Milwaukee’s First Melt n Dip: Two years of Sweet Success

Photos by Cherrie Hanson

Family roadtrips to Chicago’s Melt n Dip location inspired Heba and Jafar Awadallah to open a Milwaukee location. They also cater private parties and operate a Melt n Dip food truck.

There is no more ideal place to satisfy your sweet tooth than Melt n Dip, located at 7820 W. Layton Ave. in Greenfield. The international chain’s first franchised location in Wisconsin, Melt n Dip produces crepes and waffles, gourmet gelato, hot and cold specialty drinks, vibrantly fruit salads and much more. Melt n Dip started in Bridgeview, Illinois and has a presence all over the Chicago area in addition to locations in Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Canada and overseas in Lebanon.

Greenfield franchise owners Heba and Jafar Awadallah would often take their kids down to the Chicago area just to go to Melt n Dip.

“I would take them every weekend my husband was off and we’d eat there,” Heba recalls. “I told my husband that instead of going there, we should just bring it to Milwaukee.”

The limitless dessert menu and interior design of Melt n Dip are a sensory feast.

After contacting the owner and pitching him their idea, Melt n Dip in Greenfield became the first franchised location of the company when it opened in February 2023. The whole process took about a year, according to Heba. “It was Plato’s Closet here before, so it took a while with construction,” she remembers. “Then I did two weeks of training down in Chicago.”

Prior to Melt n Dip, Jafar owned a grocery store on Milwaukee’s north side while Heba had been a stay-at-home mother. Now, not only do they not have to go all the way to Chicago for Melt n Dip, but their oldest daughter is working behind the register with her parents.

Dotting the front patio of Melt n Dip are four giant red umbrellas imported from Turkey. When the decorative lights lining the umbrellas are illuminated, Melt n Dip becomes a perfect place for friends and families to cool off with delicious gelato. They are open late throughout the week and weekends, and until 2 a.m. during Ramadan.

When entering the cafe, three towering chocolate fountains and a case of 16 colorful varieties of gelato grab your attention. On the right is a wide open seating area with the Melt n Dip logo hanging on the wall overhead. Towards the back by the kitchen is a display case brimming with fresh fruit ready to be made into a smoothie or cut up for the next crepe.

Everything from crepes to gelato to Dubai chocolate is made in-house from scratch at Melt n Dip. Heba adds, “Whenever something new is trending, we’ll put it on the menu.”

When one orders something from Melt n Dip. they can expect many layers of sweetness in one. A good number of the crepe and waffle options are topped with three kinds of Belgian chocolate – milk, dark and white.

One of the most popular menu items is the Melt n Dip Crepe, which is filled with strawberry, banana, pineapple, and kiwi coated with Belgian chocolate. The fruits in the crepe are a subtle yet invigorating contrast to the richness of the chocolate, helping the sweetness not be too overpowering.

Another big seller is the Dubai Chocolate Crepe, topped with knafeh and pistachio. Other crepe and waffle flavors include Triple Chocolate, Rocky Road, Pina Colada, Apple Cinnamon and Red Velvet Fettuccine.

The gelato can be served in either a dish or cone. Flavors include the usual suspects of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and Oreo, while others like lemon, mango, cappuccino, cheesecake, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher make Melt n Dip a unique stop for creamy frozen treats.

There are more than a dozen choices of gelato flavors to choose from like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Oreo, lemon, mango, cappuccino, cheesecake, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.

Further down the menu, one may indulge in the cream puff-laden Eclair Pyramid, a chocolate-drizzled Fruit Stick, a Banana Split made with three kinds of gelato and hot fudge, or the Flake Sense made with layers of Rice Krispies, vanilla gelato and Belgian chocolate.

On the lighter side of things there are several different fruit salads, including one made with Nutella and another made with Lotus cookie butter. Fresh-baked cookies and house-made cheesecake are also available in several varieties.

The impressive three chocolate fountains are decor items that set the tone for a cafe of delights.

In terms of beverages, Melt n Dip offers hot and cold coffee options as well as milkshakes and smoothies, some of which are made with gelato or even avocado. Finally, there are options for fresh-squeezed fruit juice and lemonade, all made with a juicer that the Awadallahs shipped from Turkey.

“Our customers come happy and they leave happy,” Heba affirms. In honor of the ceasefire in Gaza last month, Melt n Dip gave out free gelato for an entire day.

Owner Jafar Awadallah skillfully assembles the popular Melt n Dip Crepe, filled with strawberry, banana, pineapple and kiwi, wrapped in a thick rich crepe and coated with Belgian chocolate.

Heba and Jafar Awadallah also run a Melt n Dip food truck, plus they are available to cater private events. The couple is helping the company’s owner plan expansion further into Wisconsin; for starters, they are looking into the Green Bay area, but folks from Madison have been asking them to open up shop there too.