Posted on 08/15/2005 11:40:41 AM PDT by Rebelbase
The iconic black and yellow letters beckon from a sign near Interstate 40 and Randleman Road. Inside the low-slung restaurant that claims the sign, there's plenty of batter ready.
But it isn't destined for a fryer. This is Waffle House, and here, batter belongs on an iron -- a waffle iron.
Founded in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Ga., the restaurant chain has been serving "Good Food Fast" around-the-clock for five decades. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary Labor Day.
Freeway Foods of Greensboro opened the city's first Waffle House franchise in 1973 on Randleman Road.
The restaurant operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year until it closed in fall 2004, Freeway Foods President Gary Fly said.
The old restaurant was torn down, and a new one opened on the same lot in March. A steady stream of customers filed into that location Sunday, filling booths as soon as servers wiped them clean.
"I come here every day," Sammy Davis Jeffers said from his seat at a yellow counter. "I came every day for 25 years, until they tore it down.
"And then I came to the parking lot," he said jokingly.
That sort of customer loyalty has made Waffle House what it is, said Betty Horne, a server who has worked with the chain on and off since 1990.
"Some, I know their names," she said. "Some, I just know their faces."
Since its founding, Waffle House has grown into an icon that sells 3.2 million pounds of grits annually and claims almost 1,500 stores in 25 states.
The chain now stretches as far west as Arizona and as far north as Illinois, but it remains rooted deeply in the South and retains a distinctively down-home, blue-collar aura.
"We come here every time we come to the South," said Jeanne Chester said, seated in a booth at the Randleman Road location.
The Philadelphia resident was eating with her friend Toya Murphy of Clinton, Md., and Murphy's sister, Patrice Murphy, a junior at N.C. A&T.
Maybe it's the simple menu anchored by eggs, grits and hash browns "smothered and covered" in cheese and onions. Perhaps it's the firm cash-only policy, or even the fact that the restaurant serves most meals for less than $5. Somehow the place feels like being at Grandma's house for breakfast -- before she started worrying about her cholesterol.
Nowhere is Waffle House's workingman vibe stronger than at its headquarters in Norcross, Ga., just outside Atlanta. A plaque in the lobby says the whole building is dedicated to the "Poor Old Cash Customer Who Made It All Possible."
The company is privately held and doesn't disclose sales figures. But for an idea how well the little diners are doing, consider this: Two percent of all eggs produced in the United States for food service end up on Waffle House plates.
. As for the future, co-founders Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner envision a lot more Waffle Houses where everything stays the same.
No plans exist to end the cash-only policy -- credit cards would be too slow, Rogers said -- or to change the menu. Except for salads and sandwich wraps, and more pictures for customers who don't speak English, the restaurants look about as they did in 1955.
"We serve the basic foods, and the basic foods never change," Rogers said.
"Everything they sell is made from that limited inventory."
I think the only thing they use is the grease.
Smoke filled dump with terrible food. Yuk!
On a positive note, they always say "good morning" when you come in the door.
they should have an on staff cardiologist
Nevertheless, stay away from the Waffle House in Phenix City. I didn't enjoy it, but the mouse under the counter seemed to like it.
It's not 'a grit', silly.
It's GRITS:
Girls Raised In The South
Please......we're talking GOOD food here; don't ruin it for us!
I go to Waffle House because (among many other reasons) they have the STRONGEST unsweetened iced tea I've ever drank. You could loosen rusted lugnuts with the stuff. For a night-owl caffeine addict, Waffle House is heaven on earth.
LOL!
"I think the only thing they use is the grease."
LOL, My post revised:
Grease,Bacon, ham, sausage, turkey, cheese, frozen porkchops, frozen little steaks, frozen hamburger patties, canned chili, canned soup, frozen fries, cooking grease.
Grease, Eggs, Hashbrowns, bread, buns, grits, waffle mix, salt pepper, butter, ketchup, mustard, mayo, Texas Pete, micro boxes of cereal, sugar, sugar substitute, Grease.
Grease,Lettuce, tomato, onion,Grease,
Grease, Milk, waffle syrup, whipped cream, cream, sodas, OJ, coffee tea, Grease.
Every Greek-run diner I’ve been to in the U.S. has been “Americanized.” (Though I'm sure that's true of just about every non-American food joint)
That, plus I don’t remember Greeks being big on breakfast. Mainly had coffee and maybe a piece of spanakopeta or tiropeta or something. They even go light on lunch too, from what I recall. They go all-in for dinner though.
Yes, they have gyros and souvlaki and such, but that’s more American-Greek (or Greek street food). Greek-Greek is pickled squid and lamb liver and marinated/stuffed/broiled lamb brains or other innards and lots of fish stews and stuff. That’s how I remember it.
It’s all delicious, BTW, but not exactly the sort of thing most Americans crave.
In fact, I can remember one Greek “lunch” that consisted of retsina and little cubes of feta drizzled with olive oil with a handful of different types of olives. That’s it. Most Americans consider that an appetizer, not lunch.
Being former Waffle House waitresses, I bet we could amuse this crowd with some stories :-)
I worked the night shift, and the other waitress and I split the place in half and cooked our own orders. You know in the article where it ways "Two percent of all eggs produced in the United States for food service end up on Waffle House plates?" Not true, although they may have briefly resided in the large wire basket above the grill.
I had never short-order cooked before, so over the course of a few nights, I must have gone through 5 dozen eggs learning how to flip them in that little round pan.
I eventually got pretty good. I can still do it with the right pan.
No, but as an alumna of Chapel Hill, breakfast at Breadman's and Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe blew any Waffle House in the country right out of the water (I am not a WH fan; Cracker Barrel food is much better).
Another good one we have here in the south is Biscuitville. NC and VA only, I believe. Family owned. A friend of mine who tried said getting a franchise is about impossible.
Mmmmmm, waffles!
[More notes from a former WH waitress]
When I started working there, I didn't drink coffee (once I was active duty AF, this changed!!) So, I didn't understand how important coffee-drinking was, and all the expectations of a diner waitress. My trainer kept scolding me for not taking the coffee pot around, but I remember thinking "..but they're not done with coffee I poured for them 15 minutes ago!"
"Being former Waffle House waitresses"
Way back when, I used to work a 24 hour place called Steak and Egg Kitchen--A waffle house knock off.
There were bullet holes in the smoke hood above the stove from the night shift waitress' rowdy drunk friends who'd invade the place at 2:00am.
http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/112280158923890.xml&coll=3
You actually got your food? Left after 55 minutes of waiting last week. The only other time I went was about 15 years ago - apparently the special was blackened waffles. Not impressed.
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