After being disappointed by the so-called Belgian waffles served by American diners and hotels, Toon De Schepper — born and raised in Belgium — sought to bring a taste of home to the United States.
De Schepper moved to the country as a teenager to pursue a hockey career, eventually landing at Wilkes University, where he met Billy Berry.
“Toon would order it, thinking he’d get a home specialty treat, and sadly he was mistaken because they’re so different from the real authentic Belgian waffles,” Berry said. “That’s where the idea sparked — he thought he could bring something from Belgium over to America that we don’t have. There is a lack of it and a lack of awareness of it. Toon would often say waffles here are ‘waffle-shaped pancakes.’”
A Belgium waffle comes from dough, and most American waffles are water- and batter-based, Berry said.
The business sells Liege waffles — invented in Liege, Belgium — in several different menu variations, including the S’more Waffle, featuring mini-marshmallows, Biscoff crumbles and chocolate sauce; the Berry Blast, containing strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream; and the Chunky Monkey, featuring peanut butter, bananas, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.
“When it’s cooked, it’s a lot chewier and there is just more flavor in general,” Berry added. “There are pearl sugar cubes in the waffle. Once it hits on the iron and warms up, it creates a nice layer over the waffle, caramelizes around the edges and gives an extra sweet taste to it.”
The college roommates and teammates on the Colonels ice hockey team first discussed selling waffles while taking a business class.
“Then, we got sent home for COVID and thought, ‘Why not try this?’” said Berry, originally from Redding, Connecticut.
They launched their business, All Belgium Food Truck, in Luzerne County in 2021, and the Chicago-based company now operates food trucks in 18 locations throughout the country — from Philadelphia to Phoenix and Wilkes-Barre to Washington, D.C. — and one storefront location, All Belgium Waffles, at 344 Adams Ave. in Scranton.
“We started with one, tiny ice cream van in Wilkes-Barre and events went crazy,” Berry said. “We started to get double booked and triple booked. We were headed in the right direction very quickly. We thought, ‘Why not expand our market and really hammer the idea of spreading the Belgian waffle in a slacked market in America?’ We wanted to be the ones spreading it around the United States.”
De Schepper and Berry previously operated a brick-and-mortar store in Wilkes-Barre before moving those operations to the Electric City.
“We had a little walk-up window in the back alleyway off Main Street and then we found a better space, in a bigger city, that had some indoor seating,” Berry said.
While they moved into the downtown space just under two years ago, the business didn’t open in Scranton until this past fall. A grand reopening was held in late March.
“We have a new logo outside, and we redesigned some of the menu items and the appearance of the store,” Berry said.
Berry noted extending hours until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights provides a boost for the waffle shop.
“Being open late on the weekends is definitely good for us with the college scene,” he said. “I think the harder part for us has been getting the awareness out about what a Belgian waffle really is and why it’s so authentic. It’s a whole different flavor and taste.”
Entering college, Berry envisioned working in corporate America after graduation, but establishing the food truck business with De Schepper altered his plans.
“When you put your passion and heart into something, it’s hard to go another way, so we went full force with it,” he said.