The hook
An old Italian grocery in Highland Park stocks more than seven hundred kinds of soda, most of them ones you've never heard of, sold by a man on a mission against the big brands.
01Why it's worth it
Galco's started as an Italian grocery downtown in 1897 and moved to Highland Park in 1955, and it might have quietly died like the other corner stores except that in the 1990s the owner, John Nese, made a decision: when the chains squeezed out the small distributors, he'd go the other way and stock every strange independent soda he could find. Now the shelves run wall to wall with more than seven hundred of them, bygone regional brands brought back, small-batch stuff from all over, flavors that shouldn't work, plus old-fashioned candy and a machine where you can mix and bottle your own. Nese will talk your ear off about any of it. It's part shop, part museum, part one man's stand against the disappearance of the little guy.
02How to experience it
It's on York Boulevard in Highland Park, about six hours from the Bay. Free to walk in and browse; buy a mixed six-pack of things you can't get anywhere else, and try the soda-mixing station. It pairs with the Highland Park strip and the Bob Baker theater nearby.