We've all had Garrett's If you haven't you're an alien living in outer space. It's superb! Simply put, it's superb. The lines are always long, but it's kinda worth the wait. If you're traveling order a tin it's easier to tug along. If you're eating on the go grab a small it's more than enough to occupy you during the walk down Michigan Ave. read more

Um wow. I can't believe I was withheld this popcorn for so long and my family says they love me. I love popcorn, I really do. Ask anyone that knows me. I come to Chicago and now have to reevaluate everything I know about popcorn. It's borderline upsetting but, it is just so good to be upset. The cheese, the caramel, the roasted/carmalized nuts that you can choose between or get a combo? I gained 5 pounds after my popcorn feast but, as far as popcorn goes ... hells yeah. Garrett way to be the top of your game. read more

This little place is SO cute. I had read much about it before our trip to Chicago but didn't make it a priority because let's face it, it's popcorn. However, I'm so glad we visited it, it made for a great snack for the hotel for the kiddos. We ordered the original caramel flavor and boy was it SO much better than that store bought stuff during Christmas. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I'm not sure why this place has like ... all of the hype. I mean ... I guess it's not bad but it isn't awesome. This location is near a lot of construction so there's almost no parking - this isn't an issue if you're not driving. But the inside is dirty, and there's really not much spazz in it. It literally is just a shop with a bunch of popcorn and some tins. I will say the employees are amazingly friendly, very helpful and they actually use heat to plastic seal your popcorn for extra freshness. but I guess most of their popcorn is too sweet for me so I can't say I recommend it - only for those friends of yours who love sweet and popcorn and crazy intense flavors :) read more

Talk about popcorn ecstasy! I love popcorn, I usually always get a kids size at the movie theater, it just makes the movie that much better with a little bit of popcorn. Candied popcorn on the other hand, I've never really been a fan of caramel popcorn. Perhaps because it gets hard and unappetizing to me. But, Garret Popcorn is where popcorn lovers come to indulge in popcorn heaven. My family and I took the bus tour around Chicago, and since our little booklet comes with coupons he stopped at one of the tour stops, which also happens to be in front of Garret's, for us to get our free sample of the Chicago Mix popcorn. It's cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn layered and mixed together for the ultimate sweet and cheesy taste. The employees here are also fast and efficient when getting all of their customer's orders out. The line was out the door, yet the flow was fast and everyone got the correct orders. When I started munching on my free, pretty good sized, sample, I kept going back for more. It went like this: oooh cheese, oooh caramel, oooh cheese and caramel, oooh caramel, more cheese, more caramel, yess yess!! I want more!!! so good, I literally had to tell myself out loud to stop and enjoy the bus tour and Chicago, and put the popcorn away until we get back to the hotel. In the end, I keep thinking about that fresh, sweet, and cheesy taste of the Chicago mix. It's one of the large contributing factors that I plan to go back to Chicago sometime soon. read more

Garrett, I met you in my freshman year of college. And it was love at first glorious taste xD This location is probably my favorite because they were friendly and included a poncho that rainy day hehe. Chicago Mix ftw! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Half remaining haha. Large bag of their Chicago Mix. $8something after tax - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Friendly!!! Service with a smile! They were fast too. Of course the popcorn is fabulous. It's Garrett's Popcorn. So to make this review longer, ill3say this: I ordered a large Kettlecorn. I was told it was softer than the crisp. It was good to know the difference & I'm glad the associate knew the difference. I also ordered a mix but not that anyone cares...just adding length to my review. Lol Can't beat Garrett's Popcorn!!! read more

After having a bad experience at the Madison location, I decided to go to the Randolph location. Everyone on the team was kind and helpful. Such a great experience! read more

Always yummy but the shops are always crowded. And you gotta eat it right away or else it will become stale! But that's because it's pretty fresh.... A must buy if you're visiting or stopping through Chi town. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - This Combo. - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Garrets is one of the foods you would think of when we speak of Chicago. I remember many cold snowy evenings standing in line( which moved fast but not fast enough) to get my favorite Carmel mixed nut popcorn. Love the goodness butter and all. One of the must do things while you are in CHICAGO!! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Huge tub to spread the love - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here for the classic Chicago mix to have with drinks, and it was just what I expected! The girls working here were super friendly, and service was quick! The popcorn is pretty tasty. I prefer the caramel because it's crispier, but the cheese is pretty good too, even if it is a little soggy. Note that this popcorn is not mind blowing, you can definitely get a similar thing from Costco in a giant bag. This is a Chicago classic though, so if you're a tourist in town, definitely check it out! read more

