In October of last semester, I promised myself that I would visit Morgan’s Cereal Bar. And lo and behold, a quick five months later, I finally accomplished my goal!
The founder, lifelong Rochester resident Cheria Anderson, was inspired by cereal bars she visited in London and New York City and named the restaurant after her grandmother and goddaughter.
Morgan’s Cereal Bar is located at 320 East Avenue, in between Alexander and Union Street, adding a new non-alcoholic bar to the mix of the area. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. If you don’t want to eat inside, they offer delivery through Doordash and Grubhub, as well as curbside pickup.
I took my mom, the second biggest sugar-fanatic I know (the first is yours truly), out for lunch to celebrate her second dose of the vaccine. We were clamoring to feast on their self-described “famous” cereal-infused waffle.
This sugary creation not only includes a waffle and your choice of cereal, but also a scoop of ice cream drizzled with either chocolate, caramel, or strawberry syrup. It’s garnished with powdered sugar, cinnamon, and, of course, whipped cream.
Inside Morgan’s Cereal Bar
There’s a whole wall of cereals to choose from with flavors I’d only seen in YouTube videos where people eat every cereal they can buy. Yes, there are videos. And yes, I’ve watched them.
We ultimately went with traditional flavored Froot Loops, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and other standard garnishes.
To be completely honest, the word “infused” in the concoction’s title is quite misleading. I only found two Froot Loops that might have been inside the waffle (or had just gotten pushed in while I was cutting it up). Instead, the cereal was poured over the top. The waffle was light and fluffy with the Froot Loops adding a nice crunch to every bite. The fruity flavor and crunch of the cereal also paired well with the smooth vanilla ice cream, making me question why I hadn’t tried this at home already. I own a waffle maker, so I will definitely be attempting to recreate it sometime in the future.
If a cereal-infused waffle doesn’t sound like your thing, don’t worry! Morgan’s Cereal Bar offers both cold and hot cereals, pancakes, waffles in red velvet and chocolate flavors, and some southern breakfast food staples like shrimp and grits. Check out their full menu here.
I can’t fully write this review without mentioning the service, which was…subpar. It was a slow Friday around brunch time, yet it took over 15 minutes for our server to come take our order. For reasons unbeknownst to us, she also took an order for a table that had walked in after us before ours. After taking our order, instead of getting our drinks, she sat down at a table near us and started scrolling through her phone. As someone who also works at a restaurant, my manager would be quite upset if one of my coworkers or I sat down in view of a customer, let alone went on our phone. Our waffle took another 15-20 minutes to come out, and we had to ask another server to grab us some water. They have a little sign that says there’s a 90-minute time limit at all the tables, so hopefully there isn’t always slow service, especially if you’re with a larger group of people or are eating a lot more.
But overall, I really enjoyed my cereal-infused waffle and will definitely be returning to try their other specialty waffles. They also have a food truck “coming soon,” so definitely be on the lookout for that at any future festivals!
