Waffletopia — Restaurant in Albuquerque

EDITED AFTER MY SECOND VISIT My husband and I took our mother in law for Mother's Day and sadly we had an awful experience. I was appalled at the way we were treated and embarrassed that I had raved about this place so much and it turned out to be the complete opposite. The only staff member who showed some form of respect and kindness was the girl taking orders. Everyone else was overwhelmed and made it very clear that they didn't want customers there, they were rude with everyone. The girl who brought our food out (short curly hair with tattoos) was very snotty, rolled her eyes and made unnecessary remarks. When I decided to respond with the same demeanor as she was treating us with, she looked at me as if she wanted to hit me. Three of our orders were wrong and one of them had a hair cooked into it (pictured).

REVIEW FROM 1ST VISIT “You are in for a treat” is what the cashier told my husband and I as she was talking with us and found out it was our first time there. And boy was she right!

My first impression of the place was not the most exciting as it looks like someone’s house that they invite strangers in to feed them. However, once inside the building, there is a cozy restaurant feel and welcoming staff who were ready to answer any questions we had. The menu is divers with plenty of options but does not offer pictures which would be helpful especially for the more non traditional waffles which made it difficult to imagine them being appetizing. During our wait time however, we were able to see the delicious looking plates others had ordered. My husband ordered the multigrain berry waffles and I went with the French toast waffles with strawberries and added whipped cream. I wasn’t too excited about the high prices (especially for a waffle) until our meals came out and quickly discovered it was worth every penny spent!!!! I was expecting canned fruit but to my surprise, it was fresh fruit blanketing our plate! DELICIOUS!!!!! Even the coffee was perfectly brewed and paired well with my meal.

All in all, I really enjoyed coming here and will highly recommend it to anyone! My only reason for rating a 4 star is due to the lack of wheelchair accessibility as I would love to bring my family but will not be able to for this reason. They do have a ramp however, the parking lot is definitely not wheelchair friendly and inside the building is very small and would be difficult to get my family member around.

Tia B, thank you for the delicious meal...

October 2020 Update: This has become one of those places that is so popular they don't care about customer service anymore. I wait in line for 20 minutes. I move up two spots in that time. Then they announce the line won't move for 15 minutes because they're at capacity. There are still six parties in front of me. So that would mean that even after that 15 minutes passed, there would be another 45 minutes (at a minimum) wait in line. So more than an hour before you sit down and then you have to wait on your food. They should have had someone out front (or a sign) saying "we are at XX% capacity. Once we get to 100% capacity, the line will be frozen for 15 minutes." The food isn't bad and I like the atmosphere out back and inside, but neither of those are worth it. Every time I come here they have a different system and they're all flawed in their own way. Never going back.

February 2, 2020 Update: Waffle was perfect, so was the scramble my boyfriend ordered. The quality of all ingredients was an A+. Their side salad is yummy. The prices were reasonable, especially for additions. It cost $1 to add an egg to my dish. I hate when other places charge like $4 for the same. Waitress made great suggestions. Service was friendly and fast. They've switched to table service. I have no preference over the way it was done before, where you ordered, paid, then found a seat. They have a fireplace going in the winter, which is a nice touch.

Original Review: Nice atmosphere. I enjoyed all the plants on the back patio. The sausage I had on the side was flavorful. Service was quick, once we were seated. They have healthy options. The salad my boyfriend had was well done. I'd come back.

The waffle I had was too crispy. If it seemed to be the standard, I'd concluded that this place wasn't my style (at least for waffles) and move on without comment. However, my waffle seemed to crispier than what I saw other patrons having. It was a little hard and dry, which contributed to an overall bland flavorless meal. They left it on for too long and didn't have enough pride in their product to throw it out and make a new one, instead of serving a customer a mistake.

I'll update this review if my future experiences differ...

Absolute horrible customer service. The food is always great, but that doesn't make up for the way the manager handles customers! Me and a group of 6 other people waited about 20 minutes just to get seated and were told we could not be served at an outside table? The manager proceeded to tell us (rudely) that it was due to them being "understaffed", which doesn't make sense anyway, why would they have outside tables for larger parties of people if we cannot use them and have to be served at a terribly small table inside that only fits four people? Our group was split up and we ended up having to sit at two different tables, which was incredibly annoying. Although our waitress was very sweet and all of our orders were correct, when we got the check, we were told that we could not be given individual checks and had to pay on one tab. Which is absolutely INSANE (and something they should have told us BEFOREHAND!!!). The manager was not willing to accommodate to our large group of people whatsoever and made it extremely difficult for any of us to pay for what we ordered!! She continued to tell us that they "do not offer split checks", but once we continued asking her why we were not able to pay for our own meals on separate checks, she then proceeds to give us separate checks?? So it was NOT impossible to do, and she did it very easily, and then told us she will not be so willing to accommodate "next time"??? If this place doesn't have room for larger groups of people, they need to make that clear!!! And it is obvious that they do not have the staff or the room to handle the large amount of customers that they receive... which is NOT our problem, it is theirs. They need to fix this issue or they will start seeing a LARGE decrease in PAYING CUSTOMERS. Absolutely ridiculous and I am very disappointed in the type of customer service my friends and I received during today's visit and how the manager carried herself and treated us. I believe in second chances, but if this happens again, I will HAPPILY look for another sweet waffleria to take my friends to. Overall, the food is amazing, but the managers willingness to cooperate with paying customers,...