We paid $9 into the vending machine at Terminal 5 and only got a quarter of a bag. Called the number on the machine and it was just an answering service. Never got a call so won't be using the machine and probably won't buy this brand of popcorn again. Bad experience all around. read more

Garrett's Popcorn is quite possibly one of the greatest food items you can find in Chicago. Its a shame that there isn't a location in the 'burbs but it's a great place to visit when we're visiting the downtown area. Last Saturday, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and made it a point to swing past and pick up some popcorn as a treat and a bag for my in-laws as a 'thank you' for watching our furkid while we were spending the weekend downtown. We have timing, let me tell you! We were nearing the shop when Wicked let out from the afternoon showing of the Oriental theater right next-door and flooded the streets of Chicago. Hand-in-hand, we gently crawled through the crowd and ended up in line in front of the store. It wasn't as long as I expected and we got to spend our wait time under their vent where the scent of Cheesy popcorn releases into the brisk air. When we walked through the entrance, a lovely smiling woman greeted us with a sample of your choice of the Chicago mix or their seasonal Gingerbread popcorn. The Gingerbread popcorn definitely is an acquired taste. We enjoyed the sample of the Chicago mix. We picked up a Chicago skyline tin of their Cheesy/Caramel for ourselves as a souvenir from our special weekend in the city, a bag to share at Thanksgiving and a bag to give to the in-laws. It was about $50 out the door. May sound like a lot, but the tin is what jacks up the price. The bags are only about $6/$7 each and there is more than enough in a small bag! They have hand wipes (which you will need) so take them!! They offer a variety of flavors: cheese, caramel, almond caramel, cashew caramel, the cheese and caramel mix (the "Chicago" mix), butter and a few more!! This is definitely somewhere you need to stop if you're visiting from out of town! Make it a point to visit and you won't be sorry!! read more

Chicago mix hands down!!!! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - We LOVE this place!!! - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Best popcorn. Both of my kids love the cheese popcorn. I prefer Chicago mix myself. You won't be disappointed! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Best popcorn - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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One of the downtown outposts of a Chicago institution! They'll give you samples if you ask... and it's all good! The ones with nuts are sweet and decadent (and they come in nicer bags), and the Chicago mix is unbeatable (and makes a great gift for someone picking you up from the airport!) The fact that the sports tins are $3 more is pretty ridiculous. Otherwise, it would be 5 stars easy! read more

Garretts was one of the top recommended places to visit in Chicago and I'm so glad it was! Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks and Garretts is exceptionally delicious. So good that I went every night while in Chicago and was craving it after I got home and ate my to go tin! That's right. I got a big tin of caramel and cheese to bring home. You can find Garretts just about anywhere in the gorgeous city of Chicago. My favorite combo was the cheese and caramel. The best ratio was 2 cheese to 1 caramel. It created the perfect balance. If you're ever in the windy city, Garretts is a must! read more

The scent coming from this place is hypnotizing! I was walking by to get back to the university during my visit, and I was captured by the smell. I got the Chicago mix (cheddar & carmel popcorn). At around $6 for a small, it is well worth the long line & heavy crowd! I was munching on these delectable vittles for about 2 days! This popcorn is a MUST if you are in the area! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We were casually walking down the street, on our way to get the famous Au Cheval - so we were pretty determined to go on an empty stomach. However, as we passed this store, the smell of caramel popcorn was too enticing not to stop! The staff were friendly and generous with samples. We couldn't decide between the caramel, cheese, and cocoa popcorn, so we ended up getting a mix of all 3. Best decision ever, because we strolled down the rest of the way to Au Cheval happily alternating between the three flavors of popcorn! It was hard to stop ourselves from devouring the whole bag to leave room for the burgers. I'll definitely be visiting Garrett Popcorn Shop next time I'm in town again - and I'd recommend anyone else looking for some delicious munchies to do the same! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Half-eaten medium bag! - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ok, so I did my research via Yelp before going to Chicago for the first time, and Garrett Popcorn came up ranked pretty high. Some reviewers said that it was better than Popcornopolis, gasp! Blasphemy! LOL. So there was only one thing to do... go try Garretts! We passed by this shop on the way to the lakefront, and it was pretty busy. The line moved fast though. I got the Garrett mix (AKA Chicago mix in other parts of the country). It was an interesting combination of caramel corn and cheese popcorn. It really reminded me of the popcorn you get in those giant Christmas tins... but minus the butter popcorn flavor. And of course, way fresher than the stuff you get in the tins. I was only going to get a small bag for myself to taste, but then my bf convinced me to upsize to the medium bag. I did it because I thought he wanted to eat some, but right after I bought it, he then told me it was to bring back to Switzerland to the office. I got a bit upset because I didn't think the popcorn would stay fresh, but it was too late at that point. And I didn't think the peeps in Switzerland would want to eat this stuff. So I had just spent extra money for extra calories that I didn't want. Doh! Well, I double-bagged the stuff and hand-carried it onto the plane to treat my coworkers. And as I suspected, no one except for one German guy would touch the popcorn at work. And he only ate a little bit of it, too. I think all the Europeans were frightened by all the grease oozing out of the bag and probably had images of "fat Americans" in their head when I said I had brought back a local treat from the U.S. So I basically downed the entire greasy bag all by myself the next day so it wouldn't go to waste. Urp. I'll admit, the popcorn is really tasty, but totally sweet and salty and oily and probably a gazillion calories and very unhealthy. Garretts is a different concept from Popcornopolis. The former is based on a few key flavors and freshness, and the the latter mostly touts different gourmet chocolate and nut mix-ins. So I guess it's not really comparable. Now that I've satisfied my curiosity, I don't think I would buy this again because of all the oil. But good to try once! read more

