NEW OPENING: The Manchester pop-up serving waffles, fried chicken and lobster boxes

The newest addition to Manchester’s already extensive food scene is giving the humble chicken burger a very syrupy makeover.

WaffleStop opened its first ever pop-up kitchen just last week, but was born during lockdown as a virtual dark kitchen with a focus on good, old-fashioned home cooking with a twist. The brains behind the unique chicken-waffle-barbecue concept, Moss Side-born Georgia Patrick, came up with the idea for her brand when cooking for her partner.

Speaking to Proper Manchester, Georgia detailed how the inspiration for WaffleStop was born, crediting her love for home-made, high quality and unique food. She said: “I’m not really the type of person who always wants to go out for date nights, sometimes I prefer to just sit in and make a nice meal.

WaffleStop

“So on our anniversary a couple of years ago, I asked my partner what he wanted to eat, and he suggested ‘American fusion.’ There, I thought to myself, why don’t I make my own waffle chicken burger?”

From there, Georgia got to work researching various recipes for barbecue sauce, eventually coming up with her own unique recipe and creating her own waffle sauce. Initially using frozen waffles from the supermarket, Georgia made her first waffle burger and it proved to be a huge hit. She explained: “My brother came around to try it and when he loved it, that sparked the idea to start selling them.”

From there, she started making her own waffles from scratch and, with her business partners, brother Jerome Patrick and Dominic Cook, began putting together a full menu and business plan.

Thanks to the ongoing lockdowns last year, however, WaffleStop was forced to operate as a virtual dark kitchen – but now that Manchester has officially reopened, WaffleStop has secured a residency at The Progress Centre in Ardwick as a pop up.

WaffleStop

Since then, the menu has expanded massively; as well as her trademark waffle chicken burger, there are the likes of mac ‘n’ cheese, chicken wings, and even seafood additions such as chilli jerk glazed prawns and barbecue glazed lobster tail. There are also meat-free alternatives for vegetarian and vegan customers such as the Cali Burger, which includes a southern-fried cauliflower with sweet-chilli sauce.

Speaking of the unique menu, Georgia explained: “A menu highlight is definitely our lobster tail which is served with our signature barbecue sauce. The lobster tail comes as part of our Waffle Box deal, which comes with seasoned corn and two slices of waffle.

“The fusion-fried rice is also really popular, as are our honey-nut strips and honey-nut waffle burgers, which all give a sweet-but-savory twist to the menu.”

WaffleStop

Other box combinations include the Beach Box, which consists of loaded white chocolate and strawberry waffles, sweet chilli jerk salmon and seasoned corn, and the Baby Box, a smaller portion of white chocolate waffles and seasoned corn and a smaller price for those not wanting to break the bank.

WaffleStop is open Tuesday – Saturday, 12pm-8pm at the Progress Centre in Ardwick and operates on a strictly order and pick up basis only (though a sit down restaurant is on the cards for the future.)

WaffleStop, CheeseTrap and SugarBabez can all be found at the Progress Centre in Ardwick. For more information and to place your order, visit the official WaffleStop Instagram account here.