Tasty Tuesday: Max on Main keeps heritage alive with Belgian waffles and so much more

From the waffles to the inside of the building, Max Collignon makes heritage a priority at a local coffee shop

PULASKI, Va. – It’s only been a few months since Max on Main opened in downtown Pulaski, but it didn’t take long for word to spread.

For Max Collignon, owning a coffee shop is about, “Heritage, whether it’s personal or whether it’s historic from the building.”

Max on Main preserved a lot from the original building. Inside the four walls, they also preach sustainability in the coffee they use.

“[Our] coffee roaster tries to go organic with every single one of his beans.”

Whether it’s hot or iced, they do things the right way. It goes back to the family’s appreciation for coffee.

“We love coffee as a family. My wife drinks so much coffee I had to do something.”

It also goes back to Collignon’s days in Belgium. He pays respects to his grandparents by the front window of the shop and recalls, “They spent their entire retirement going to different shops with different friends, always sitting out the front window talking about everybody. I participated a couple times. It was quite the fun dynamic.”

It’s a dynamic he recreates with Belgian dishes like your “Typical Belgian waffle. We had to throw that in there for my heritage.”

What I didn’t know is that a Belgian waffle isn’t traditionally eaten for breakfast. He tells us, “We do serve it with maple syrup, or you can get chocolate chips with it or ice cream. Traditionally, in Belgium, it gets eaten just by itself as a snack throughout the day at 10 o’clock or 4 o’clock.”

Healthy options like the salads have taken off since the first of the year, and their sandwiches fly out of the kitchen too. Specifically, Collignon tells us the bacon, egg and cheese has been a hit.

“The secret lies in the cheese that we use on there, and it really just *blows kiss*.”

And then there’s the Gobbler panini. It comes with a generous amount of turkey with feta, red pepper mayo and of course some bacon too.

Whether it’s to sip casually like his grandparents once did or run in, ring the bell and grab a quick bite, Max on Main is here to stay in the streets of downtown Pulaski.


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.