Wichita Falls- It’s time for the Texas Bucket List “Bite of the Week,” and this week we’ve woken up early in Wichita Falls for a special sandwich made with, of all things, waffles.
We’re at Gidget’s Sandwich Shack.
“You can see it’s eclectic, it’s homegrown, it’s 100% these guys and their creation and they started from the ground up,” Tanner Wachsman said.
Julie Spence started this sandwich shop with her best friend, Melissa Alread back in 2004. These two busy ladies got the bug to be business owners while on a girls trip to Galveston.
“So, I was talking to my best friend,” Julie said. “We were in Galveston drinking some wine out on the front porch and talking about how bad our work lives were. She was a pharmaceutical rep, and so we thought, ‘Well, let’s just roll back to Wichita Falls and start a coffee shop.’”
The pair needed the perfect provisions to accompany their eclectic persona. Paninis fit the bill.
“Bought us a grill, bought us an espresso machine, came back here to Wichita Falls and we thought, ‘We’ve gotta make this Texas-sized panini,’” Julie said.
They took on the name of Melissa’s daughter Gidget, and they were good to go.
“We had five sandwiches,” Julie said. “It worked.”
Business boomed, and it wasn’t long until they moved into an old downtown bank building complete with an old safe and some serious history.
“Yeah, it has some history,” Julie said. “First bank robbery in Wichita Falls, and the first bank robbery murder happened. Then they found the guys and they lynched them somewhere out here on the corner or something like that, and there’s actually a picture of them … I’ve got it at home and on my archives, of them right over here in this area. Their bodies are just kind of laid over like this both dead.”
Thank goodness we won’t be dealing with any ghosts. There’s nothing scary here except for scary good sandwiches.
“Yeah,” Julie said. “They’re not scary good, they’re just really good.”
Gidget’s has got something that seriously stuck out to us: Waffles.
“I’ve got some waffle mix, and I have this waffle maker and we’re like, ‘Let’s just make some waffle sandwiches,’” Julie said. “That’s different, right? “
Yes it is, and Julie couldn’t wait to get started on the featured sandwich.
“It’s gonna be one waffle sandwich. They get really big,” Julie said.
Once the waffles got whipped up, Julie started putting the Monte Cristo breakfast sandwich together. She threw on the grill a combination of cheddar, turkey, ham, eggs and seasoning. It only takes a few minutes but the magical Monte Cristo comes together marvelously. Put on some powdered sugar, and it’s ready for our palate.
“You can’t get a sandwich like this anywhere else,” Taylor Wachsman said.
As soon as you bite into that sandwich, you get that initial hit of sweetness between the waffle and the powdered sugar. Then as you bite down, you get into the ham, cheese, and eggs, and it gives you that real salty, sweet flavor that makes for an incredible flavor.
“We don’t compete with anybody in town,” Julie said. “Nobody. We’re just different. Eclectic. Our sandwiches are eclectic, we’re just all over the board with anything. Yeah.”
For a ginormous sandwich that’s a great start to any day, Gidget’s in Wichita Falls is well worth a stop on the Texas Bucket List.
“We don’t have another sandwich shop like this that provides the same quality and ingredients,” Tanner said. “The freshness, taste, et cetera … it’s really an awesome spot.”