Craving a Mosaic of Flavors

“During her pregnancy, she just wanted waffles and watermelon,” Bobby Georges said of his wife, Courtney, whose particular craving inspired his tasty spot on State Street, Goodland Waffles & Melts.

“She had gestational diabetes, so we couldn’t do it all the time,” Georges said of his desire to treat his wife to the perfect waffle. “I started going through these recipes, and I remembered one my mom had for a yeasted overnight waffle batter. They’re really good, and we found out it didn’t really spike her blood sugar much.”

Georges’s mission to concoct the model waffle sprung not only from being a good husband, but also from his impressive cooking background.

After high school, Georges decided to follow his passion to culinary school in Sacramento. He also had a connection through his father to work at a fine dining restaurant called The Kitchen.

“I was doing the fine dining world and culinary school at the same time,” Georges said. “I was getting a lot of education all at once.”

When he moved to Santa Barbara, where his wife is from, he cooked at Intermezzo and Wine Cask. After that, he worked at the advertising agency EvansHardy+Young but couldn’t keep his heart and hands out of the kitchen, especially when the pandemic hit. He started hosting a pop-up on weekends with brunch at Old Town Coffee in Goleta in August 2021.

“Our brunch there caught on really quickly,” Georges said. Soon after they started at Old Town Coffee, Draughtsmen Aleworks reached out, and he started doing their weekly trivia nights.

“It allowed me to explore more of the savory side of dinner dishes,” Georges said.

He expanded his waffle repertoire and got creative with local ingredients. Options like the Peachy Keen, a cheddar and parmesan waffle topped with heirloom tomatoes, farmers’ market peaches, creamy burrata, balsamic, and fried onions kept customers coming back.

When the opportunity arose for a food vendor to join both Old Town Coffee and Draughtsmen at Mosaic Locale in downtown Santa Barbara in April 2023, Georges found his perfect niche.

“We do a bit more breakfast or brunch-oriented dishes to complement the coffee,” Georges said of their large breakfast/brunch options, which include classic fare like the Good Morning Melt, while also highlighting their specialty — waffles.

“We’ve done everything from curried waffles to black pepper parmesan to gingerbread waffles,” Georges said.

Inside Goodland Waffles & Melts | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

A menu staple, the Goodland Classic features a sweet vanilla waffle topped with farmers’ market fruit, real maple syrup, powdered sugar, and whipped cream.

The Wafflecado Toast is as fun to eat as it is to say, as the savory waffle acts as a blank canvas for stunning seasonal toppings, fresh from the farmers’ market down the street. The Complete Waffle Breakfast is another work of art. A savory waffle is loaded with luscious avocado, fresh arugula, candy-like heirloom tomatoes, your choice of bacon or sausage, and an addictive maple hot sauce.

“We use Rancho Santa Felia for avocados, we’ve used Chavez Family Farms for our berries, and John Givens Farms for tomatoes,” Georges said. “Whatever looks best, we just try to incorporate those as much as we can.”

In July, Old Town Coffee left Mosaic and presented another cup to fill — coffee. Georges had tried Groundwork Coffee in Los Angeles and was impressed with not only their robust flavor but their ethos as well.

“All of their coffees are organic,” Georges said. “They do a lot of single origins and also a lot of blends. They work with a lot of women-owned farms.”

Georges’s creativity shines in the seasonal drink specials, such as the Spiced Apple Chaider, but even their simplest drinks are a special delight. I was blown away by the smooth yet chocolatey taste of their cold brew. With just a splash of oat milk and a few sips, I felt as if I had grown superhero wings. This uplifted feeling can be equally attributed to their genuinely kind service. Georges and all of the baristas I’ve interacted with have become just as key an ingredient to the experience as their thoughtfully selected produce.

“When we moved into Mosaic, we decided to include our melts to provide something for lunch,” Georges said. The Locale is a crowd fave, consisting of a four-cheese blend and garlic seasoning on Riviera Bread Company’s beer-to-bread sourdough, which uses spent grain from Draughtsmen. The Mosaic Melt, featuring pesto chicken, red pepper spread, cheddar, and mozzarella on Edna’s Bakery white bread, delivers ooey-gooey satisfaction.

“We’ll do more rotating specials,” Georges said. I was lucky enough to visit in fall and try the Harvest Moon, featuring a vanilla cinnamon waffle topped with pumpkin butter mousse, crunchy granola, and fresh apples. No matter the season, with wine, coffee, beer, waffles, melts, live music, and more, Goodland Waffles & Melts aims to please.

“We’re really just trying to build a nice vibe and a nice place to hang out,” Georges said. “We’ve got you covered from morning to night.”

Goodland Waffles & Melts, 1131 State Street (inside Mosaic Locale), is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. See goodlandwaffles.com.