Posted on 11/04/2019 2:05:07 PM PST by Textide
Since she graduated from Harvard last year, Yehong Zhu has worked for Amazon.com and Twitter in Seattle, San Francisco and London. She’s living in Lisbon now, gathering ideas for her own startup.
In 2014, however, the jet-setting Ms. Zhu was just another teenager from Newnan, Ga. looking for a summer job. And the only place willing to hire her was Waffle House. “Chick Fil-A was too competitive,” she says.
On her first day, smiling nervously behind a bright-yellow name tag, Ms. Zhu had no idea that her new manager, a woman named Diana, was about to become a lasting leadership role model. “I was very impressed with her,” she says. “She was the first to arrive and one of the last to leave and seemed to have a handle on everything. She thrived under pressure, and pressure at Waffle House is constant.”
In case you’re not familiar, Waffle House is a closely held suburban Atlanta-based chain of 24-hour budget diners in 25 states that invariably reek of bacon. The company does not advertise, rarely changes its menu and refused to take credit cards until 2006.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Here's another good part of the article.
"What does it take to be a successful Waffle House manager?
Speed, for one thing. To meet the goal of serving every customer in eight minutes or less, the waitstaff doesn’t bother punching orders into a computer. They write them down in a shorthand code and read them aloud to cooks, who remember them by arranging condiments on empty platters. A face-up mustard packet signifies pork chops, for instance. "
You might have to break a few eggs.
Even the worst bacon doesn’t reek.
Back in the 1970s I was a short order cook while attending college and the waitress’ tickets given to cooks would reading something like: “Chik whip,” which meant fried chicken with mashed potatoes.
“”What does it take to be a successful Waffle House manager?”
The ability to deal with obama kids/amish customers at 2 am in the morning..
When we were house hunting for a transfer to Georgia we would have breakfast at the Waffle House next to the hotel. The cook put on an amazing performance. On the way out I handed the cook a 5 dollar bill and told him I got tired just watching him work.
I hear you. Good one.
Bkmk WaHo
The different short order ‘codes’ are a neat piece of Americana. The standardized communication chain from menu listing -> customer order -> waitstaff order -> short order cook is pretty interesting.
Awesome that you got to experience that.
After a year in Afghanistan on a sh@thole of a base, we landed at 1 am in the states.
On the way home we stopped at a Waffle House.
Best meal eva! Well. At least for the last 12 months. Very thankful for that place.
That's all I can do. I certainly can't EAT there. I'd have to have a crane to get me out of the booth!
Pancakes and waffles (also French toast) are just TOO GOOD!
Thanks for your service. Great story!
I’m originally from Alabam but now live in Maryland. The nearest Waffle House is an hour away. I will not deny making the drive now and then for scattered, smothered, covered and chunked hashbrowns as a side to a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich now and then.
There is also a “waffle house index” that is used after an area is hit by a hurricane. When the waffle house opens back up, then it is safe to go back.
I found a waffle house open in Port Arthur shortly after Hurricane Harvey left. Just about the only place open. Feeding first responders and any one who was able to get out.
Never been to a Waffle House, gather it is a southeast chain much favored by a certain species that loves to start trouble.
That is what I associate WH with: chimping out.
I guess the night crowd gets a little rowdy but I'm always there early in the morning. Mostly truck drivers at that hour.
Friendly people. Decent enough food for the price. My only gripe is they use margarine instead of butter by default. But if you ask for butter ahead of time, they will use butter.
Jukeboxes have songs specific to the Waffle House.
I always get a kick out of that.
“Cold pig on a green sea, dust the roof and hold the pompom.”
The Waffle House is certainly not a high class dining experience, but it isn’t pretentious either. You can sit and watch the short order cooks make your food on the griddle. It’s real, though greasy, food that’s made to order.
Demographically, it depends on the location as to whether there’s trouble at any given Waffle House. But late at night or at almost any exit on an Interstate in the Southeastern US, Waffle Houses are always open and have a remarkably similar dining experience.
Don’t forget drunks
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