Sweet Iron makes Belgian Waffles. It would also be an acceptable name for an aging blues man’s steel guitar.I saw the sign for Sweet Iron on my way to the bus stop and was immediately aggravated: “Sweet Iron” sounds like the name a gunslinger would give to his prized Colt .45, not the title of a “waffleria.” Besides, I’ve always hated waffles. As a kid, my mom made me eat Eggo Waffles, which taste like foamy cardboard. Later I tried to get over my waffle hatred at upscale breakfast buffets, where there was inevitably some dude in a white lab coat standing quietly behind the waffle iron, waiting to take your order. These so called “Belgian” waffles always tasted to me like stale meringue cookies. Plus I hate the SHAPE of waffles: why are they a fucking GRID? Waffles look like what pancakes would look like if they were made by robots. Not to mention the political stigma attached to waffling. So I think it’s safe to say that waffles suck.Still, I wanted to give waffles YET ANOTHER shot, so I went to Sweet Iron. And I’m glad I did because the classic waffle ($2.99) is actually DAMN TASTY. It’s soft and fluffy, and mildly sweet. There’s a lacy sugar crust that crunches delicately when you bite it, as if you were eating a fairy’s wing. The waffles at Sweet Iron are yielding and cakelike and seem more like a cinnamon roll that’s been stepped on by a football player than the crappy freezer-burnt discs of my childhood. My only complaint about the classic waffle is that it comes dusted in powdered sugar instead of syrup. But this error can be corrected if you order the bacon waffle ($4.99). It’s just a classic waffle with a couple slices of bacon on top, drizzled with REAL maple syrup. The bacon was crispy and the saltiness complemented the sugary pastry well. Don’t bother with the banana brulee waffle ($3.99), however. It’s a diabetic death wish of sliced sauteed bananas, caramel sauce, and a pile of whipped cream. This sugary morass is what I imagine would spill out of Willy Wonka’s torso if he committed seppuku. It’s just too much; NO ONE should eat this for breakfast. Beverages include the usual: orange juice is $2.50, Stumptown Coffee is for sale, and the workers at Sweet Iron can pull a decent latte ($2.90 for an eight-ounce cup). They’ve got Italian sodas, but only a fool would need any more sugar.Sweet Iron cured my waffle hate. My main problem with this place, besides the banana brulee waffle, is the weird cold mod interior: it’s like they stole the chairs from Crush (which stole its chairs from the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey). It’s not very inviting. But that, I suppose, is just a quibble.Rating: 7 Colt .45’s out of 10Sweet Iron is located at 1200 3rd Ave in Seattle206-682-3336