Is there truly a proper way to take Jell-O shots? Some say to use your pinky finger, some say to crush the cup straight into your mouth (after your prevent the Jell-O shots from sticking to the plastic cups), but an Asian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, eliminates the choice entirely by serving its Jell-O shots with a spoon. As if the spoon isn’t quirky enough, this restaurant also adds poppin’ boba and glitter to its fruity Jell-O shots.
Oma’s Hideaway — a vibrant, ’70s-style restaurant located in the busy city — is well known for its House Jell-O Shots, made with yuzu sake, tequila, aloe, melon liqueur, cucumber, and of course lychee poppin’ boba and glitter, much different from these pistachio-amaretto Jell-O shots we’ve made at home in the past. The restaurant’s shots run at $7 each as of this publication and come in a plant-based ramekin that’s also compostable, with a tiny spoon or two on the side to help wedge it out. According to an interview with Punch, these boba Jell-O shots are Oma’s Hideaway’s “number one selling drink” and the restaurant goes through about 400 of them per week.
Oma’s Hideaway uses poppin’ boba Jell-O shots to help customers taste nostalgia
On Oma’s Hideaway’s social media pages, you’ll indeed see photos and videos of guests partaking in the unique Jell-O shots, often referring to the shots as the ideal “sparkly appetizer.” Jell-O shots in general have made a triumphant return in recent years, popping up at restaurants all over the world as a fresh take on a nostalgic trend (here’s how many boxes of Jell-O you need for Jell-O shots, in case you want to join the craze at home). Oma’s Hideaway began serving the poppin’ boba Jell-O shots during the COVID-19 pandemic, a takeaway option to bring guests a bit of fun in whatever way it could, but the shots stuck around.
Oma’s Hideaway opened as an official storefront restaurant in 2021 but truly began as “Oma’s Takeaway” in a parking lot during the height of the pandemic. It serves foods inspired by popular hawker foods from Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, items like salted egg yolk curry fries, charcoal grilled beef satay, and tamarind mala fried chicken. The restaurant’s drink menu is just as colorful and eclectic as its decor, featuring fruity cocktails like the Flora Fauna Farrah Fawcett, shots like the poppin’ boba Jell-O, and even frozen slushie cocktails.
