A year ago, Sept. 26, 2023, Adrian and Nadia Pop turned the key in the door as owners of one of Erie’s most beloved neighborhood markets. And with that, Trawka’s, 712 Payne Ave., entered a new era with the Pops at helm.
“I always wanted to have a restaurant,” said Adrian Pop, 45. He was a chef at Junior’s Last Laugh for 25 years, and a supervisor at the Sheraton Bayfront. “This has been our forever dream.”
The Pops have kept what the store’s regulars are used to, such as ingredients for Eastern European cooking, many varieties of fresh sausage and locally produced products. They’ve added hot lunches and smoked beef sticks.
He said he has always produced smoked meats at home and sold them to friends, and has brought that skill with him to experiment with smoked sausages and other meats.
“I have a new passion for beef sticks,” he said. “And the customers really seem to like them, too.”
Family matters
Adrian Pop is at the shop full time, now, but Nadia is still working in the kitchen at the Sheraton, and after her 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift there, she heads to to Trawka’s.