After a four-month hiatus, Andre Walker is excited about inviting customers back to his storefront.
Walker owns the Funnel Cake Lounge located at 212 South Belair Road, Suites 194-196, near Kyoto Japanese Cuisine and the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Martinez, which will officially reopen on Saturday, June 17 at 12 noon. The business bakes and sells funnel cakes in a variety of unique flavors, such as Miss Peaches, which is topped with homemade peach cobbler.
The funnel cake lounge closed in February, which gave him time to complete some repairs in the Funnel Cake Lounge’s kitchen and dining area. But during that time, his food truck sold desserts in local neighborhoods and at events, such as the Columbia County Food Truck Fridays, in the CSRA, and beyond.
“That’s usually our slow season; sometimes it would be so slow, we may not see a customer all day,” he said. “The staff was getting burned out, and the food truck allowed us to create our own schedule.”
Walker said he’s traveled to various cities and has found other businesses selling funnel cakes from food trucks, but he’s never seen one that had its own storefront.
He looks forward to having a central location for his customers to buy his desserts again, but he plans to keep the food truck on the road. Walker was recently contacted by a representative from the University of South Carolina Columbia to participate in events on that campus. In the future, he may open more locations in that area.
“Customers won’t have to drive around to find us,” he said.
Walker said one of his customers has been so loyal that she has followed his food truck throughout the CSRA and even to Columbia to buy his cakes.
Walker also offers about three times as many flavor options as he does in his food truck. Walker loves to express himself creatively through his funnel cakes. Throughout the year, he creates various seasonal flavors, such as a sweet potato pie cake.
Walker has even been asked to bake a three-tiered funnel cake for a wedding in October.
“We’re trying to figure out how to do that,” he said.
Walker, who opened the Funnel Cake Lounge in March 2021, was inspired by another local business called Shake City, which was formerly known as Holy Shakes, located in downtown Augusta. That business sells milkshakes in many unique flavors.
He also knew people love fair food, which is why his menu originally included other options, such as French fries and turkey legs, that he has since eliminated.
“The funnel cakes were the star of the show,” Walker said.
While many businesses host large celebrations when they reopen, he said customers won’t find that at the Funnel Cake Lounge.
“We won’t have a DJ; we try to keep it simple for our customers,” Walker said. “They just want what they’ve been missing.”
The Funnel Cake Lounge is currently open Tuesday through Sunday, from 12 noon to 9 p.m., but in August, he plans to open the business at 3 p.m. a few days a week. For more information, visit betterthanthefair.com/ or its Facebook page.
