Truffle, easy. Wrap me up in like some sexy lingerie, that’s what I would be. To me, that is our most intimate flavor.
D: That’s what got us started!
S: It really is an educational experience, when you come to the store, because we have so many flavors. Specialty flavors have been developed by children that we’ve met at markets. Classic flavors have been developed by me and Dave and whoever else. Some flavors that I drop each week are me just playing around. There’s no rhyme or reason to anything that we have here, it’s really about what you’re feeling that week.
And the last question that I always ask is, what do you want to be when you grow up?
S: Awww shit, I wanna be ME! I love me so much…I’m proud of myself and where I am in my life and the things that I’ve been through at 38 years old. Ya know, people said I couldn’t do shit. All of the things that I’ve been through, watching my mother be abused and my father, losing my childhood friend…I could go all day. I don’t want to be anybody else but myself because I’m so proud of myself…how could I be anybody else?
D: The only thing I want to be is in different countries. I want to be all over the place. I want to travel. But I want to be me. Everyone who has doubted it…I wouldn’t put myself in anybody else’s shoes, because I don’t want to walk their lives. I want to walk my own life and create my own legacy.
S: You know how you always hear people say, “God has blessed me.” I grew up in the church and I remember coming up to the church as a kid and singing in the choir and all that shit, and I do believe in God, but I never understood it. I don’t think I really got it until I was about 36. I see my children and I’m thankful to wake up every day. I don’t say it, but yeah, I’m blessed. It’s funny how we always talk about our past and the bad things that we’ve been through and how they define what you’ve become, I’d agree with that, but I think that when you can start to let go of some of that pain, and really try your hardest to deal with it and accept it for what it’s become, I think you realize how blessed you really are. I’ve never wanted to educate people. Shit, it’s my life, how do you educate someone on your life? But now all I want to do is have these kind of conversations. All I want to do is educate people and share my story. One, we’ve all got a story, and two, we all come from the same shit, ya know? And three, it just brings us closer together as family. The business is family, you’re family now, the customers are family now. People that you know you can trust and rely on if you need a shoulder. It’s amazing to see the amount of people who show respect to us for just being us. You know, I come from a very abusive background, and it’s hard to make those changes and it’s hard to put your trust in people when you come from that. You flash back to that and you base your whole life on that. Nas always taught me that sleep was the cousin of death. That’s a good thing or a bad thing, could be both. If you wanna get where you wanna get, when everyone else is sleeping you better be up working.
Thanks so much guys for the incredible interview! If you would like to try out their DELICIOUS popcorn for yourself, you can place an order on their website. And you don’t just have to live in Buffalo to get in on the goodness, they ship all across the country, so send some to all of your family and friends!