Crave Waffle Sandwich Creations pairs American favorites

The success of Crave Waffle Sandwich Creations owes a debt of gratitude to a picky eater.

When Neil Walia, now 13, was a toddler, his taste in food was limited. He liked Belgian waffles. Period. So his mother, Sonia, began tucking other foods inside folded waffles — bacon, eggs, fruit — and Neil happily wolfed them down.

A decade later, when Sonia was thinking up concepts for a new restaurant in the West Valley, her son was her inspiration.

"We wanted to bring to Arizona what Arizona didn't have," says Sonia, who has found a home for her creations at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale.

What was missing was conventional sandwiches presented in an unconventional way — wrapped inside light, crispy waffles, everything from burgers to BLTs to pulled pork and an array of desserts, including s'mores and strawberry cheesecake.

Her newest creation is Take Me to Philly, a cheesesteak of sliced flank steak, peppers, onions and melted Monterey Jack cheese inside a waffle instead of a hoagie roll. It's Neil's new favorite.

Walia and her husband, Paul, have been Arizona residents for almost 20 years. They met in college in Colorado. Both their families were from the Punjab region of India.

Sonia worked as a human resources manager. Paul is an aerospace engineer at Honeywell. When Honeywell transferred them to Arizona in 1996, they made their home in Peoria.

A favorite time for the Walia family has always been Sunday brunch. "I'm a typical mom, and Paul loves to cook," Sonia says.

With their Indian background, they like to add spice to their food, though the Crave Waffle menu is a milder one.

After Neil and then Dylan, now 10, were born, Sonia left her job to stay home with the boys. But once the kids were in school, Sonia wanted to return to work. Her family had always been in business, and she felt it in her blood.

"It's a way of life," she says. "We like creating new things, to bring something new to the market."

Sonia started a home business importing and selling Indian jewelry. She felt her business juices flowing again.

At a bachelorette party five years ago, she tried frozen yogurt. The source was a shop in Scottsdale, where she and her sister found themselves drawn again and again.

Sonia researched recipes and the equipment needed and decided to open a frozen yogurt shop five minutes from home. Paul was skeptical, until he tried it. Then he was on board, and the first RazzleberrieZ opened. She now has three shops.

But the urge to expand didn't end with RazzleberrieZ. Sonia fell in love with Westgate, near Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, and, when a corner space opened up, she and Paul began plotting what kind of fast-casual restaurant they could put there. They nixed an Indian restaurant, believing the demographics of the area around University of Phoenix Stadium and Gila River Arena (formerly Jobing.com Arena) would not be conducive to spicy curries.

The area had plenty of burger joints, traditional sandwich shops and pizzerias.

The idea actually came to Sonia in a dream. She woke up remembering Neil's love of all things waffle. "It was intriguing, it was exciting," she says.

Just as they had been pressed into service to try numerous flavors of frozen yogurt, the Walia family and their friends became taste testers for waffles and an array of fillings. Everything is made fresh from scratch. They roast their own turkey. The pulled pork roasts for 12 hours. Sonia has tweaked her Belgian waffle recipe to make them thinner, lighter, less sweet and crispier to hold up under juicy meats and produce.

The menu also has several salads. These aren't served on a waffle but boast maple-glazed waffle croutons.

What didn't work? A waffle pizza. The sauce made the otherwise crispy waffle too soggy.

A restaurant consultant helped her design the shop, a study in gray with bright orange accents. The ceiling has an industrial look warmed by floating orange and gray grids that resemble giant waffles.

The name, again, was inspired by one of the boys: Dylan kept insisting he craved waffles. Crave Waffle it was.

Given the nearby sports crowd, Paul insisted the store had to have a full bar.

Smart move. Crave Waffle Sandwich Creations opened Super Bowl weekend, after a preview during the Pro Bowl in late January. Video on Sonia's cellphone shows scenes of happy chaos as crowds packed the place and spilled out onto the sidewalk, drinking and chowing down on waffles.

The Walias escaped with their lives after the trial by fire and began to thrive.

Their most popular sandwiches are the Southern Hospitality, made with buttermilk fried chicken; the Crave club sandwich with turkey and bacon; Sweet Caroline with pulled pork in barbecue sauce and spicy slaw; and South of the Border with marinated skirt steak, avocado and chipotle aioli.

Dinner is their busiest time. There's another crush in the evening when the movies at the nearby AMC Theatres let out and patrons come by for dessert. Crave Waffle is open until midnight daily.

Neil acknowledges the brothers' role in charting the path for Crave and inspiring their parents. "They didn't know anything before we got involved," the seventh-grader deadpans.

Dylan, a fifth-grader, hasn't forgotten where the whole idea came from. "We were doing all kinds of things with waffles when we were little."

Sonia says she's just grateful for the success they've had so far and the acceptance of classic sandwiches paired with an old tradition.

"Waffles are comfort food," she says, "an American favorite."

And a favorite of picky eaters everywhere.

Details: Crave Waffle Sandwich Creations, Westgate Entertainment District, Loop 101 and Glendale Avenue, Glendale. 623-772-0622, icravewaffles.com.

Look for a review of Crave Waffle Sandwich Creations in coming weeks.