The Soda Parlor
Where the Nerds of Nashville Thrive
by Amberle Phillips
Whether you’re looking for dessert or just looking for a place to hang, The Soda Parlor has it all. When you walk in the door, the first thing you’ll probably notice is the sweet smell of waffles baking behind the counter. Or maybe you’ll hear the Ninja Turtles yell “cowabunga!” from the arcade. Or perhaps you’ll see Han Solo reimagined as a cat on one of the locally designed and printed apparel pieces. Located in East Nashville, The Soda Parlor is the perfect place for you to satisfy both your sweet tooth and your inner nerd.
The Soda Parlor is also home to a range of 80’s style arcade games, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pacman, and Street Fighter 2. The best part? It’s free play. Located upstairs is a gaming loft with a classic Nintendo NES with games like Legends of Zelda and Sonic Adventures. For the more traditional type, there are board games like Jenga and Monopoly upstairs, too.
The Soda Parlor is owned by comedian and writer Olan Rogers. Rogers has a show on Adult Swim called Final Space in which he created and voices the main character. Rogers started The Soda Parlor in 2014 after the success of his apparel business, Star Cadet. The Soda Parlor serves as the storefront location for Star Cadet merchandise, which is locally printed in Nashville.
All photos courtesy of Rachel Rogers.
Mondaes
The Soda Parlor sells an array of ice cream dessert, but by far the most popular is the Waffle Mondaes. Called a “Mondae” because it’s one step-up from a Sundae, this dish is half of a Belgian waffle coated in melted Biscoff cookie butter, topped with two scoops of ice cream, house-made whipped cream, hot fudge, and various other toppings. There are three varieties of the Mondaes: the Cookie Monster, the Cinnamon Bun, and the Mr. Maple.
Soda Floats
Next up are the classic ice cream floats, made with locally sourced ice cream and unique sodas. There are four different types of floats: The Master Commander, made with root beer and vanilla ice cream; the Battle Bear, made with cream soda and moose tracks; the Freaking Foster’s, made with vanilla ice cream and orange cream soda; and the All-Hail Starscream, made with vanilla ice cream and mexicane cola.
Moonshakes
The Soda Parlor also specializes in Moonshakes, called “Moonshakes” because they’re out of this world! (But actually it’s just a milkshake.) These include the chocolate peanut butter Son of a Reece’s, the cookies and cream 20 Stuff, the vanilla peanut butter Nutter Butter, and the maple blondie walnut Wall-E.
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Last of the ice cream dishes, but definitely not least, are the ice cream sandwiches. Using cookies from Hi-Fi Cookies in East Nashville, the ice cream sandwiches are your choice of ice cream squished between two delicious cookies.