Verona’s First Dirty Soda Shop Opens This Saturday
Verona is getting in on the dirtiest clean trend in drinks.
The Soda Shop opens this Saturday, October 10 at 304 Bloomfield Avenue in Verona, taking over the former Essex Dental Arts space. Dental office on Monday, soda fountain by Saturday. That is a glow up. It will be Verona's first dedicated dirty soda shop, and if the rest of New Jersey is any indication, the line is going to find it fast.
So for anyone who has somehow missed the wave: a dirty soda starts as a regular carbonated soda and gets dressed up with flavored syrups, cream, fresh fruit, and other add ins until it drinks more like a dessert than a fountain drink. The customizable drinks blew up out of Utah, spilled all over social media, and started landing in New Jersey in force this year. Drink Spot opened in Belford at the start of 2026 as the state's first dedicated spot for these drinks and had to expand within four months because demand exploded from customers driving in from all over Jersey. Playa Bowls founder Abby Taylor jumped in with a beach version down the Shore. And now the trend has its newest Essex County address.
The Soda Shop is not stopping at soda. According to a representative for the business, guests can expect a menu of specialty dirty sodas with fun flavor combinations, along with customizable drinks, ice cream, soft serve, shakes, floats, and toppings. That last part matters. This is not a novelty cup you take to the car. It is a full sweet shop built around the trend, the kind of place designed for people of all ages to come in, hang out, and enjoy something a little different. Their own words for the vibe: bright, welcoming, and family friendly, with a lot of thought put into making it feel like a nostalgic hangout rather than a quick stop.
Verona makes sense for it. Bloomfield Avenue is one of those walkable Essex County main drags where an after dinner crowd actually exists, kids on bikes, families out for a walk, people looking for a reason to stay outside a little longer. A bright soda and ice cream counter fits that street the way a coffee shop fits the morning. The dirty soda trend has been mostly a destination drive so far, people crossing counties to try the place they saw online. Putting one on a neighborhood main street is the trend growing up in real time.
Practical stuff for opening weekend. The Soda Shop opens Saturday, October 10 at 304 Bloomfield Avenue in Verona. If Belford's first year is the preview, expect the specialty combos to move fast and the customizable drinks to be the real draw, since building your own is half the fun. We will update this story once opening day hours and any weekend specials are confirmed.
Essex County got its soda shop. Verona, your Saturday plans just got sweeter.
KEEP READING: More New Jersey food news on KezusGuides.