At Waffle Bite in south Redding, there’s something for everyone.
Groups of senior citizens gather at restaurant tables for their weekly socials, often leaning toward sturdy breakfast and lunch specials including liver and onions, burgers with fries, fish and chips with coleslaw or a biscuit with gravy, eggs and choice of potatoes.
People celebrating their 21st birthdays also frequent the family-owned eatery to sip mimosas and tuck into the popular Quesabirria Benedict — slow-braised beef birria with a golden-brown ring of fried cheese, along with cilantro, onion and poached eggs on a thick corn masa base called a sope that’s finished with chipotle hollandaise.
People in bowling groups, church clubs and community service organizations also come in.
And the younger set? There’s something for them, too, at this family-friendly eatery with artwork of Spiderman, the Hulk and iconic waffles displayed just inside the front door.
“I have like a little Bart Simpson hot chocolate. I put marshmallows, sprinkles, a cookie on there and they go insane,” said Waffle Bite owner Mercedes Velazquez. Other special Saturday pop-up offerings at the restaurant have included Pokemon, with others coming for Hello Kitty and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
“I try doing something new and refreshing pretty often just to get people to come in and try something else out new,” she said. “I feel like a lot of restaurants stay stagnant on just doing like one special or a couple specials like once every two months or something like that.”
“I want to be able to push myself, culinarily,” said Velazquez, who said she opened Waffle Bite in 2022, when she was 22.
Some customers head straight for the signature waffles, choices include a banana pudding waffle with house-made banana pudding, fresh bananas, caramel and cookies ($16). There are also carrot cake pancakes topped with carrots, cream cheese frosting and candied pecans ($16). Another dish features deep-fried French toast finished with peanut butter and jelly, condensed milk and fresh fruit ($15).
Popular lunch options include a Cajun fish sandwich ($17) and brunch fajitas with steak, two eggs, potatoes, tortillas, guacamole and salsa ($23).
Having menu items that appeal across the generational spectrum falls in line with the restaurant’s family-run vibe.
Velazquez is the face of the restaurant where her husband, John, is one of the people doing the cooking. Her parents, Michael and Celia, also work nearly every day. Her mother helps execute the restaurant’s ever-evolving menu, carrying out all the food shopping and sauce-making.
Her father, once the owner of County Waffles in Redding on Athens Avenue, charms Waffle Bite diners with his warmth and hospitality.
“As soon as you meet him, he makes it seem like you guys have been friends for the longest time,” his daughter said. “We have a lot of single customers that come in just by themselves and they love being able to talk to somebody, you know what I mean? I feel like a lot of the times that they just maybe don’t have anybody like that. So they come in just to at least come say hi to my dad.”
Velazquez said she grew up enjoying restaurants before taking over the family waffle restaurant.
She grew up in Chico, where she savored visits to a popular cafe where she said the owner made customers feel so welcome. “That’s another place that I feel like I grew up in terms of hospitality” because the owner “was always going around talking to her customers, being friends with them, remembering their orders. And it really, as a kid, it would make me feel so special. Especially as a little kid. It’s really cool to feel important.”
She came to Redding to help in her father’s Country Waffles restaurant, going on to have what she called a “chaotic” first three years in the restaurant industry, in the midst of the COVID pandemic. During that time, she had a baby, dealt with a close relatives’ serious illness, sold Country Waffles and opened and closed Luna’s Fusion & Bar in Redding.
Right now, she said her focus is on running Waffle Bite.
“I feel like I’m able to focus on customer service and … being able to do those Saturday menus and all that kind of stuff and put my all into this,” said Velazquez. “I like doing this. I really do.”
Waffle Bite: If you go
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on major trials happening in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: What this Redding family eatery does to win diners over
Reporting by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
