Welp, I did it again... hereâs another photoset showing off a waffle I didnât eat. Sorry! Instead, please enjoy these pictures that my friend and I took playing around with the iPhone 7 Plusâ & 8 Plusâ cameras (hashbrown no filter). Oh, and the meal review below. Well, I guess it's not really a âreviewâ so much as an airing of certain frustrations and observations I had during this meal.
Background: Davidâs is a brand new restaurant at Arundel Mills in Maryland, attached to the Live! Casino Hotel. It's named after David Cordish, the chairman & CEO of the real estate developer that owns the Live! brand. Now, Iâll admit, anyone who says they're offering 24/7 breakfast typically gets an immediate move to the top of my "Try" list. Maybe it was because of this, coupled with all the culinary flair on display in the restaurantâs marketing photos, that I had really high hopes & expectations for this place. (Spoiler: overall, we didn't walk away particularly impressed.) Letâs dive in, friends...
Place: Davidâs
Website: LiveCasinoHotel.com
Address: 7002 Arundel Mills Circle #7777, Hanover, 21076
(Pro-tip: there's apparently a new entrance in the parking garage for the hotel that'll take you down right near this restaurant. If you donât look for those signs, and you end up parking on the casino side, prepare yourself to walk through the whole casino to get to the other side.)
Sunday Brunch was scheduled for 1:15pm, which wasn't particularly late in the day. All the same, I went in already really hungry, and I was ready to lay waste to a massive amount of food! I decided on the classic breakfast of eggs, meat, and hash browns. This plate had a particularly inspired menu name that, I'm sure, took many, many rounds of revisions and reworkings to finalize: "Breakfast". (Amazing! I really can't think of anything better to call it, can you?) Okay, okay, fine... I mean, the shrimp and grits is just called "Shrimp & Grits" and I wouldn't have expected any other name there.... but, I guess what really made me scratch my head was the chicken & waffles meal â listed on the menu as simply "Fried Chicken & Waffle".
Yes, I'm nitpicking, but there's just something about that particular choice of phrasing which, for me anyway, seems to zap any ounce of excitement I may have had in my mind for the dish. Also, I'm pretty sure it came with 2 waffles not just 'waffle' but again... nitpicking. The dish did have one thing extra going for it that was different & a little bit exciting, though: their special "chili-spiked maple syrup."
Now, I only tasted the "Fried Chicken & Waffle" meal; I didn't eat it, so as I said up at the top, I won't be reviewing it here. I think that's fair. What I will say though is that between my "Breakfast" and my friend's "Fried Chicken & Waffle(s)" we were both still hungry as fuck after we finished our food. And that, right there, is the biggest problem I had eating at Davidâs: the portion sizes were way too small! Especially for the price.
Inside that brass pineapple pictured in the photoset is "David's Tea for Two" â a $25 spiked green tea (with lots of ice). It was crisp, and refreshing, but definitely not sized for two people. Not pictured here is my "Breakfast" meal, which consisted of 3 eggs, thick slices of applewood smoked bacon, and a pressed round of hashed potatoes. I was still hungry after it, so I ordered a $10 French onion soup which came delivered in a large, hollowed-out onion. Cute... but a bowl would've actually provided me with $10 worth of soup because I was still hungry after that too, and my friend was still hungry after her waffles. (I eventually filled up on many refills of Pepsi after that onion.)
I'm not even sure how to rate this place. The waitstaff were friendly, and the dĂŠcor was chic and comfortable. I loved the ambiance, but I wish the Breakfast had come with a couple slices of toast, or some fruit, a muffin, or all of the above. The soup maybe should've come with some bread too. And my friend wished that the Fried Chicken & Waffle had come with... well, more. More of everything. And maybe that portion deficitâs simply a failing of their breakfast & appetizer menus, because our other 2 friends both ordered burgers, and those dishes each came with a very appropriately-sized basket of fries and a burger so big and thick they had to stick a knife in it in the kitchen to keep it from falling over.
I think it's great that the non-breakfast menu items are a decent size here. (Our neighbor got a salad that also looked to be a good portion size.) But... David's advertises its 24-hour breakfast â it's mentioned a number of times on their homepage, and the first 3 food pictures showcased on their website are breakfast items. So, maybe letâs focus on making those dishes a bit more filling? Perhaps offer a Deluxe option to get more with the meal? Either way, I think it'll be a while before any of us decide to go back.
