Posted on 09/12/2015 7:55:48 AM PDT by don-o
Often on my day off, before a morning motorcycle ride in the mountains, I treat myself to breakfast at a Southern American institution: Waffle House.
Waffle Houses are not luxurious. The box-like buildings are designed for cheerful efficiency, and cheerfully efficient they are. As soon as you walk through the door the staff call out a cheerful, “Good morning!” The pleasantries continue as you are seated and a drink is immediately placed before you. A moment later the waitress is ready to advise you or take your order. She’s well groomed, clean and friendly. She’s talkative without being a bore and easy-going without being slack.
The menu is also cheerful and efficient. The All Star Special is the best value. You get two eggs as you like them, grits (this is South Carolina) or hash browns (if you’re a Yankee), bacon or sausage, toast, coffee and a waffle, and the mug of coffee has no bottom.
I like to sit at the counter and watch the team at work. They are men and women, young, middle-aged and almost retired. They are African American, Hispanic, and white, and they are all working together as a team, joking and chatting. The waitresses shout out the orders in diner lingo, while the chefs are busy slapping bacon on the griddle, scrambling eggs, watching the hash browns, and flipping the sausages. One team member preps and finishes the plates, another is busy bussing tables, sweeping the floor and loading the dishwasher. Three girls are waiting tables. A manager circulates to talk to customers and keep an eye on the whole operation… cheerfully, efficiently and 24/7.
Unit_1_SepiaWaffle House is sixty years old this month. The first restaurant opened on Labor Day weekend in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia. That restaurant was conceived and founded by Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner, who both continue to own a majority of the company. Rogers’s concept was to combine the speed of fast food with table service with around-the-clock availability. He told Forkner, “You build a restaurant, and I’ll show you how to run it.”
After opening a fourth restaurant in 1960, the company began franchising its restaurants and slowly grew to twenty-seven stores by the late 1960s. There are now over 2,000 Waffle Houses in twenty-five states, and as my local manager told me, “They keep building a new one every day!”
Writing about Southern culture Jim Ridley observes:
The Waffle House is everywhere in the South. It has inspired country songs, comedy routines, loving editorials, a scene in the movie Tin Cup, and even web sites and Internet newsgroups that breathlessly post late-breaking developments. With more than 1700 locations in 25 states, as far north as Ohio and as far west as Arizona, Waffle House is cherished by thousands of diners. Regular customers speak of its employees, its customs, and its food with near reverence. Touring musicians have been known to eat five meals a week there. Yet the Waffle House is so pervasive, it is invisible. It does not advertise; it hides in plain sight.
What’s the real secret of Waffle House success? No doubt the usual American mix of customer service, good value, military precision, and entrepreneurial genius, but behind it all some truly American values are being lived out. Despite being a national chain, Waffle House manages to create a local feel. One morning over breakfast I found myself seated next to a local African-American pastor and we started swapping ministry stories about our flocks. Another morning I found my bill had been covered by a local Catholic businessman who gave me a cheerful (and efficient) wave as he downed his bacon, eggs, and coffee.
The local feel is created by loyal and local staff. Not only does the mix of sex, ages, and races reflect the best of America working together, but every time I’ve visited Waffle House I get the impression that the team really enjoys working at Waffle House. Employees report good benefits with health care and paid vacations, but there’s more to Waffle House success.
I’ve quizzed managers and discovered that many of them have worked at Waffle House for twenty years or more. Then I discovered one of the reasons for the cheerfulness of their hard work: employees are given the opportunity to purchase stock in Waffle House. While Forkner and Rogers continue to own majority, they’ve encouraged employees to share ownership through purchasing stocks.
slideshow_1503757_wafflehouse.0321_cAt Waffle House you don’t only get a slice of pie, you get a slice of American pie. A good company not only looks after ts customers, but it also invests in their workers. In this way, Waffle House is not only an American success story, it is also a great example Catholic social teaching in action. Catholic social teaching swings on the two hinges of subsidiarity and solidarity. Subsidiarity is the principle that initiatives are taken and solutions are found at the most local level possible. Solidarity is the principle that we are not islands. We are “a continent, a part of the main.” We are family. We care for one another.
If these two principles were applied within families, within parishes, within dioceses, communities, corporations, and governments many of our social problems would resolve themselves. Put simply we should care for one another at the local level—the level of reality. We should, if you like, serve one another breakfast more often…
…and we should do so cheerfully and efficiently.
First one I went to (I’m from Chicago)
Looking over the menu I asked the waitress,
“What’s the difference between co try ham and city ham ?”
She looked at me and flatly said,
“One’s from the country, the others from the city.”
I liked that
That reminds me of meeting a salesman for lunch at a place in Siler City, NC once. The restaurant had a special on marinated steak. The salesman, who was born and raised in Canada, asked what the steaks were marinated in. The waitress replied in a very strong drawl “well, all kinds of spices I reckon.” The look on his face was priceless.
City ham is sugar cured and country ham is salt cured, by the way.
I think you really take your chances going to a Waffle House as far as the service & cleanliness. And the clientele often looks a bit shady.
Needless to say, I haven’t been to one in a decade or more.
Waffle House it our go to, when nobody knows what they want. Everyone is always happy.
You have to get down to Dumfries, VA before you can find a Waffle House in the DC area...
17137 DUMFRIES RDSorry to see a lot of posts hating Waffle House. Whenever I travel I look for one. I worked on a couple of projects at Ft. Gordon a little while back and stayed at a motel that had a Waffle House right next door. Had a great breakfast there every morning (5:30am) and got to work on time!
DUMFRIES, VA 22025
In a nutshell, what makes AMERICA great can be found at the Waffle House.
No commies or illegals there either.
That's the strangest thing! I go to Starbucks every day, and I keep looking for these legendary snooty baristas. I've yet to come across one. Weird!
the closest one to me is in Fredrick, MD. I generally stop there for breakfast when heading back to Indiana. I get up, have a piece of toast and then on the road. it is a nice stop after 80 minutes of driving and getting through the first cups of coffee in the car.
I haven’t been down Dumfree’s direction in years, but thanks for the info
I’ll have my usual, please. With grits!
Never said we still didn’t go there on occasion.
I haven’t been in that one but the one in St. Joe is good. It was clean and the waitress was very good. I was in there a year ago.
I’ve been to Waffle House exactly once in my life. I won’t be going back. The place was dirty, there were no paper towels in the rest room, the food was low grade and tasted awful, and the tea tasted like a thrice-used bag had been used to make it.
“You were in TEXAS and wanted chicken fried steak at Waffle House?!!”
I’m intrigued by your comment.
I think I figured out what you mean. You mean there are a million places better for chicken fried steak.
Right?
I understand this point.
I wanted to go to a Waffle House because I’d never been and it was convenient.
I love Waffle House. Fast, reasonably priced, simple and made to order. Anytime we travel we look for them for breakfast. Only had bad experiences on a regular basis in KC area that’s why I figure the area manager must be a dirt bag.
Who goes to a Waffle House to go to the bathroom? Use a service station.
(Just a joke folks).
Austin is where I found the joys of chicken fried steak about 50 yds. from my house.
The pecan waffle is just as good now as it was 30 years ago. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm!
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