Lo Que Sea: a world of flavor under one roof

After spending 22 years building wealth for franchise owners in the fast-food industry, Jennifer Garcia-Pfefferle decided it was time to bet on herself. Several years ago, Garcia-Pfefferle launched a food truck, Lo Que Sea International Treats, that has now blossomed into a brick-and-mortar eatery. Today, the restaurant serves as a culinary bridge, bringing big-city international street foods — from Mexican paletas and street corn to Hong Kong bubble waffles — to her small-town neighbors.

At Lo Que Sea (which translates to “whatever” in Spanish) every item on the menu comes with a story. Whether it’s Egyptian-inspired lemonades or a Japanese taiyaki shaped like a fish that Garcia-Pfefferle makes to honor childhood weekend fishing trips with her father, Lo Que Sea is serving up a world tour of street food. By trading in her food truck for a permanent location, she’s hoping to offer a welcoming, family-oriented space where locals can forget the stress of the world and experience something entirely new.

Garcia-Pfefferle grew up in small-town southeast Wisconsin before moving to Madison to study culinary arts at Madison Area Technical College.

“I was able to experience different cultures and it just opened my eyes to a whole new world,” she said.

After decades of working in the fast food industry, Garcia-Pfefferle moved to Stevens Point with her kids and helped establish the Firehouse Subs franchise in Weston. Her work with Eric Erwin, a franchise owner in southern Wisconsin at the time, helped Garcia-Pfefferle recognize her skills and talents in the industry.

“He gave me confidence I needed to start. Then it just got to the point where I was like, ‘why am I making other people money when I know I could do it for myself?’” she said.

Garcia-Pfefferle started the food truck in 2023 and after a couple years of success she started looking into establishing a brick-and-mortar location to better serve her international food year-round. Another benefit of the new location is that Garcia-Pfefferle is able to provide a much larger menu, consisting of street food items from around the globe.

One of Lo Que Sea’s signature items are bubble waffles, which originated in Hong Kong. These sweet, pillowy waffles are traditionally topped with fruit and drizzles, though Lo Que Sea adds a Wisconsin touch by topping them with Cedar Crest ice cream. They are similar to eating a sundae wrapped in a large waffle cone. To make them accessible for families on a budget, they are also offered in a smaller “snack size.”

“That was important to me because I was always low income ... after I had kids I was always low income,” Garcia-Pfefferle said. “It’s hard for a bigger family of four kids to go enjoy a place, so I just want to make sure I have offerings of different sizes so it’s making it a little bit easier for a family to come try something.”

Lo Que Sea’s signature items are Hong Kong bubble waffles (left), which are topped with ice cream; and taiyaki (right), a Japanese waffle pastry shaped like a fish and stuffed with a custard-like filling.

Michael Strasburg photo

Another popular waffle-like item on the menu is taiyaki — a Japanese pastry shaped like a fish (specifically, a sea bream) that tastes similar to an American waffle. They are stuffed with a custard-like filling flavors such as cream cheese, Nutella, chocolate, Biscoff, marshmallow and strawberry.

“The taiyaki does have a different kind of meaning for me,” Garcia-Pfefferle said. “My dad is pretty sick now, and every weekend growing up we would go fishing.”

On the savory side, Lo Que Sea dishes up a unique spin on elotes (Mexican street corn) by taking the classic street food and using it as the topping on a mix of authentic Mexican chip brands and Maruchan Ramen, accompanied with nacho cheese and jalapenos.

In addition to Cedar Crest ice cream, Lo Que Sea also has paletas (fruity ice pops from Mexico that come in a variety of unique flavors), sassy Sprites (soda fortified with flavor syrups) and lemonade.

The new storefront, which opened late last year, now offers all these international dishes — a world of flavor — under one roof. Garcia-Pfefferle said if things go well, she’d like to open another location, probably in Stevens Point. She’s also interested in expanding her menu to include the increasingly popular bubble tea.

Ultimately, Lo Que Sea is meant to be a stepping stone — not just for Garcia-Pfefferle, but for the community. Having survived a domestic violence situation that left her feeling like she could never get ahead, Garcia-Pfefferle is determined to offer a different path for her employees. Her long-term goal is to train young staff and show them they have the strength, smarts and grit to succeed on their own. By passing on the same confidence a mentor once gave her, Garcia-Pfefferle hopes to build more than just a successful restaurant; she wants to build a launchpad for future entrepreneurs.

Lo Que Sea is located at 2106 Schofield Ave., Weston. For more information, visit loqueseainternationaltreats.com.