Business owner Manny Rodriguez was lying in bed one day and brainstorming a name for his new shop when the word “wonderful” suddenly came to mind.
Combining it with “waffle,” he eventually decided on “Wondaffle” as the name of his new dessert ice cream and waffle shop.
Located at 307 E. Third St., Wondaffle officially opened on March 21, offering a modern and inviting space for dessert lovers.
Rodriguez said the name is “unique,” and once customers read the description displayed on the front of the store — “waffles and ice cream inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good waffles and ice cream” — they’ll understand why.
Rodriguez and co-owner Rick Pongracz, both lifelong Lehigh Valley residents, decided to open Wondaffle as a way to give back to their community by offering locals something delicious to eat.
Their dedication to the frozen dessert industry played a role in the shop’s creation, as the two have experience from other ventures. They opened Batch Microcreamery in Saucon Valley in 2018 — a shop offering handcrafted super-premium hard ice cream — and dessert shop Twisted & Dipped on Bethlehem’s North Side last year.
Rodriguez said his passion for entrepreneurship is something he hopes to instill in other locals as they start their own businesses or stores.
“Being from the Lehigh Valley means a lot to me, and any positive contribution that I can make to this valley can be an example for students to become an entrepreneur,” he said.
Rodriguez also said the foot traffic from Lehigh and Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts students has significantly contributed to the success of Wondaffle since opening.
Since he’s familiar with the area, he said he has a feel for how it operates. Many local restaurants don’t open until later in the afternoon, around 4 p.m., he said. To take advantage of this and attract more students, he and Pongracz decided to open at 3 p.m.
Rodriguez said the shop also stays open later on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to accommodate the nightlife crowd, offering a spot for people coming from local pubs or the library to grab ice cream and waffles.
Wondaffle offers two types of waffles — liege waffles and bubble waffles. The liege waffle is denser and contains pearl sugar, while the bubble waffle is lighter.
The liege waffles feature fruit-inspired combinations, such as the Berries and Cream — which pairs vanilla ice cream with strawberries, blueberries and raspberry sauce — and the PB Jammin’ — which includes peanut butter, raspberry sauce, Fruity Pebbles cereal, vanilla ice cream and powdered sugar.
Wondaffle features delicious Liege waffles and ice cream, with Strawberry Pebbles among the exciting menu options. There’s also an option to create your own combination. (Ashlee Rothenberg/B&W Staff)
Rodriguez also said Wondaffle caters to customers with dietary restrictions by offering dairy-free and gluten-free options.
“Of course, we can’t please everybody, but we tried to check off all the boxes to accommodate,” he said. “If someone walks in here and says they are gluten and dairy free, they can order Berries and Cream with vegan vanilla ice cream with no issue.”
One of the shop’s flavors is inspired by Rodriguez and Pongracz’s friend, Nick Dawkins, a player on the Penn State football team, Rodriguez said.
The flavor honors Dawkins’ late father, Darryl Dawkins, who passed away in 2018 and played in the NBA. Known as “Chocolate Thunder,” Darryl Dawkins’ legacy is celebrated with a flavor of the same name on the menu.
Rodriguez said it took about a year for the shop to open.
He said that the construction process was the biggest challenge, as it came with delays due to items being shipped from outside the United States. For example, he said one table took months to arrive.
The owners aimed to create a clean, friendly and lively atmosphere, which Rodriguez said is a consistent look and feel across his brands, like Batch Microcreamery.
“We didn’t want to be a mom and pop ice cream shop with cows on the wall,” he said.
Weston Bennett, a charter school student, visited Wondaffle and described the shop as clean, calm and a refreshing change from other places in Bethlehem.
Bennett said Wondaffle is more specialized than a typical ice cream shop because it also offers waffles.
“Wondaffle is different from a normal ice cream place,” he said. “It’s special.”
Lennon Hudock, another charter school student, visited Wondaffle with a friend after seeing social media posts about the shop and walking past it frequently during its construction.
Hudock ordered an ice cream cone with strawberry ice cream, while his friend opted for the Cinnamon Crunch liege waffle, which includes salted caramel ice cream, caramel syrup and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
He said many students from his school come to the shop often, and he believes it will continue to be popular because of its values.
“There’s not a lot of ice cream places or dessert places around here, so I think that we needed more of a variety to make Bethlehem’s options more diverse,” Hudock said.
Laila Roque, a Bethlehem resident, visited on opening day and said she plans to return because she enjoyed the Fruity Pebbles liege waffle and the shop’s convenient location.
“It’s simple, not doing too much, but cute overall,” Roque said. “It’s different from your normal ice cream shop, like The Cup. It has a twist on it. They’re open late on the weekends, so it’s something random to do.”
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