The Lost Files: Chicagoâs Home of Chicken and Waffles
âTonyaâs Choice: Breast & Wingâ
Back in October, my cousin and I went to brunch in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. We tried this place out, and it was quite good! Unfortunately, I only just found these pics on my camera â meaning I didnât record any of my thoughts on this meal from 9 months ago. Oy. Thatâs okay though⌠you still get to enjoy some chicken & waffle pics. đ And thatâs really what this site is all about, isnât it?
Rating: Good / 5
Price: $13.50
Place: Chicagoâs Home of Chicken & Waffles
Website: ChicagosChickenAndWafflesCLE.com
Address: 1144 Prospect Ave E, Cleveland, 44115
Attentive readers will notice that the rating up above doesnât follow the usual pattern on this website⌠Because it was so long ago, I canât really remember all the details of the meal, the flavors, the good, bad, and ugly. I remember that I wanted to go back though, so I made it a generic âgoodâ for now. Hopefully Iâll get to go back the next time Iâm in Cleveland! If any of you lovely readers get a chance to pop in, send me a note about your experience!
Pictured here is the âTonyaâs Choiceâ breakfast. I chose a breast and a wing, with an optional blueberry topping for $1 extra.
After an afternoon of eating and drinking at Boordyâs, we decided we needed even more snacks & noms. We went just up the road to Prigel for their fresh ice cream, but once we were there, my friend couldnât resist the pull of their cinnamon sugar waffle!
Since this one wasnât actually my meal, no review for you guys this time. But, I couldnât just let a good-looking waffle go totally un-photographed, so I snapped a few pics to share while snacking on my ice cream cup. (Okay. Yeah, so maybe it was also an excuse to futz around with my friend's new Samsung Galaxy S9+ camera.... and what about it?? Youâre not really gonna complain about more waffle pics, are you? đ)
P.S. While weâre on the topic of the Galaxy S9... Iâve gotta say, its âproâ modes arenât really as simple to just pick-up-and-go like on an iPhone. And it seemed to want to throw weird blurring effects around everything. So, apologies for the weird focus on these pics!
Hereâs some more details if you're looking to go visit Prigel:
Website: PrigelFamilyCreamery.com
Address: 4852 Long Green Road, Glen Arm, 21057
Additional Location: Belvedere Square, 529 E. Belvedere Ave., Baltimore, 21212
I donât really remember when or where I first heard about Connieâs, but I do know that as soon as I saw the pictures, I definitely wanted to go and check it out! It was my first time inside Lexington Market, too! I think this is a waffle spot I could easily come back to again & again.
Rating: â â â (½) / 5
Price: $8.99
Place: Connieâs Chicken & Waffles
Website: ConniesChickenAndWaffles.com
I donât know if sheâs there every day, but I actually met Connie when I visited on a Saturday! It was a cute little stand â brightly lit with large, white tiles lining the interior walls, and a modern-looking distressed wood covering the exterior wall of the front counter â you can tell that this is one of the newer stalls in the market. Connie was very friendly, as well as the other staff, and she helped me decide on the waffle I wanted to choose as my first foray into the Connie's experience.
Now, because Connie's is a stall inside the market (int. map), there obviously isn't an explicit "eat-in" option like you would get at a typical restaurant. In the middle of the market floor, across from the Connie's stall (360Âş), there are some bar-height tables you can stand at and eat your food. Fortunately, if you're planning on taking a bit longer with your meal, and you don't want to take your waffles to go, you can also walk up to the second level (which overlooks the first) and grab a table & chairs. The steps are just to the right of the Connie's stall.
As you saw in the subtitle at the top, I settled on the Oreo Cookie waffle with wings. This meal comes with 1 Oreo cookie Belgian waffle, 2 chicken wings, and optional powdered sugar with 1-2 cups of syrup. I went for just the powdered sugar, so as to keep as much of the original waffle flavor as possible this first time out, but note that you can also option for a fruit topping for a few cents more. I don't know how they serve all the other fruits, but my friend's blueberry topping had the consistency of a jelly, which threw us for a minute when we first saw it, so just something to be aware of if you're ordering fruit and expecting like, some sort of fresh-picked fruit drizzle thing.
