The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

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At Melt it’s all about the waffle

Melt Waffle and Frozen Yogurt, which held its grand opening on Labor Day weekend, is located at 4311 212th ST SW Suite 110, in Mountlake Terrace. Melt is open seven days a week, from noon until 10 p.m., giving customers a lunch time treat or a late night snack.

At Melt, hot waffles from the waffle press are placed underneath a choice of frozen yogurt. Eugene Hyang and his partners asked his best friend, now Melt’s kitchen manager, Alan Huang, to put his own twist on the traditional waffles to appeal to people’s tastes.

Alan Huang explained, “First I gather all my ingredients together and as I go along, I do things that I can do while doing other things. So if I’m melting butter, I’ll melt the butter, and I’ll start getting the yeast ready, by the time the yeast is ready, the butter is all melted. You multi-task because you want to be as efficient with your time as possible. So between certain tasks, if I have time, I’ll start cleaning. That way, the kitchen is clean, and then you can serve people as much as you can.”

The first – and only – branch in Mountlake Terrace ran through a lot of difficulties, and took roughly three months to open. Currently a local company with seven workers, including Alan and Eugene, who change shifts once a day, the team hopes to franchise soon.

“It’s pretty good, a lot of regulars and happy faces when they come in. What I especially like about this area is that a lot of people support us. I enjoy seeing a lot of familiar faces and talking to them by name,” Alan Huang said about the customer base.

For improvements, they plan to fix the fudge machine. Also, they want to streamline the process, making the store more efficient by adding more seating, and by making it warm looking for the winter, and then a little cooler looking in the summer.

“I think if you were to incorporate a restaurant like most of the frozen yogurt, you don’t expect to see a lot of people going to Menchies or Red Mango as often in the winter. Especially Red Mango, because there’s not much seating around that area, so you have to walk to the mall and start eating it. I don’t see much people eating cold stuff during the cold days,” Alan reasoned.

Their goal for the future, as Alan said, “Hopefully we can franchise, if not, then we’ll start chaining. We’ll probably open another store within the greater Seattle area.”

Alan explained, “Yes. We are fixed price rather than self-serve. That way, we give a pretty consistent thickness of the yogurt because if we changed to a price based on weight, we could just make the yogurt heavy, and you guys don’t get as much as you guys want. But with a mix that is really light, you guys get a lot but you’d be paying less, so we’re trying to go for pretty good quality balance, while giving as much to the customer as we can.”

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To order, there is a choice between the signature Melt dish, which includes a waffle, yogurt, and two toppings for $4.95, and plain yogurt ranging from $2.50 – $4.50 (small, medium, large), and just the waffle for $3.00. Once you pick the yogurt flavor and the toppings, you may add extra toppings or get the complimentary whipped cream, chocolate/caramel syrup, and sprinkles.

The most popular treat is the Melt signature dish, vanilla yogurt and a choice of two fruits: strawberries and blueberries.

Alan explained, “I wouldn’t really compare us to yogurt places, because technically, we’re more focused on the waffle aspect of the dessert right now. Compared to Menchies and Red Mango, we have a lesser selection, mostly because the flavors are trying to go with our waffles, and not trying to kill the frozen yogurt enthusiasts.”

“I want them to really remember just the waffle because I put a lot of dedication to making this waffle taste as great as it does right now. I’m glad they really enjoy the product,” Alan stated.

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