Campbell’s Sweets Factory
West Side Market
Price $$
Rating 3 out of 5
If you have a hankering for sweet treats, the West Side Market is the place to go. With Christmas around the corner, I decided to give Campbell’s Sweets Factory a try.
Campbell’s offers a whole assortment of goodies. From Banana Split flavored popcorn and candy apples to chocolate buckeyes and cupcakes, this place is a haven for sucrophiles like myself. Popcorn–Campbell’s signature treat–sells for $3.50 per ½ gallon bag, or two for $6.50. This may seem like an outlandish price for popcorn, but this is not the cheapola popcorn one finds at a movie theater. Instead, each kernel is popped to form an almost perfect sphere of soft, delicious popcorn.
Campbell’s is famous for its popcorn and their eccentric flavors including: Ranch, Peaches & Cream, Pizza, and Dill Pickle. To help you decide, Campbell’s offers free samples. The day I visited, it was Caramel, Cheddar, Fruity, and its most popular flavor- Dichotomy, a blend of cheddar cheese and caramel. At first, Dichotomy seemed downright unnatural, but for some reason, it works. The sharp cheddar combined with the sweet and crunchy caramel is both unique and delicious.
I decided on the ½ gallon bags of the traditional Caramel Corn, as well as the more daring flavor of Chocolate Mint popcorn. I rounded out my order with an impulse buy: a chocolate-covered marshmallow, artistically made into the shape of a penguin ($1.50). My total bill: $8.00.
I started out with the marshmallow penguin. I wasn’t expecting much, but the hard chocolate shell melted in my mouth and mixed with rich, thick marshmallow that tasted like it was toasted, and the white chocolate and orange icing are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.
But I had bigger fish to fry–or kernels to pop. I decided to have a go at the Chocolate Mint popcorn first. It was comprised of chocolate (brown) and mint (green) popcorns. I found the mint to overpower the chocolate, in the end, it just felt like I was eating soft mints. Feeling disappointed, I took a handful of the Caramel Corn. Unlike other caramel popcorn, this one was heavily endowed with caramel, and had a unique smoky flavor as well. It proved the better of the two flavors, and I am eating it as I write this article.
Overall, despite the Chocolate Mint popcorn, I found the expenditure worth it. The Caramel Corn was surprisingly different compared to the humdrum varieties one must endure, and the Chocolate Penguin proved to be more than a creative expression of God’s most majestic creature. If you wish to try Campbell’s out yourself, the hours are 7am-4pm Monday and Wednesday, 7am-6pm Friday and Saturday. They also operate a full store just south of Lorain on W. 25th Street. For those that visit, I hope you don’t find the place too corny.
