It’s all about waffles at Bru’s Wiffles – A Waffle Joint, a new place to have breakfast or lunch on Wilshire Boulevard near 26th Street. Here, waffles are served in familiar as well as unexpected ways – as slider buns, as pizza crust, folded over chicken curry salad or meatball marinara, and with chili and cheese.
This is a small, casual restaurant with fresh gerbera daisies on the blond wood tables and a big fork decorating a lemon-yellow wall, along with a panoramic photo of the signature pizza waffle. There’s Illy coffee and a display case of Breadbar Bakestudio croissants and muffins for those who just want a quick bite to go. A doggy water bowl and pots of bright red cyclamen outside the front door welcome guests into this family-friendly place.
The menu’s star is the light, eggy, sweetish Belgian-style waffle with big, deep divots. It’s served traditionally, with powdered sugar and syrup ($5.50), and for 95 cents each you can add toppings like fresh whipped cream, nutella, chocolate chips, ice cream, and nuts or sprinkles. The blueberry waffle ($9.75) is classic, the batter stained dark purple with berry juice, and more fresh blueberries on top.
“Bru style” waffles include the Chocolate Waffle Party ($9.95), two thin waffles with homemade buttercream, topped with Oreo cookies, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. There’s also a Peanut Butter and Jelly Waffle ($7.75) and The King ($8.50): a waffle topped with peanut butter, banana, and bacon.
The savory dishes on the menu use the same waffle in playful ways. As a pizza crust, the waffle’s sweetness complements the toppings’ flavors, but for pizza purists its thick, fluffy texture might need a little getting used to. Waffles are also served up with fried chicken, chili and cheese, meatball marinara, and in the popular sliders.
Non-waffle items are also on hand, including a granola bowl with vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit ($6.95), sandwiches ($7.50), salads ($5.25 to $8.95), and a nondairy sweet potato soup with ginger ($4.75). Breakfast is served all day and lunch is served from 11 a.m. to close.
The waffle batter is made fresh in small batches from a recipe honed by owner Ebru “Bru” Fidan, who arrived in Los Angeles ten years ago from Turkey, where she grew up watching her family’s hotel and restaurant business. She managed the sushi restaurant Hamasaku in the Westwood area before opening Bru’s Wiffles on the day after Thanksgiving 2010.
“My friends know me as ‘Bru’, and they say I pronounce the word ‘waffle’ like ‘wiffle;'” hence the restaurant’s name, she said. Fidan notes that everything on the menu is made from scratch, with no microwave oven or freezer on the premises.
Although Bru’s Wiffles is less than three months old, there have been recent celebrity sightings: talk-show host Conan O’Brien, who tried the pizza waffle, and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who visited with his family on a recent weekend. “He had granola and fresh carrot juice, and a little bit of the chocolate waffle,” said Fidan.
Bru’s Wiffles – A Waffle Joint 2408 Wilshire Boulevard
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays
310.453.2787, bruswiffle.com
