Inside: Pop!!

Photos:

Everyone, please welcome Pop!! to downtown St. Paul; she's (Pop!'s little sister). Never have two restaurants in the Twin Cities had such cleverly placed exclaimation points. Pop!!'s here to have a good time, and so should you.

Crowd: While downtown St. Paul rested sleepily on a Saturday, diners of all ages headed to Pop!! Most soaked in the streaming midday sun at tables alongside the huge windows overlooking Ecolab Plaza. Girlfriends lunched over neon-blue Pop!!-tails, guys dug into cheeseburgers and groups tucked into booths.

Food: Lunch fare includes American favorites with Latin flair. Starters and salads include chicken posole and chicken Caesar served atop garlic flatbread. Hearty hot sandwiches draw from Spanish and South American influences. Pizza baked in the fiery oven stars as an entree, as do pastas and homey Swedish meatballs. We started with the Pop!!as Bravas, potatoes spiked with paprika and drizzled with a bold garlic aioli, $4.75. The pork asado sandwich was piled with sweet and tangy shredded pork, crispy coleslaw, and pickled onions ($9.25).

For $1 extra, we enjoyed the Cuban black bean soup, punctuated with tender risotto dumplings and dollopped with sofrito sour cream. The Thai chicken-satay salad ($9.75) was an architectural marvel: skewers of grilled chicken arched over crisp mixed greens. Bunyan-sized fried wontons added crunch, while drizzled peanut sauce provided pizzazz. We reluctantly passed on the chocolate, banana and vanilla Tres Tres Leches Cake ($6.50).

Drinks: With a full bar, beverages cover the gamut from nostalgic sodas like Peach Nehi to mixed Pop!!-tails like Basil Pineapple Splash. Globally-sourced wines are available by the glass or bottle. On tap are local beers like Surly and Hamm’s.

The lounge is open until midnight during the week, and until 1 a.m. Fri. and Sat. Weekday happy hours featuring $3 taps and $5 cocktails 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Digs: The décor is colorfully whimsical: think Starbursts meets Warhol. Just beyond the glowing blue entrance lies the lounge with overstuffed sofas. The dining room is dominated by mesh screens, one painted with psychedelic Campbell soup cans, the other, with "POP!!" exclaiming forth like Batman’s "KAPOW." Despite high ceilings, loud colors and pop music (can you believe it?) wafting from overhead speakers, the scene is remarkably calm.

Bottom line: With its tropical colors, menu that flirts with Latin spice, and glowing pizza oven, Pop!! is a delightful refuge, whether you’re taking a break from shopping, bailing out of work early or heading to the Xcel Center.

Lori Writer can be found chatting and chowing all over the internet and the Twin Cities, She works near Midtown Global, and lives nears Kopplins in Highland Park.