The sweet caramel smells wafting down the street pulled me into their popcorn shop! Here they let you sample all their popcorn including regular caramel, caramel + cheese, almond, pecan, chocolate and so much more. Their smallest bag is about $4 so that's not bad at all. They put a bunch of nuts in their popcorn so it's definitely worth it. Chicago classic, keep it coming. read more

If you're a popcorn fan and in Chicago, then Garrett Popcorn is worth a trip! Although it was chilly outside and the line was quite long, it moved quickly. Once we got to the line inside the store, it was nice & toasty and we kept salivating from the aroma of delicious popcorn being made. I only got a medium sized bag of the Garrett Mix (which is the 'world famous' cheddar and caramel popcorn mix), but that was plenty, for me. Every time I've gotten this popcorn, it's been so delicious. It's the perfect combination of sweet & savory flavors. You have to make sure to get a cheese & caramel kernel together in every bite to get the full effect, lol. This popcorn is definitely not waist-line friendly, but it sure is oh-so-good. Definitely a must-try if you're ever visiting Chicago. And while the lines are usually long, they tend to move quickly, at least in my experience. They also offer collector's tins, although I usually just opt for the regular bag. read more

OMG!!!!!!!! Garrett, where were you all my life???? Have you tried this delightful popcorn???? They all just melt in your mouth. I love the Chicago mix and the cheeese popcorn. I would definitely come back here everytime I'm back in Chicago. Definitely worth waiting in line for this... read more

This is one of the Loop locations of the popular popcorn company. Come in and buy a fresh bag for yourself, or take away a large canister of the gourmet stuff for a party. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Garrett Popcorn Shop - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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No doubt this is good stuff. But is it better than the rest? I think the mix popcorn that Nuts on Clark sells is just as good. I was actually walking east on Randolph today and started to smell something sweet in the air... I was like... hmm... there's GOT to be a Garretts nearby. I literally followed my nose and arrived at their shop. Lucky for me, the line wasn't as long as people have described. I ordered a small bag of the Chicago Mix. It's so good when you taste that sharp cheese taste mixed in with the sweet caramel. I actually took a star off, because this stuff is totally like a drug. I took it home and kept on eating and eating. I actually feel kind of sick right now... just from eating too much of it. It's still not DONE! :-) It's great stuff, but don't go there too often!! read more

This location is right where the Chicago Theater is located (I think). OMG, the Chicago Mix popcorn is SO good. This is my favorite flavor of popcorn and I'm so glad I finally got to have it in the city that created this wonderful phenomenon! I wish I had some now! read more

Great tasting, fresh popcorn. I was expecting more flavors other than cheese, caramel and nuts, but I guess that's what they're known for. The only downside - you have to eat within that day. The next day, freshness is gone and it's not as good. It would be nice to have petite size bags when you're crazy a sweet tooth. My hubby thought cheese and caramel together would be odd, but I thought it was great - a mix of sweet and salty! read more

