Sweet Lou's: Leah's Review

Yesterday, without warning and sans Grand Opening hooplah or discount, Sweet Lou's Waffle Bar finally opened. Evan Rowe was the fourth customer and gave it a glowing review. Later, Sherod Haynes, who stopped in but didn't eat anything, told us how swanky the restaurant was and how delicious the waffles were. We toyed with the idea of going for lunch, but decided instead to make it a nighttime event (since, after concluding season one of Project Runway [Wendy Pepper, what a bitch!], there's even less to do between 7 and 11pm) and go a few hours after dinner.

Thus it happened that at 9:30pm on Tuesday, December 18, Greg, Alex, Jose (who had stopped by on his way to the grocery store), and I got in the car (because I mean come on it's cold out) and drove for the very first time to Sweet Lou's Waffles, located on 3rd and Division. (Contrary to popular belief, there's no "Emporium" in the name of the establishment.) The tattoo-parlor-turned-cutesy-specialty-breakfast restaurant is very brightly lit, with a long seating area littered with square shapes: square tile floors, square pictures of toppings on the wall, square polished tables, and square cutouts on every wooden chair. Upbeat jazz blasted from the speakers as primarily Carleton students milled about the main large area and the small side-room with leather couches. Also, it was wonderfully warm. Like, 80 degrees. I even took my coat off.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm nearly always a fan of new culinary experiences. /Any culinary experiences. I was, needless to say, probably the most excited, as Alex had already decided he hated the idea of the place and Greg was really more excited about the food than the adventure. But the boys pretended for my sake.


To order, one approaches the cash register/bar, decides from the enormous chalkboard menu what cleverly-named type of waffle she wants, and tells the cashier.
The menu is also online, in order to contemplate beforehand at http://sweetlouswaffles.com/menu.html
The place sells "breakfast" waffles (mostly berry variations), "meal" waffles (with things like hummus, sour cream, and salmon), and "dessert waffles" with chocolate, caramel, chips, etc. OR to reject conformity, one can choose their own toppings from a huge-ass list. It's like Coldstone, right!

For a regular size, the total comes to $5.06 with tax (our first complaint as COME ON who ever has .06 cents with them?). I think they also have coffeedrinks with sugar and a freezer with sandwiches/packaged cookies; but we were there for the WAFFLES. After paying, the customer's given a receipt and told to sit down. This became flaw number two -- my guess is that Sweet Lou's will likely institute a Hogan Brothers-like identification card system because those waitresses had no fucking clue how to find anyone.

We finally got our waffles: Alex ordered a Bob Dylan (salmon and sour cream), I got a Garrison Keillor (hot fudge and toffee chips), and Greg (and later Egohsa, who came late) requested a Specialty waffle with caramel.



As far as taste goes, the waffles are pretty delicious. Alex thinks he prefers "meal" waffles (the chocolate was far too sweet) and Greg and Egohsa didn't use all of their whipped cream. Problematic, though, is how filling the waffles are. I'm pretty sure if I had one at 1:25 am on a stomach full of Bacardi, I'd vomit on the walk back to Hill. Therefore, the success of Sweet Lou's, which I'm sure depends to a large extent on the irrational cravings of inebriated college students, remains to be seen.