L’eggo My Mayo?

Before they were the crisp, toaster-ready breakfast we all know and love, Eggo waffles were born from a very different invention… mayonnaise. Yep — you read that right.

In 1932, in a small San Jose food lab, Frank Dorsa and his brothers were whipping up a new kind of mayo using a mechanical mixer he built himself. But they didn’t stop there. Tinkering turned into full-blown food innovation, and by the 1950s, they had invented a machine that could crank out frozen waffles at scale — golden, fluffy, and ready to reheat.

Originally called “Froffles” (frozen + waffles), the product was a hit. But shoppers kept referring to them as “those Eggo waffles,” thanks to their signature eggy flavor. The name stuck — and a breakfast empire was born from their mother’s kitchen on Oak St. (now 475 Eggo Way)

Eggo’s roots are pure San Jose ingenuity: practical, delicious, and just a little bit weird in the best way.