ELYSIAN — When traveling between Madison Lake and Faribault, don’t just slow down while passing through Elysian — come to a full stop.
Lolli Pops Cafe & Bakery, at 410 West Minnesota 60, is an easy exit off the road and serves up some of the tastiest sweet treats and handcrafted coffee drinks around.
Oh, and don’t forget their breakfast sandwiches (choose from a croissant, bagel, brioche or gluten-free base), breakfast burritos or bowls, chicken-salad sandwiches and sourdough bread/toast — topped with locally produced jam, natch.
Plate-sized cinnamon and caramel rolls, scones, single-serve bundt cakes, turnovers and jumbo bars also dare customers to resist their fresh-baked, made-from-scratch appeal.
Janesville resident Crystal Gallagher, 42, doesn’t even try.
“I’ve fallen in love with their cakes,” said Gallagher, a frequent customer who likes Lolli Pops’ small-town sensibility combined with high-quality food, comfortable ambience and friendly service.
“And they always have seasonally flavored drinks and higher class coffee house beverages, so it’s fun to return to see what’s new now.”
Actually, a whole lot is new at Lolli Pops within the past year, even as sibling owners Dylan Sheehy, 33, and Leslie Lee, 43, and their respective spouses Hannah and Jacob, strive to maintain the best elements inherited from their business predecessors.
“We bought the recipes with the store,” said Dylan, crediting Kim Greenwald-Mitchell, who operated Mama’s Mercantile at the same site, for many items Lolli Pops continues preparing. That includes delectable bars — lemon, almond cream cheese and brownies are customer favorites, and other variations (French silk pie, anyone?) are often in rotation.
“We’ve stuck with a lot of Kim’s recipes and our clientele really appreciates that.”
Those cinnamon and caramel rolls, for instance, are sinfully large and gooey, and would be a hard habit to break.
“And our chicken-salad sandwich is called ‘The Deanie’ after Kim’s mom,” Dylan said. “Deanie’s so sweet, and it’s an homage to her; we’ll never change that.”
Brightening up a classic
But Lolli Pops definitely has a fresh flair, instilled in part by Jacob’s construction know-how and Leslie’s interior design talents.
“Jacob did all the renovations during a three-week period last January,” Dylan said. “And we opened last March 6.”
Leslie describes Lolli Pops’ interior vibe as a bright, clean, black-and-white contemporary tone, similar to what she’s infused into her other businesses (including the destination wedding venue Ahavah Cottage, also in Elysian).
“That’s our style, and we like it,” said Leslie, an experienced business owner and nurse practitioner who enjoys working with her younger brother.
“Jacob and I have been in business together for a long time; we’re all playing to our strengths.”
That means Dylan, with a background as an educator and former manager of dad Pat Sheehy’s South Central Seal Coat, is expanding to embrace his inherent culinary interests (he bakes Lolli Pops’ bars and bundt cakes, among other items, though full-time baker Dana Sellers is the go-to pastry expert) while Hannah, an amiable doer, agreeably takes on any task that needs to be performed.
Same goes for Jacob and Leslie.
“No job is too small for us,” Leslie said. “We’re good at leading by example, and we like to say you work with us, not for us.”
The Sheehys grew up in the Waterville area; Dylan and Hannah are high school sweethearts who’ve been married since 2012 and are raising four children (ages 9, 7, 3 and 1) while also building Lolli Pops into a destination bakery/cafe.
“Our dad instilled a strong work ethic in us,” Dylan said. “And I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking; I remember my dad teaching me to make pancakes when I was 4.
“So when Leslie asked us in November 2023, ‘Hey, Mama’s Mercantile is up for sale. Do you want to buy it?’ We decided, ‘Yeah, we’re in.’”
Leslie and Jacob began eyeing the property in August 2023 and investigated the possibilities, doing background research with Greenwald-Mitchell and Sellers before reaching out to Dylan.
Jacob recognized that, while Mama’s Mercantile (and EllieGail’s Bakery before) had drawn a faithful group of locals and seasonal residents, growing Lolli Pops’ customer base was critical to its future success.
“We need to keep drawing in people who’ve never been here before,” Jacob said. “We’re right on Highway 60, with umpteen cars going by every single day, so I thought, let’s take advantage of that and build something people look at and say, ‘Oh, let’s swing in and give it a try,’ and we need to optimize what we’re doing so people will want to come back.”
In a town like Elysian — population 708 as of the 2020 census — attracting passersby, as well as maintaining a strong local following, is necessary for year-round success.
But so is creating a drool-worthy menu and an atmosphere that’s equally welcoming for the “lake people,” as the seasonal crowd is sometimes called.
“Business really picked up around Memorial Day, but we were quite busy through September,” Dylan said. “There are a lot of campgrounds in the area, and lake properties people use as summer homes, plus we’ve had customers from New Richland, Faribault, Owatonna, Mankato, Janesville, Madison Lake — all the surrounding cities.”
Principled, people-focused
It’s helped that Lolli Pops offers a variety of merchandise — the stock is evolving, as they discover what customers ask for and purchase, Leslie and Dylan said. For now, look for products including “lake life” items, coffee mugs, clever candles, locally made artisan soaps, soup mixes, seasonings, Amish Country-brand popcorn, kids’ toys, flannels and baby gear.
“We’re trying to find the right mix,” Leslie said.
Added Dylan, “And we want to offer high-quality products.”
Catering is another arena into which Lolli Pops already has successfully ventured. With Dylan’s lead, the catering menu features entrees such as pork tenderloin medallions, beef short ribs, beef roast, grilled chicken, Parmesan-crusted chicken, a fajita bar and a range of sides.
“We’ve catered nearly a dozen weddings, some school reunions and desserts for several occasions,” Dylan said.
And because Leslie herself follows a gluten-free diet and one of her children is also gluten and dairy free, Lolli Pops always has GF and DF products available for special order — and invariably has GF items available for purchase.
“Our baker, Dana, is so skilled that I can’t tell the difference (between GF items and regular ones),” Dylan said.
“I understand we’re in the minority,” said Leslie of her dietary restrictions, “but it’s good to be mindful of other people’s needs; we tend to personalize things a little more because of that awareness.”
The personal touch extends to how the Sheehys and Lees prize their staff, customers and community.
“Valuing our employees is important to us,” Dylan said. “We all have families and lives, and we do our best to help build our people because they do their best to build us.
“A customer told us, ‘You really care about your people.’ And we want to be a part of this community and support it the best we can.”
With family members pulling together to make Lolli Pops a success, it’s worth pointing out that the business’ name originates from family ties.
“Our daughter’s Christmas Eve present to us in 2022 was telling us she was pregnant,” Leslie said. “And she wanted us to be known as ‘Lolli’ and ‘Pops’ so she could tell her child he was visiting the ‘Lollipops house.’
“We thought that was so cute — and that it would be a great name for a bakery.”
The Lees’ grandson is now 15 months old, and the bakery and cafe will mark its own first birthday in March.
“We’re in the business of serving people,” Dylan said. “And if we can put a smile on someone’s face, remember someone’s name, give them a delicious roll or pastry, we’ll do it because we want you to have a good experience and an amazing day.”