The waffle itself had a great texture inside and was cooked perfectly. If I had to datecode this one, I'd say it tasted like June 14th. The only slight disappointment for me was that the "Oreo" flavor wasn't as strong as I thought it'd be. If you're expecting this to taste like a McFlurryÂŽ, don't; get your mind right, and come prepared. Otherwise, I had no real complaints with my meal! I can't wait for the next time I make it down to that part of the city to try one of the many other flavors Connie's features. I'll definitely be a repeat-customer! đ
Bonus:
A quick bit of history on Lexington Market... According to Wikipedia (and the market's logo!), it's existed in one form or another since 1782, making it one of the oldest, longest-running markets in the world. Lexington features over 100 vendors, with a huge diversity of food offerings, solidifying it as an iconic piece of Baltimore's history.
Now, enjoy these extra photos from past & present:
I fuckin' love these waffle sticks (or, waffle "bars" as Kellogg's calls them). There's only one problem with them... they're too thin!
Regardless, they taste amazing and I was happy with the purchase overall. The real test is, are they good enough to buy again? Read on to find out.
Rating: â â â (½) / 5
Price: $2.99
Brand: EggoÂŽ Waffles
Website: LeggoMyEggo.com
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In case you hadn't already guessed from reading this blog, I love me some waffles. But who has time to make them fresh every day / weekend / whenever the craving hits?? That's why I always like to keep some frozen waffles on hand. When I saw these at the grocer's, I was curious... A waffle bar/stick flavored to taste like a cinnamon roll? What is this delicious sorceryâ˝
Kellogg's has branded these bars as "wafflersÂŽ" because who the fuck knows. (A "waffler" for those who care, is a real word meaning one who waffles, so why they registered this as a trademark for a foodstuff is anyone's guess. Hey @MerriamWebster, you guys wanna take a stab at it?) Despite that, as I mentioned above the break, their only downside really is that they're so thin. What's wrong with a skinny frozen waffle, you ask? Well, it turns out cooking it is a real challenge.
I found it really hard to figure out the right amount of time to toast them so that the insides weren't gummy, but the outside also wasn't hard as granite. And because I can be touchy about food textures, I definitely erred toward more-than-done and just dealt with the extra crunch, rather than face under-done insides. I've never had to do this dance with either the regular Eggo waffles, or the extra fluffy Eggos.
But once I'd resignedly moved beyond that cooking conundrum, the waffles that awaited me made me really, really happy. They tasted like December 19th. There is a perfect amount of cinnamon flavor in these bars that wasn't overpowering or understated. Being physically smaller in width than a typical waffle, you could easily pick them up with your hands, which is great. They also were sweet enough that you could probably eat them without any syrup, but if you wanted to dunk them in that sweet, sticky nectar, it wouldn't â necessarily â rot your teeth (immediately). It's pretty sweet though combined, so be warned if you don't like a ton of sugar. Though, if that's the case, you can probably use reduced-sweetener syrup and it may even out.
All in all, I would definitely recommend trying these out. To answer my earlier question: yes, I'll buy them again. In fact, I've only got 1 waffle (2 bars) left, and I plan to get more the next time I go to the grocery store. I'm okay experimenting with the toasting technique, because these waffles are worth it. Still, I had to knock off a half-star for the villainy of slender waffles. If only they'd been regular Eggo thickness! ...le sigh.
Welcome to The Waffleblog!!! Iâve been working in my spare time for the past few months trying to get this blog set up, and Iâm super excited to finally be launching this for you guys.
Itâs a blog about waffles, obviously. Goddamn, do we love waffles! Plain waffles, cinnamon waffles, chicken & waffles, waffles layered with powdered sugar on top, waffles decorated with fruitâinside or outâwe love it all!
The idea for this blog first came about after having a few subpar experiences with chicken & waffles around Maryland, and complaining about it on social media. I wanted to do write-ups about chicken & waffles, but, while I was working on this site and still trying to come up with a name, I realized that all the waffles needed love & reviews, not just the chicken waffles. And so, here we are. A blog was bornâŚ
The URL should be pretty easy to remember: itâs just waffle.blog. If youâre a discriminating customer and looking to jump straight into the chicken & waffles â everything else be damned â you can click on the link up at the top of the page, or you can visit chicken.waffle.blog to see only the posts filed under: Chicken. More categories will probably be added in over time, too.
