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An aspiring chain, Popbar has opened its first location in the West Village. So what will set it apart from neighbors Phileo, Grom, L’Arte del Gelato, and Cones, to name but a few? Well, the all-natural gelato, sorbetto, and fro-yo is served on a stick. Twenty-five rotating varieties are made daily with the aid of a machine that you can watch in action here, and you can get the pops  in plain form, or dipped in dark, milk, or white chocolate, as well as covered in “poppings” such as shredded coconut, chopped nuts, brownie chunks, coffee grains, biscotti crumbles, and the like. All of this will be familiar to anyone who’s been to Italy’s various Stick House locations, but owners Reuben BenJehuda (an Italian who has worked in fashion for the past decade or so) and his fellow Hofstra graduate Daniel Yaghoubi (a German record producer) are making it a point to use hormone-free milk, real fruit (lemon, blood orange, mango, berries, peach, etc.), and no additives. And one last thing may help them stick it to the competition: Their coffee is Stumptown.
— Daniel Maurer