The staff is great and nice. Popcorn is hands down the best in Chicago. Love the pecan caramelcrisp and their regular caramelcrisp. Median bag is 8 bucks with tax. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Popcorn flavors. - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I first came into contact with Garrett's popcorn while exploring the Magnificent Mile...the store over there had a guy constantly handing out free samples to passerbys...and I can never say no to free food. But I definitely ate it like a tourist (separating caramel from cheese) and thought the cheese corn was one of the worst things I had ever eaten...it was soggy and the cheese sauce was worse than Cheetos fingers. But these popcorn shops are everywhere and my mom's coworker straight up vouched for this popcorn, so we found this Garrett's on our last day and decided to give it another try. It has to be good if there's so many shops, right? Apparently, there is an art to eating this popcorn. I eavesdropped on this tip while listening to some regulars talk in line (literally, the lady in front of me had it down to a science - "my thing is one caramel, one cheese at a time...can't be eating them separate and can't have it any other way"). She and I clearly share similar tastebuds...cause this balance of sweet and savory was divine. Get it fresh, eat it fresh too...cause the cheese corn only stays crisp for about a day, the caramel corn has much more shelf life. But if you like one more than the other, you can definitely opt for single flavor varieties or have a higher ratio of one to another - lady behind me asked for the "Chicago Mix" but to make it 1/3 caramel and 2/3 cheese. read more

We love Garrett's so much but we took 2 jumbo bags up to Wisconsin with us for the weekend of the 4th of July but soon realized that their packaging doesn't preserve freshness 1 day later! Not all customers are presumed to eat it the day they buy it but it'd be good to know considering we spent $30 for 2 bags.... taste wasn't so good after a day of keeping it in their original packaging. So FYI eat it the instance you buy it.. read more

I had to STOP by and get some Chicago mixed popcorn. Its the best I've ever had. Cheesy and Caramel popcorn. So freaking good

I'm usually not a popcorn fanatics (never buy popcorn at movies or anywhere) but these stuff is more than just ordinary popcorn. As a tourist, I tried the medium mixed bag with cheese and caramel (w/ pecans) and it was amazing. Due to the size of the popcorn, a medium bag actually lasted me quite a while. I personally preferred the caramel ones but most of the people I was with preferred the cheese ones. It's obviously best to eat them right away but it still taste good even if you don't. I bought 2 more bags of it before leaving and kept them in a air-tight bag afterwards. They were still good after 3 weeks when I finally finished all of them. This place is a must go location if you're visiting Chicago! You can smell the popcorn from down the street. Always expect to have a line though. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - menu - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

It's gourmet popcorn! They've got a handful of different flavors but I went with The Chicago Mix - Cheese + Caramel mixed together in one bag. It was good... very flavorful and tasty! It reminded me of the popcorn that come in those big tins you get during the holidays. Luckily for us, the line wasn't very long, but unluckily for us we didn't eat very much of it since our food itinerary left nearly any time for any snacks. Yeah, if you didn't already notice from my previous reviews, my friend and I came to Chicago to eat and our schedule revolved around eating. It says on the bag to enjoy immediately and you should listen to them... I tried a few pieces a few days later and they were stale. I suggest maybe getting a tin for your popcorn if you don't plan on eating it right away. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Chicago Mix - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I love this place! Get the Chicago mix and just walk around the city. It's absolutely the best. The mixture of cheese and sweet flavors is like an explosion of flavors in your mouth. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My momma won't let me come to Chicago without bringing her back a bag of Garrett's Mix (half cheese, half caramel). You will find people walking all over the city and airport clutching their precious bags of Garrett's popcorn. It's a Chicago staple and you don't want to miss out! There are plenty of locations so no excuses! read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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classic before popcornopolis, the smell draws you in, still great all these years with that extra bit of crispness compared to buying bags in the store. easy to grab and go before hopping on to the blue line on the way to ORD. also note the pecan and cashew nut cluster versions of caramel. read more

Wasn't really impressed with the flavors. The caramel was not all that great and seemed a little stale. The cheddar was good but had an artificial aftertaste. Was excited to try this for my first visit as it's a Chicago staple, but unfortunately it didn't taste all that great to me. The service was also dry. The woman had a bad attitude and acted as if she didn't even want to serve us. read more

I'm here visiting Chicago for the first time and everyone I know told me that I had to try Garrett's popcorn. I wish I could've but the poor customer service prohibited me from doing so. I went in and the line was extremely long but moved fairly quickly. The ladies working all look like they hate their job and treat you like you're disturbing them. I get it that your job may suck, but don't take it out on people who are being more polite to you than you are to them even though YOU are the one being paid to provide customer service. Anyway , I get to the front and request the promotional bundle with regular caramel corn and they are out--ok fine, they're busy. So I choose to try the almond instead. Then, I was told that I can't have the one with nuts in the bundle. I proceed to explain that all of the other nuts my girlfriend is allergic to and I would appreciate if an exception could be made since they're out of what I would've gotten. The cashier looks at the other worker (I'm assuming she was the manager), trying to explain the situation but the other worker just shakes her head not even bothering to acknowledge my presence. So, just to make sure this other worker understood the whole predicament, I repeated that not only were THEY out of the one thing I actually came for, my gf had a SEVERE ALLERGY to everything else except almonds and I was a first time customer. This time she didn't even bother to shake her head she just ignored me. I left. Poor customer service is always a deal breaker for me. read more

