our story

The first wafels and dinges team in 2007
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It was the summer of 2007, when the king of Belgians, Albert II,got word of soggy “belgian waffles” in that far away land of America. They were found in obscure diners, made of pancake batter. “These so called "Belgian" waffles make me très très sad!” So his majesty commissioned the Special Forces from the Ministry of Culinary Affairs, Department of Wafels. He knighted Thomas DeGeest to "Special Envoy for Wafels", and crowned Rossanna Figuera as "Ambassador of Good Things". Wafels & Dinges was born. It all started with a ‘68 Chevy Truck roaming the streets of NYC. "Wafels & Dinges' mission shall be to give America's “Belgian waffles” a serious upgrade", Albert II declared. And the rest is history…

de time travels

july, 1831
june, 1964
october, 2007
september, 2008
october, 2008
august, 2009
january, 2010
april, 2010
july, 2010
may, 2012
november, 2013
april, 2015
august, 2017
february, 2018
march, 2020
august, 2020
may, 2022
Vintage picture of a waffle truck in Brussels, Belgium

july1831

A man named Leopold starts selling waffles from a horse-drawn carriage on the “Grand Place” in Brussels. The people of Belgium fall in love with his product, and later crown him King Leopold I of Belgium

Vintage picture of the World’s Fair in New York, four ladies sitting on a bench while enjoying Belgian waffles.

june1964

Flushing, Queens: The Brussels "Waffle” makes its grand American debut at the 1964 World Fair in New York. It ends up being called the “Bel-Gem” or “Belgian” waffle. It becomes the best World’s Fair memory for thousands of visitors.

Our old 1968 Chevy waffle truck

october2007

Thomas DeGeest quits his job at IBM to become the “Special Envoy for Wafels”. Rossanna Figuera joins as “Ambassador of Good Things”. They buy a raggedy old 1968 Chevy truck, paint it yellow and park on a busy corner in SoHo to sell the first Liege waffle. Their first shift yields $84.

Improvised towing of a yellow food truck in city traffic, hinting at struggles of NYC street vendors

september2008

They became gritty NYC Street Vendors. And after endless mechanical failures the Thomas starts towing their truck around town with a rope behind an old station wagon. It went well, for a while. Then there was an arrest by the NYPD, and a very amusing episode in criminal court.

A man in a suit and a man in a yellow shirt stand by a waffle truck on the "Today Show" set. Various waffles and toppings are on the counter. The man in yellow is preparing a waffle.

october2008

During the “Today Show” at Rockefeller center, Al Roker nearly loses his mind over our waffles on the Today Show. Nice guy, though.

Winner team of the NYC VENDY AWARDS Show "Best Dessert,vendor in New york"

august2009

Winner of the NYC VENDY AWARDS: At our own ancestral wafel grounds of Flushing Meadows, we take home the top prize in our category “Best Dessert” vendor in New York City.

bobby Flay experiencing wafels and dinges back over in Belgium on King Albert two feel better

january2010

Bobby Flay experiences the secret dark powers of spekuloos spread as he got slayed by a spekuloos wafel during the “Throwdown”. Wafels & Dinges popularity soars. Back over in Belgium King Albert II starts to feel better.

Two Jarks of best Spekuloos Spread

april2010

During their annual pilgrimage to the home country, Belgium, Thomas discovers a new dinges. People call it “awesome”, “incredibly orgasmic” and “spektakuloos”. Our Spekuloos Spread won the prize for “Best Condiment of the Year” by Time Out NY.

Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium visit Wafels and Dinges in central park

july2010

Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium come to New York. In a rite of passage for the Belgian who's who, they visit Wafels & Dinges in Central Park, with loud cheers at the home-front. Only a few months later, King Albert II is pushed to the side and the younger Philippe takes the throne.

Wafels and dinges cycling team

may2012

Why support just one good cause when you can support two? Wafels & Dinges starts sponsoring its very own cycling team. Thanks to a mandatory diet of wafels and spekuloos, the team will go on and achieve spekutacular results.  In 2022, Wafels & Dinges teams up with CYCLE Kids, to provide new bicycles and helmets to underserved elementary school students all over the country.

Queue of customers ordering waffles at Wafels and Dinges kiosk in Herald Square, New York.

november2013

On a clear Manhattan night, the stars align. Suddenly Wafels & Dinges finds itself heating up the irons in a new kiosk at Herald Square, right by Macy’s flagship store. Life is good and the sweet vanilla baking aromas travel through busy Midtown Manhattan.

Wafels and dinges kiosk in Bryant Park, New York

april2015

While we're still adjusting to a wafeling life without wheels in Herald Square, we're invited to look at our dream kiosk in Bryant Park, on the corner of 6th Ave & 42nd Street, the world's crossroads. What had been our immigrant entrepreneur dream for years, suddenly seems possible. We write our proposal, put in our bid, and we fell in love. 

A couple in the winter cold, one jacket reads "wafels" and the other "dinges."

august2017

W&D founders Rossanna & Thomas relocate with kids, dog and waffle-cart to colorful Colorado. In New York City, the Wafels & Dinges team takes over the reins and excels beyond expectations. In Colorado, soon new locations will be popping up in the vicinity of Denver. 

Waels with the steel mug

february2018

We never liked picking favorites, but 10 years in we realize that not all wafels are made equal. We say goodbye to the delicate Brussels wafel and to our brunchy savory wafels.  We’re shamelessly picking our favorite with the Liege wafel.  One day we were heartbroken, the next day we made the best Liege wafels in Amerika.

A waffels and dinges team pick up a boxes of waffels shared post on twitter

march2020

Well, we all know what happened. Covid strikes and it's not pretty. We regroup and with generous support of our fans, we start sending thousands of waffles to healthcare workers all over the country. We end up donating over 12,000 waffles.

Waffels and dinges shop in Mall of America Minnesota

august2020

Mall of America: our magical store in the most iconic shopping destination in the USA is built and ready, but the Covid pandemic is still raging. We decide to open anyway, earning us the Royal EEFUC award for Exuberant Enthusiasm in the Face of Unlikely Challenges.  It wasn't fun then, but it's fun now. 

Wafels and dinges vintage truck launch in 1959

may2022

After several brick & mortar stores, nostalgia for our first 1968 Chevy truck takes over. Started in 2017 as a project of passion, love and unrealistic budgeting, we finally launch our vintage 1959 Wafels & Dinges truck in Denver, CO. He is named "El Elemento", in loving memory of Ernesto Figuera, dad of our founder Rossanna Figuera and probably the most ardent Wafels & Dinges fan to ever have lived. 

want to join de ministry of de dinges?

Wafels & Dinges is a small, fun and dynamic company. We are inviting you to join our exceptional team of wafeleurs and wafelettes.
We’re searching for people with a strong proven work ethic, strong leadership abilities.
If you meet these criteria, don’t hesitate and complete the application form.

join our team