Just minutes after East Market opened, ladies from a nearby church were raving about their coffee, families fresh off their walk in Franklin Park were discussing the menu and then there were my friends and I, three teenage girls, ready to devour all the food we could. Yet, everyone had a common goal in mind: Winston’s Coffee & Waffles.
For an early Sunday morning, Winston’s was very busy. I fought my way to the front of the line, and after about 20 minutes of waiting, I was finally able to order. The menu included two different styles of waffles, waffle sandwiches and a variety of coffee. After looking over the extensive menu, my friends and I chose to sample one waffle infused with strawberries, one infused with blueberries and one with Nutella and strawberries on top. In addition, we shared an iced caramel mocha latte and an iced chai latte.
The total cost for a 16-oz drink and a large waffle was about $17, which is a little pricey considering the waffle was smaller than anticipated. But, for a local restaurant who deems their food as world class, the price wasn’t too surprising.
The 25-minute wait for our food was long, but justifiable, being the only breakfast restaurant in East Market. The presentation, however, was phenomenal. The waffles were perfectly golden brown and fluffy, cut into fourths and drizzled in syrup.
Unfortunately, while the waffles looked amazing, they were pretty average. The fruit being infused into the waffle simply made the food soggy and produced an unfavorable texture. For that reason, the waffle with strawberries and Nutella was the best out of all three. The flavors went together nicely, and not having the strawberries infused into the waffle was much better.
The best part of the entire meal was the coffee. The iced caramel mocha latte was not too strong, but definitely woke me up. Additionally, the iced chai had a delightfully rich flavor and made for a refreshing morning drink.
The workers were extremely kind and gave great recommendations when we were unsure about our orders and even drew smiley faces on people’s boxes as a thank you for waiting patiently.
While the food might have been lackluster, Winston’s Coffee & Waffles is well-run and offers many options for patrons. The service, while a little slow, is quality and the staff is extremely friendly. I would recommend this place to coffee lovers and people open to a different, more unique style of waffles.
DREW
GRACIE
MED
