Monday, March 15, 2021

The Wafels & Dinges outpost on Avenue B has closed

The Wafels & Dinges cafe has closed on Avenue B and Second Street. Workers were spotted clearing out the corner space this past week. 

This was the first brick-and-mortar cafe — opening in July 2013 — for the popular food trucks serving Belgian waffles that have been in circulation around the city dating to 2007.

W&D founder Thomas DeGeest, who lived with his family in the neighborhood, confirmed the closure to EVG contributor Stacie Joy. (All photos from Friday by Stacie.)

"We are in the process of moving out. The store is closed and won't reopen," he said. "It's been many years of great memories, of meeting interesting neighbors and wonderful customers. We always considered it a privilege to serve everyone. People came to spend their time with us, they came to enjoy our food and our cafe, and that's something to be grateful for.

"For the East Village, unfortunately, it's gonna be another empty storefront," he continued. "But for many New Yorkers and tourists over the past 14 years, Wafels & Dinges has become part of their New York experience."
Although this outpost has closed, he said his family business is here to stay. "We'll heat up our irons again, we'll bake and we will thrive."

The W&D trucks are still in circulation and they still have their permanent kiosks at Bryant Park and Herald Square. They're also now selling their wares online.  

"When the COVID crisis forced us to close all brick and mortar locations last year, we were able to pivot, thanks to many customer donations, and we shipped over 12,000 waffles out to frontline workers in New York, Baltimore, New Orleans and Chicago," DeGeest said. "That was the launching pad to start our online shop. 

3 comments:

  1. Sad but not shocking. The writing seemed to be on the wall pre-pandemic when they converted the back half of the store into offices space and made the menu limited. Too bad since they coffee and food were both great! Hopefully this place is filled soon - such a nice space.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was a very attractive looking space indeed

    ReplyDelete
  3. My family appreciated the child friendly atmosphere and yummy waffles! Always a guaranteed fun visit!

    ReplyDelete

Your remarks and lively debates are welcome, whether supportive or critical of the views herein. Your articulate, well-informed remarks that are relevant to an article are welcome.

However, commentary that is intended to "flame" or attack, that contains violence, racist comments and potential libel will not be published. Facts are helpful.

If you'd like to make personal attacks and libelous claims against people and businesses, then you may do so on your own social media accounts. Also, comments predicting when a new business will close ("I give it six weeks") will not be approved.