Madison Taylor
Culture Editor

Residents of Saskatoon have satisfied their sweet tooths at Homestead since 1978, sampling a mind-boggling assortment of soft and hard ice cream flavours ranging from classics such as vanilla and cookie dough to headscratchers like dill pickle and Guinness. But did you know that Homestead also serves brunch?

From 9 a.m. to noon Fridays through Sundays, Homestead offers a small but delicious selection of brunch food for their customers. Going for brunch also means avoiding the flood of nighttime customers that usually fill the joint most days of the week.

The menu includes a choice of light and crispy waffles, mini quiche and their newly developed wonder-sandwich, the waffle B.E.L.T.

Once choosing the basis of your brunch, you can decide to top it with anything from fresh berries — Saskatoon berries, raspberries, blackberries or blueberries — sour cherries, chocolate or caramel sauce, to a scoop of ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream.

This is certainly not the healthiest way to start your day, but isn’t that what weekends are all about? Indulge in some syrup-soaked waffles and a hearty scoop of made-in-house ice cream and while you’re at it, try a steaming mug of coffee or tea on the side.

Having been a dedicated member of the Homestead waffle cone fan-club for over a year now, I was eager to test drive their new brunch menu. The first thing that caught my eye was a Post-It note stuck to the side of the menu laying out the contents of their newest addition, the waffle B.E.L.T.

A breakfast sandwich made up of bacon, an egg (fried with chopped green peppers and onion), lettuce, tomato and cheese cradled between two crisp waffles, the B.E.L.T sounded just disgusting enough to be delicious. After taking a few bites though, I was pleasantly surprised. What initially seemed a little bit too out-there for Sunday brunch ended up being the perfect combination of traditional and experimental breakfast food — and probably the perfect hangover cure as well.

Homestead also allows customers to enjoy their meals in the ambience of their 1950s inspired diner decor. Despite having only opened in the late 1970s, they do a convincing job of replicating the retro malt shop look of those vintage restaurants we all know and love. They really do have it all — the black and white checkered floors, the vinyl booth seating, the candy striper servers and even the jukebox. Best of all, you can scarf down a plate of waffles while artists such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin croon away in the background.

On top of their authentic dining experience, Homestead offers their food at prices that wouldn’t be out of place in the past. A plate of waffles, a waffle B.E.L.T, two coffees, bacon on the side and a generous amount of added toppings only rang in at around $20 — a perfectly reasonable meal for the penny-pinching student.

It seems Homestead is really beginning to branch out from their ice cream scooping roots. Since beginning to offer a brunch menu, there have also been rumblings of the restaurant starting up a food truck.

There is no proposed finish date for this project, but for now I’m content to dream of an ice cream truck with a tinkling bell and a mustachioed driver touring around the city and handing out heaping waffle cones to delighted children and tipsy bar-goers alike.

Visit Homestead Ice Cream at 822 Victoria Avenue, open every day of the week until 10:30 p.m.