Funk ‘n Waffles, the popular restaurant known for its unique menu and live music, could be bringing that food and atmosphere to Armory Square if it opens a new location downtown.

The restaurant is currently located on South Crouse Avenue, next to appeThaizing and Roly Poly. The new location would be located on South Clinton Street, in the space where Syracuse University’s XL Projects art gallery used to be.

Adam Gold, owner of Funk ‘n Waffles, presented his plan for the new location to the Syracuse City Planning Commission Monday evening. He said it is not a “said and done” process and he won’t hear back on the restaurant approval until mid-April.

Gold said the original concept for Funk ‘n Waffles was to be a waffle-specialty restaurant and a music venue merged together. The current Campus Plaza location doesn’t have the space to host huge shows, he said, and he wants to have the space for 200 people to enjoy music and food at the same time.

“Armory Square is amazing, but they only have live music on weekends,” Gold said. “They don’t have breakfast foods on a regular basis. In fact, a lot of places are closed on Sundays or the only two places that have breakfast on Sundays are just packed to the gills.”

There is a market in Armory Square for the food Funk ‘n Waffles serves, Gold said. He added that it can be normal for Syracuse residents to avoid the Marshall Street area because of traffic, which is another reason why he’s looking into the Armory Square area.

“The majority of people that attend businesses on Marshall Street are students, families of students and people going to sports games,” he said. “It’s a pretty specific market.”

Patricia Fernandez, a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism major at SU, said she thinks a new location in Armory Square is “pretty sweet,” but it may not be ideal for SU students.

“I think I might try it,” she said. “It’s probably not great for university students, just because we have one over here, but it’s cool to have it. There’s a chance that it’s bigger, better.”

Wensi Zeng, a senior accounting major, said she doesn’t know where Armory Square is, but she might go to the new location if Funk ‘n Waffles had a different menu from the Campus Plaza location.

The Armory Square location will have a waffle-based menu bigger than the Campus Plaza location’s and will also have a full liquor license, Gold said.

Gold said he may consider a beer and wine license for the Campus Plaza location, but getting a full-liquor license would be “irresponsible.”

“I’ve seen so many places get closed down because of underage drinking, and it would just seem irresponsible if I ended up getting stuck with a bunch of underage kids who have fake IDs,” he said. “At the same time, I think we can make it work.”

Fernandez said if she were 21 years old, then she might go to the Armory Square location to eat and drink. Though she wasn’t sure how liquor would taste with waffles, she said she can imagine SU students going to the Armory Square location to consume waffles with alcohol.

Zeng would go to the new location on an evening out with friends to try the food with alcohol, she said, but she is indifferent about the liquor license.

Said Zeng: “I go to Funk ‘n Waffles because of the waffles, not for the liquor.”

Published on March 26, 2014 at 1:20 am

Contact Ellen: ekmeyers@syr.edu | @ellenkmeyers