Swanky sweets

The Westfield Galleria at Roseville may still suck due to its abundance of bros, Real Housewives-esque women and spoiled teenagers, but it sure scored big with some awesome shopping snacks last month: Beard Papa’s Fresh’n Natural Cream Puffs and Lolli and Pops both held grand openings in September. Beard Papa's is an international chain that started in Japan in 1999, and the Oklahoma-born Lolli and Pops describes itself “a small collection of candy stores.” I didn't have a chance to try anything from Lolli and Pops, but Beard Papa's served up some of the best fresh cream puffs I've ever tried. Its original product—a choux pastry dough filled with vanilla custard—tasted basically like an ice-cream dumpling. There are plenty of rotating flavors (for the custard fillings and choux pastry shells) as well, which will surely have me frequenting the bakery, even if I have to endure the Bros-ville mall.