<irit Garden tattoo and piercing, on Division St., will soon be closing. A new restaurant, Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar, will replace it. While the Chamber of Commerce has no official opening date for the restaurant, it is likely that it will open in November. Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar will be open from 7a.m. until 2a.m., seven days a week.
In addition to classic waffles with various fruit toppings, Sweet Lou’s will serve savory waffles with toppings like lox and cream cheese, or even with ingredients that one might expect in an omelet. There will also be a dedicated dessert menu with a number of sweet combinations served atop waffles. Each waffle is named with a Minnesota theme in mind, including the “Carleton Classic,” a whole-wheat waffle, and “Cows, Cream, and Contentment.” A St. Olaf namesake, “The Ole Roller,” will also be available on the dessert menu.
Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar will offer free wireless internet and decorate its walls with the work of local artists. The restaurant’s website is up and running and a full menu is available at sweetlouswaffles.com.
Corley Miller ’09 is in favor of this transition from body art to breakfast. “I think I’m going to eat a lot more waffles than I was going to get tattoos. And I support waffle shops…in general. I think they build a sense of community. Plus, we need a place to go downtown that isn’t Blue Mondays,” Miller said.
Libbie Weimer ’10 agrees, saying, “That tattoo place was sketch. I went down there to get my nose pierced, and thought better of it.”
Kate Adkins ’11 was also excited. She expects Sweet Lou’s is here to stay.
“I think the fact that they’re open so late is going to attract a lot of business,” she said.
However, not all Carleton students support the change. Stefan Garrido-Shaqfeh ’11 was quite distressed by the news. “Wait, was that the only tattoo parlor in town? I was planning to get a tat…something family-oriented on my upper back, I hadn’t quite decided yet…man, that’s a bummer,” he said.
One student, who requested to remain anonymous, mentioned the possibility of an increase in blood borne diseases, as Northfield teens and college students turn desperately to piercing their own body parts.
For better or for worse, Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar will soon open at 303 Division St.