The call of the waffle: Waffville food cart offers celebratory street cakes

Pour it on thick: Chad Zacharchuck sees his specialty waffles as a good way to celebrate the everyday. Max Cooper

Chad Zacharchuck started out with a motorcycle and wound up with a mobile waffle cookery.

He didn't mean to get into waffles — he was thinking about starting a hot dog cart. But one day, watching TV, he got an idea. “There's a show called Parks and Recreation,” he says. “There's been a couple of episodes that I noticed where they would celebrate something that would happen on the show and be in the office eating these waffles in these little to-go containers.”

He started thinking about how to bring those moments of miniature celebration to Asheville. He sold his motorcycle and used the money to buy a hot dog cart. He attached a couple of waffle irons and a stand for the finished cakes, and he was ready to hit the streets.

Zacharchuck launched Waffville last week. He makes the batter from scratch using his own recipe and prepares the waffles to-order. Customers can add an assortment of dried fruits and nuts to the batter, and top the finished product with syrup, maple syrup, whipped cream, a drizzle of peanut butter or powdered sugar.

Waffles are something of a novelty, Zacharchuck explains, and he thinks they will prove popular with pedestrians. “Waffles are unique,” he says. “You can't really go many places and get a good waffle.”

Zacharchuck sets up his cart on Pack Square outside of the BB&T building. He serves the six-inch waffles in to-go containers with a fork and knife, so patrons can eat them on one of the nearby benches or take them back to the office.

His specialty is the pineapple-upside-down-cake waffle, which comes stuffed with dried pineapple and cherries and topped with whipped cream and cherry syrup. At $6, it's the Cadillac of waffles. The other varieties cost $4 or $5. He also serves iced tea and lemonade.

Look for Waffville food cart at 1 W. Pack Square for breakfast and lunch. The cart accepts cash and credit. Waffles are Zacharchuck's second job, so his schedule will vary. Check waffville.com or search for Waffville on Facebook for more details.

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