Meet Jennifer Daniels | Owner/Partner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Daniels and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My husband, Ozzie, started the WAFL Truck in 2013 and his goal in creating the WAFL Truck was to achieve the ideal of the typical “American dream” as an immigrant coming from Turkey. He wanted to offer something that wasn’t available in the food truck world with waffles and waffle-related items served as street food. Now, we run the business together as partners (I joined him in 2017) and our current goal is to expand our business and focus on creating a legacy for our daughter to continue on with if she chooses. As an L.A. native, I appreciate the food scene here and want to add to its culture by bringing delicious food to the people.

What should our readers know about your business?
The WAFL Truck was one of the first food trucks in the LA area to serve waffles as a main menu item. There was no other food truck that was known of that was doing the same concept at the time, so it was exciting to offer something different. That’s pretty much what sets us apart from other food trucks is that we have focused our menu on the concept of the waffle. We offer a variety of waffle items, sweet and savory, as well as a varied waffle fry selection. We are excited about doing an overhaul of our menu soon to add wings (which is often requested), as well as some new biscuit waffle sandwiches and burgers.
When it comes to our food truck journey, it has definitely not been easy. The food truck business can be very difficult for many reasons, one being that the whole operation depends on if the truck can make it to its destination. From numerous breakdowns to barely surviving the lockdown, we have overcome many, many obstacles to get to where we are today. The biggest piece of advice we can give anyone trying to break into this business is to not focus on the problem, but to try to set your intentions on finding solutions. There will be many hiccups along the way, but staying true to your vision is the most important thing you can do. One major lesson that we have learned is that we as humans are very resilient, and we can get through many trials regardless of how trying or formidable they may seem. Another really important piece of advice for this industry is to make friends, everywhere. Networking is key to surviving in this business.
One major thing we are excited to share is that we have recently opened a second food truck so we will be more available for our customers. We are currently working on finalizing details and plans, but we are planning to have a regular spot(s) and we will start taking delivery orders.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
L.A. is such an amazing place with so many things to see, do, visit, etc. Sadly, one of our favorite places that we would typically take people new to the area is currently suffering from wildfires–the Malibu/Pacific Palisades area. I’m sure that we will recover from this tragedy as a united city with all the help we are receiving from around the world and the diligence of the residents and hopefully the area can be returned to some semblance of its former beauty. If you want to be able to see the city from the best POV, visit the Griffith Observatory. Our 6-year old will tell you that Kidspace Children’s Museum is the place to be if you ask her, though.
The L.A. area is also very rich with restaurants and eateries from low budget to high-end, but we keep returning to Marino Restaurant on Melrose if you want fresh, delicious Italian food and Kinnara Thai in Van Nuys has consistently delicious grub. However, you can’t go wrong with the L.A. staple, In-N-Out, or some of our fellow food trucks like Deli Doctor or Ahh Huevo.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to give a shoutout to all of our friends and family who have helped us in our journey. We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today if it wasn’t for their love and support. We would also like to give a shoutout to our community who have patronized our truck and have supported us with referrals and love on social media. We love you all!

Website: https://wafltruck.com

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/wafltruck

Facebook: https://facebook.com/wafltruck