All Belgium will open its first storefront, at 10 W Northampton St., Wilkes-Barre in January 2024.
Hannah Simerson | Times Leader
Toon De Schepper, co-founder of All Belgium waffles, poses for a photo inside the food truck. Soon, All Belgium will expand to a physical location in Wilkes-Barre.
Courtesy All Belgium
WILKES-BARRE — A beloved food truck known for its authentic Belgian waffles will soon be putting down roots with a storefront in the Diamond City.
All Belgium, a food truck specializing in Liège waffles topped with endless combinations of Nutella, fruit, bacon bits, ice cream and much more, will open a physical location at 10 W Northampton St.
In 2021, Wilkes University students Toon De Schepper and Billy Berry had the idea of launching the food truck after De Schepper, who was born and raised in Belgium, had a hard time finding food that tasted like home.
“As I continued to meet new people, their first impression of Belgium was how delicious the waffles, beer and fries are from my home country. I couldn’t really find anything like it in America, so I figured why not bring it here,” De Schepper said.
Thus, De Schepper and Berry began to sell the waffles, which are made out of dough rather than batter and infused with pearl sugar, a Belgian specialty that melts and caramelizes when cooked, giving the waffle a unique flavor much different than a typical breakfast waffle.
The business quickly took off. In 2022, All Belgium began operating a second food truck in Chicago. According to De Schepper, expansion was always a part of the business plan.
“It was always the goal to expand. We started the food truck to see how it would go, and we always knew we wanted to have multiple locations — as many as possible. Our long term goal is to be at all kinds of venues like zoos, ski resorts and arenas,” he said.
Come January 6, All Belgium will be one location closer to their goal with the opening of their very first storefront, which De Schepper says will allow for an expanded menu.
The storefront’s menu will still have the waffles that started it all, but All Belgium will expand the topping options, as well as add different types of waffles. Additionally, waffles will be able to be covered in chocolate and infused with fruits, cereal and chocolate.
To make things even sweeter, All Belgium will branch out to offer authentic Belgian coffee and ice cream menus.
For now, the storefront will operate as a walk-up service, but De Schepper says there are plans to create seating space in the near future.
As for the food truck, All Belgium plans to continue operating out of it for events, but it will no longer be available for street purchases.
All Belgium will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. daily, and the menu will be available for delivery on DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub. Learn more about the business at https://allbelgiumwaffles.com/.
