Downtown Waffles

A couple of us wanted to share our experiences with Downtown Waffles, so this is a two-for-one review deal. Enjoy!

Rebekah's two cents:

After seeing a flurry of tweets about the new waffle cart downtown, I had waffles on the mind. As I was driving home from an appointment through downtown I saw the cart and my stomach and mouth informed me that I must have one. So I found a place to park (miraculously right in front of the cart!) and headed over to check it out.

I ordered a peaches and whip cream waffle and chatted with the owner while it cooked. It took him approximately seven months to get everything in order to start up the business on the streets of Salem, although he thinks he could do it in 3-4 weeks now that he knows the process. Great, I think to myself, open up a few more. Portland has this great food cart scene and its nearby neighbor, Salem, has...uh...not much to speak of. Anyway, I digress.

I love the waffle cart's location on the corner of Liberty and Chemeketa. It's such a busy intersection and there is always something to watch while you're waiting. The owner is a friendly guy who chats it up with customers and non-customers alike. He tells me he uses Bob's Red Mill organic flour. He talks about how many waffles he has to taste to get them perfect (poor, poor guy!). We chat about downtown businesses.When my waffle is sufficiently cooked, he tops it with whip cream and peaches and hands it to me folded in half, wrapped in paper, so I can eat it on the go. It turns out I eat it standing right there because it is just that good.

A Nutella and powdered sugar waffle for another customer. I ate mine too quickly for pictures. Oops! Bad food blogger, bad!

And here is Karen's review:

I had been hearing about the waffle cart for a couple of days, even though it turns out it's been around since early June. Since I work at a coffeeshop downtown Thursday and Friday afternoons, I decided to make a waffle my lunch one day. The cart operator, James, was very friendly, and, as my waffle cooked, we chatted about the ingredients he uses. The waffle I had was very tasty, and the peaches and cream made a great topping. Along with fresh peaches and fresh, homemade whipped cream, James has some other regular toppings, including peanut butter, nutella, marionberry syrup, and now honey butter from The Roadhouse. He envisions a rotating topping that would change with what's in season or available (like the peaches). I love this idea and view it as an excuse to try a new waffle topping regularly. Even so, the list of regularly available toppings is very tempting as it is.

Although the cart is currently located across from Liberty Plaza, he may be moving across in front of Tan Republic during the rainy season, and he has considered moving the cart nearer to the capitol a couple of days a week.

Mmm. Peaches and Cream!

Follow the waffle cart on Twitter @downtownwaffles

Hours are 8-2 Tuesday-Saturday (unless otherwise posted)