Local gastropub Günter Hans brought the heat with its Galentine’s day waffle bar. The pub served Liège waffles as well as bottomless cranberry and rose mimosas from 11 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16.

The waffle bar offers Liège waffles and unlimited toppings for $6.99, a dollar cheaper than during regular hours. The bar included classic toppings like syrup and whipped cream, as well as more experimental ones, like the pub’s signature cinnamon butter and a wide array of fruit preserves. The cranberry and rose mimosas were specially made for Galentine’s day, and were bottomless for $14.99.

For Günter Hans founder Lydia Melton, the pub’s Liège waffles are not just some breakfast treat.

“We make the waffles from scratch and use a special waffle iron imported from Belgium,” Melton said. “Because the waffles have to be cooked at a specific temperature, a standard waffle iron from the US will not work.”

The effort put into making the waffles was not lost on MU student Lea Castro.

“It’s a great way to start a morning,” Castro said, sipping her mimosa. Castro was celebrating her friend Jordan Yolich’s 21st birthday with a group of friends. Günter Hans was their first stop of the day, and they felt that the waffles were worth coming early.

Yolich said the waffle bar was a good thing to have on wintery days with bad weather. The temperature was in the mid-teens, and the roads were still slushy after Friday’s snow. Grace Huber, a waitress in the pub, thinks it was good luck that they held the waffle bar that day.

“It’s a way to attract people in while the weather is hectic,” Huber said. “The turnout can really vary this early in the morning.”

Before Günter Hans had a building, the Columbia community supported it through a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $20,000. This allowed them to open in August of 2013. The original inspiration for the pub was when founder Lydia Melton came back from a trip to Europe and noticed that the pretzels, waffles and ice creams she enjoyed in Europe weren’t being properly recreated in America. So the pretzels, the bratwurst and even the Liège waffles are prepared so that the local community can taste Europe without the passport.

_Edited by Janae McKenzie | jmckenzie@themaneater.com_