Food Network Declares Sarasota's Toasted Mango Has Best Waffle

SARASOTA, FL – Business is booming at the Toasted Mango Cafe, 430 N. Tamiami Trail, , following The Food Network’s revelation that the cafe serves the best waffle in Florida.

“It’s definitely picked up here,” said owner Kimberly Duffy, who co-owns the cafe with Sandi Wagner.

They say they've always done a bustling business but the attraction to diners has increased since the television network placed the cafe's Toasted Mango waffle on its list of best waffles state-to-state.

The two moms founded the cafe in 2011 to help “make ends meet” for their families. A second restaurant at 6621 Midnight Pass Rd, Siesta Key, followed in 2015.

Duffy said they've never wavered from their original mission of combining quality food and top-notch service, “an art, we both decided, was lost...to people who didn't really care if you got what you paid for, or how you wanted it, at the temperature you asked for it at, with a full mug of coffee, served to you by someone who truly wanted you to enjoy the experience you paid for."

"Here at the Toasted Mango Cafe, we want you to enjoy a full dining experience, delicious fresh food fast, in a clean, cheery restaurant, served by friendly, helpful people, at a reasonable price," she said.

The dish that earned the cafe high marks from The Food Network was the Toasted Mango’s Belgian-style waffle topped with fresh mango and toasted coconut, finished with real whipped cream.

“The airy malted discs — pressed for exactly three minutes — arrive crisp and warm, adorned with cubes of ripe mango, toasted coconut flakes and whipped cream,” the Food Network said. “It’s a true taste of paradise.”

But waffles are hardly the only items on the menu. The Toasted Mango offers equally tasty spinach and feta omelets, apple-walnut pancakes, eggs Benedict, homemade corned beef hash, mango French toast and homemade biscuits and gravy.

This isn’t the first honor for the Toasted Mango Cafe.

In January 2015, MSN Food & Drink chose the Toasted Mango as the best diner in Florida, declaring it has “the best breakfast in the Sunshine State. "

The Toasted Mango Café isn't the only Tampa Bay eatery to attract The Food Network’s epicureans.

Guy Fieri awarded the title of Florida’s best Texas hash to a St. Petersburg landmark -- Munch’s Sundries, 3920 6th St. S, St. Petersburg.

The restaurant was founded by Larry Munch’s parents, Dean and Clariece, as a sundries shop in 1952 and, over the years, the family added a home-style restaurant that outlived the sundries shop.

A favorite stop on Fieri’s “Dine-In Dives” tour, Munch’s also earned high marks from Fieri for its legendary Munchburger, fried chicken, fried-green tomatoes, barbecue ribs and brisket.

Images via the Toasted Mango Cafe and Munch's Sundries