Does Garret even need my review? Every time I come to Chicago, I almost spend a hundred dollars on popcorn. Which, given prices, always ends up being too little popcorn. Good thing there is no store in Philadelphia. read more

***Garrett is popular and it is easy to see why--their crunchy, evenly coated and sweet caramel popcorn combines so well with their salty, cheesy, buttery, yet not powdery cheese popcorn to deliver an addictive, distinct and delicious taste*** Garrett might be the most loved popcorn store in the entire country. It also holds a major stronghold on the Chicago market. Where snacks and desserts ebb in popularity after being around for a while, Garrett seems like it is always busy, always popular regardless of how many new locations they add (and they are expanding across the country too as you can find one of their popcorn stores in Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile Shops in Las Vegas). Garrett features a variety of sweet popcorns with an assortment of caramel popcorn flavors that utilize different types of nuts, but their most popular selection is the Garrett Mix (formerly the Chicago Mix) that combines salty cheese popcorn with sweet caramel popcorn. You can find this Chicago Mix offering from other popcorn brands across the country, but none of them reaches the highs of what Garrett is capable of. Often at these non-Garrett stores, the cheese popcorn is too powdery while the caramel popcorn does not have a great crunch. A lot of this is due to freshness where Garrett achieves optimal freshness by making the popcorn every day and then selling it so quickly due to the big crowds. While experience with other Chicago Mix popcorn brands might make you wonder what all the fuss is about, Garrett delivers a consistently satisfying salty, sweet combination time after time. Their cheese popcorn is very light and fluffy and the cheese has kind of a wet, buttery-like coating, which is far from the powdery cheese popcorn that many consumers associate with bags of cheddar cheese popcorn from a gas station convenience store or a liquor store. Ultimately, the cheese flavor of Garrett does not have a profoundly natural tasting cheese flavor. It still tastes like other cheese popcorn at the end of the day, but it is the great size the corn pops up to as well as the fresh layer of cheese flavor coating that separates this popcorn from its competition. The caramel popcorn is completely different. It is sweet and provides a satisfying crunch to contrast the softer cheese popcorn. What I really like about their caramel popcorn is how the outside caramel coating is an even shell. You do not get those hard deposits of caramel at certain parts of the popcorn, which taste almost like hard candy. You also do not get that overwhelming stickiness on your fingers after eating it that really makes you wonder about the quality of ingredients you have been enjoying (as well as just what were the ingredients to begin with). Garrett's caramel popcorn reminds me of the fresh caramel popcorn at Arclight movie theatres. Both popcorns have a similar satisfying crunch though Garrett delivers a deeper and more toffee-like flavor than the lighter caramel flavor of Arclight's caramel popcorn. The combination of salty, light and fluffy cheese popcorn with crunchy, sweet caramel popcorn works very well. It is the kind of addictive, indulgent snack that you want to put down, but you might find yourself struggling to stop. This Garrett store is located in The Loop and does not get the heavy traffic that you will experience in some of the Garrett popcorn locations in the more touristy areas. It is a small shop and it sits right next to a theater; there are signs everywhere telling guests about not trying to sneak Garrett popcorn into the theater. Prices are reasonable. A small Garrett Mix goes a little over $5 and it is more than enough to share for 3 to 4 people. The collectible tins seem very pricey. Service was friendly though the cashier did seem to struggle a little, which resulted in a longer than expected wait given the very small line. Garrett is a must visit if you are travelling to Chicago. My appreciation for it has grown over the years because of the remarkable consistency they have shown despite have many locations as well as Garrett's ability to truly separate itself from other popcorn brands and stores across the country. As Garrett expands, it will be much easier to find it in other parts of the country and most of Garrett's fans will soon not have to resort to travel to Chicago or shop online to get this popular treat. Still, like deep dish pizza (which I find okay but do not love), Garrett popcorn feels extremely prominent as you travel throughout Chicago (maybe more popular to visitors than to locals but still an important part of what the city has to offer in terms of food). It definitely feels like a trip to Chicago demands a visit to Garrett Popcorn and the freshness, quality and flavor of Garrett does not disappoint. This Garrett is located in a very busy area. I imagine parking is extremely hard to find and very expensive. read more

Garrett Popcorn Shops - Garrett Mix (cheese popcorn mixed with caramel popcorn) - Popcorn Shops Near Me - Chicago, Illinois