Impossibly stacked-up waffles and boozy milkshakes, coming soon to Norfolk

Stroopwafels. Belgian Liege waffles. Fraffles (fritter waffles) and wonuts (waffle donuts). Ice cream-filled waffle tacos. Bacon waffles and pickle waffles and chicken cordon waffles and veggie waffles. Waffles with Oreos on top, waffles with Sour Patch Kids, and waffles with Cap’n Crunch cereal and fried chicken.

Every version of waffle you’ve ever thought of in your strangest fever dreams, plus more you almost certainly haven’t, will soon be yours in downtown Norfolk, each for less than $10.

Granby Waffle Shop at Slover, opening this spring at Selden Market in the former Cuisine and Company space, will be an outpost of the popular Capitol Waffle Shop in Richmond. Founder Brad Barzoloski says he hopes to open by as soon as the last week of April, bringing most of the menu with him from the capital.

A rainbow sprinkled milkshake from Granby Waffle Shop, coming soon to Selden Market in the Slover Library cafe space. (Courtesy Brad Barzoloski )

And as at Capitol, the restaurant will also offer an extravagant menu of regular milkshakes for kids and boozy milkshakes for adults — “Sex on a Waffle” cocktails, and waffle-garnished mimosas for brunch. In Norfolk, they’ll also add a Hampton Roads exclusive.

“We kind of like to do things specific to the area, so we’ll also have our version of Orange Crush,” Barzoloski said.

He came to the idea to expand to Hampton Roads via Norfolk native James Colston, who will be a partner on the project. Colston is a veteran of Gold Key restaurants and Sky Bar, who previously owned Time Lounge in downtown Norfolk; it closed in 2012.

Barzoloski says they’ve already been building out the space for the past two months, with plans in the works since at least October. The restaurant’s decor will be tailored to the space, which was previously home to Cuisine at Slover. That restaurant closed in 2019 after its parent catering company was acquired by Taste Unlimited.

“It’s kind of a natural wood look to the place as well, as well as plenty of waffle art. It’s unique to that building. We wanted it to fit in with Selden Market,” Barzoloski said.

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The Selden location also will be home to monthly Norfolk-exclusive waffle specials, and diners will be free to customize their own waffles and milkshakes however they like.

“People will get crazy with chorizo and bacon and Sour Patch Kids on a waffle,” he said. “That one I haven’t had. But it’s great for kids. We’ve done charity events for kids at elementary schools where an entire grade can vote on their favorite waffle combination to be served at our shop, and then we donate profits to the school.”

But even without the intervention of a class of children, the shop’s own flavors are plenty adventurous.

“We’ve got an RVA flavor that’s pretty popular,” Barzoloski said. “It’s fried chicken with ranch, bacon, tomato, jalapeno and nacho cheese Doritos on it. It’s something completely different that you wouldn’t anticipate on a waffle. I’ve seen people just take that and fold it up, and eat it like a giant sandwich.”

The RVA Waffle from Capitol Waffle, with Doritos and tomatoes and ranch and chicken and much more. Capitol Waffle will expand to Norfolk this year, with Granby Waffle Shop. ( Courtesy Brad Barzoloski )

Matthew Korfhage, 757-446-2318, matthew.korfhage@pilotonline.com

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Stay tuned

Granby Waffle Shop at Slover plans to open this spring at 235 E. Plume St., with entrances from Selden Market and Slover Library. For details, see the Capitol Waffle Shop menu at capitolwaffle.com.