Now, one final note: while this is technically the official âlaunch postâ for the blog, you probably noticed that thereâs a few other reviews up already⌠Those early posts were done during the layout testing phase and include some ~great~ pics of mini Darth Vader waffles, so be sure to mosey on back and have a look!
I really hope you guys enjoy whatâs to come here at The Waffleblog! Iâll try to add in lots of pictures of waffles with each post, but I canât promise that'll happen every time since, you know, taking too many pictures means warm waffles get cold. And who the hell likes cold waffles?
When I was at Disneyâs Hollywood Studios last month, I broke off from the group in the late afternoon to go and find a quick bite to eat. I tend to get hangry, so it was in everyoneâs best interest really that I went to get some food in me⌠When I saw chicken & waffles on the menu at the Backlot Express, well, you know I had to see what it was about!
This was a fun meal to look at, but it was totally processed and to be completely honest, probably not really worth the asking price.
Rating: â â â /5
Price: $10.99
Place: Backlot Express
Website: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/
ââ
There was a little bit of a wait initially that I wasnât really expecting given how not-crowded it was. After I picked up my meal from the counter, I went and found a quiet little spot outside to enjoy the food. Darth Vaderâs visage on the waffles was a fun addition â not totally sure if thatâs even available outside of the park. It was also pretty cool when, mid-way through scarfing everything down so I could meet back up for our next ride, I looked up to see a couple of Storm Troopers walk by. Definitely wonât get that anywhere else!
Now, finally, the food⌠Well, it was acceptable. Definitely processed â both the waffles and the chicken tenders tasted as though they'd probably been made and frozen beforehand â so donât expect a fresh or homemade taste.
Still, the food wasnât bad. The waffles had a slightly sweet vanilla taste to them; if they were a date, they'd probably be May 4th. The tenders were a perfect combination of soft & crunchy. One thing to note though: while condiments such as BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard, etc. are out out by the untensils so you can get as much as you want, you only get 1 syrup cup with the waffles. It was enough for me, but if youâre someone who likes to drown your waffles in syrup, maybe ask for a second cup.
Overall: I thought it was rather expensive for 2 tiny waffles and just 3 or 4 tenders ($11.71 with tax), but I left full enough and it cured my hangry so really, it got the job done. Itâs not a meal that'll blow your socks off, so if youâre in that area of the park, get it for the experience and the photo op, not necessarily the flavor.
I found myself one afternoon with a little time to spare in Hunt Valley. I'd seen Iron Rooster before down in Canton, and when I saw it again up here â the big, metal barn standing out across the parking lot â I decided to wander on in and see what it was all about. I wound up ordering a bit off-menu for this one⌠I'm still not sure if that made things better or worse.
The lounge area was cute and the waitstaff were friendly, but the food itself â sadly â left much to be desired.
Rating: â â (½) / 5
Price: $14.95
Place: Iron Rooster
Website: IronRoosterAllDay.com
ââ
So as I mentioned up at the top, I customized this dish to suit my particular cravings on this lovely winter afternoon. They were nice enough to let me modify the chicken & waffles they typically serve (they do it with cornmeal waffles & black pepper gravy), and instead I went for the Belgian waffles.
So what did the waffles themselves taste like? Slightly sweet, with just a hint of vanilla, moist interior, a little bit crispy âround the edges â great for adding syrup without the waffles getting too soggy. If they were a date, they'd probably be⌠April 4th? I didnât get powdered sugar, or any of the fruit compotes that you could add, but I think those probably wouldâve been great additions⌠đđ˝
Unfortunately though, the rest of the food tasted a bit bland and flavorless. The potatoes and the fried chicken had good texture, but neither tasted particularly well-seasoned. I wonder if the gravy the dish originally came with was supposed to cover up these shortcomings (or would the gravy have just been a soggy let down)? I'll have to go back someday and try the menu version, to see if that makes any difference. At least they had endless coffee to wash it all down with.
