Press Waffles Will Pop Up On South Side
Popular liège waffles served at Hawthorne Coffee Roasters every Saturday through 2023.
Hawthorne Coffee Roasters, 4177 S. Howell Ave. Photo taken Nov. 9, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Press Waffles will resume its pop-ups at Hawthorne Coffee Roasters, offering a lineup of sweet and savory, sugar-crusted liège waffles every Saturday through the end of the year.
The weekly pop-ups will be held 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 18 and 25 and Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 at the southside cafe, 4177 S. Howell Ave., in the Town of Lake neighborhood.
For the duration of the pop-ups, Hawthorne will pause its own food service, including its build-your-own breakfast sandwiches, egg and avocado toast, country biscuits and more. Grab-and-go bakery and soups will still be available.
Press’s return to Hawthorne marks the revival of a tradition dating back to 2016. But this year is a little different, as it follows the October closure of Press’s brick-and-mortar cafe in the Historic Third Ward. It’s also a few weeks past the end of outdoor farmers market season, meaning fans of the sugar-crusted waffles are no longer guaranteed a weekly visit to Trailer Jane, Press’s signature mint-green camper, which doles out warm waffles with seasonal toppings at a variety of locales during the spring, summer and early fall.
In announcing the cafe closure, Press also shared that co-founder Emily Thomas would leave her position in order to pursue other opportunities. Aaron Rosko will continue to lead the business.
Thomas and Rosko founded Press in 2015 as a mobile operation, vending their Belgian-style waffles at the Wauwatosa Farmers Market. That’s where they crossed paths with Hawthorne, which was also in its earliest stages at the time. The pair were stationed next to each other and together offered a winning combination of strong coffee and sweet waffles, kicking off a mutually supportive relationship that continues today, nearly nine years later.
In addition to its weekly pop-ups at Hawthorne, Press waffles are available for purchase at a number of local retailers including Sendik’s Food Market, Metcalfe’s, Sentry Foods, Outpost Natural Foods and Woodman’s in Oak Creek. The business is actively working to expand its wholesale operation, with plans to enter more stores in the near future.
UPDATE: This article originally cited Bay View, not the Town of Lake as the neighborhood where Hawthorne is located.
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