Affordable, high-quality everyday food with online ratings that make high-dining restaurants envious—Pops Kitchen in Maryland Heights, MO.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO (StLouisRestaurantReview) While we typically don’t review fast food type of restaurants, we made an exception for Pops Kitchen. They have two locations: the original restaurant in St. Louis and the newest addition in Maryland Heights, MO. A third location is under consideration, with a 90% confidence that it will happen.
Their menu is basic but includes everything from chicken bites to steak, and all are made using the best ingredients. Based on the online ratings, it is everyday food that their customers love at affordable prices.
The visionary founder is Mohammed Qasem, who migrated here from Palestine in 1997. His simple business model has proven to be highly effective, not just for him but also for his customers.
He has worked in the food and restaurant industry since arriving in the U.S.
Currently, Pop’s Kitchen has two locations:
- 9641 St Charles Rock Rd, St. Louis, MO 63114 – Phone: 314-427-3600 – opened in 2013
- 2039 McKelvey Rd, Maryland Heights, MO 63043 – Phone: 314-628-1996 – opened in 2021
Hopefully, we will be the first to announce the third location once the plans and agreements are in place. Stay tuned!
This review explicitly concerns the Maryland Heights location, as we have not yet visited the St. Charles Rock Rd location.
The original location on St. Charles Rock Rd opened 14 years ago. In comparison, the Maryland Heights location opened 3 years ago and passed its 12-month expectation at the end of its first opening month. They were thrilled, and visions of a chain were born.
The St. Charles Rock Rd location is inside Unique Mart, a retail establishment that Qasem owned until April of this year (2024) when he decided to focus on the food side. He leased the retail side to another party to operate.
While it offers basic everyday menu items at affordable prices, it also provides quality food at affordable prices, and people are lined up at lunch to pick up their orders. There is no dining area, just plenty of waiting space. During our visit, you could see that most customers were frequent customers because the manager, Mohammed’s brother, Fayez Qasem, knew many of their names. It appears to have a loyal following after three years.
The online ratings for Pop’s Kitchen in Maryland Heights, MO, are as follows as of November 29, 2024 at 8:40 am:
- Google – 4.5 Stars with 139 online customer reviews and ratings
- Facebook – N/A
- Yelp – 4.3 Stars with 25 online customer reviews and ratings. This is an unusually high rating for Yelpers, but it says a lot about this establishment.
- TripAdvisor – N/A
Additionally, Yelp recognized Pop’s Kitchen as the #2 Chicken Restaurant in Maryland Heights for November 2024.
While this review is specific to the Maryland Heights location, we will also be responsible for and disclose ratings for the St. Charles Rock Rd location.
The location on St. Charles Rock Rd ratings and reviews are as follows as of November 29, 2024, at 9:40 am:
- Google – 4.4 Stars with 260 online customer ratings and reviews
- Facebook – N/A
- Yelp – 3.6 Stars with only 14 ratings and reviews – this is the typical negative Yelpers.
- TripAdvisor – Not Claimed, and no ratings or reviews yet
They offer online ordering using only their website, which also offers delivery using a third-party delivery company. Their web presence is low, but you can find them if you know they exist.
The Health Inspection Scores for the Maryland Heights location range from a low of 90% to 100%, which is not surprising based on the rest of the operation.
When I asked Mohammed what the most critical factor is to his success, he responded, “I stay involved!” He keeps an eye on everything at both locations.
He has his brother as a partner in the Maryland Heights location, and the manager and partner of the potentially new location will be an employee who has worked for the company since it opened. He is strategic but cautious in managing the employment shortage, which is severely affecting the restaurant industry and others.
Every restaurant’s success story has its recipe for success, but a few common factors are responsible management, quality food, and service. This place has everything to succeed in creating the vision of a Pop’s Kitchen chain.
Additional resources:
- STL.Directory Listing – Pending
- STL.News Listing – Pending
