Waffle House is the best!!!!

Bride and I enjoy going to the Waffle House restaurants for breakfast. In my humble opinion a breakfast from Waffle House is the absolute best greasy breakfast food and the waffles are the greatest thing ever, when I say best I mean tasting not necessarily good for ya. We have been going to the Waffle House for years, when on the road no matter the time of day we stop and I get a bacon egg and cheese sandwich on dry white toast with some scattered hash browns and a glass of milk – yummy! It all began on Labor Day 1955 when an icon was born, the very first Waffle House restaurant opened its doors for business in Avondale Estates, which is right outside Atlanta. There were no plans to open a second restaurant but the first one established the Waffle House tradition of providing the friendliest service in town, a tradition that continues through today. When you enter any Waffle House at least one of the employees will say hello and most likely welcome to Waffle House what other greasy spoon does that – EVERY TIME you come in to eat. The original “House” was accompanied by #2 in 1957 and by 1961 there were 4. In 2006 there were 1500 of the nearly identical little restaurants and that was also the year that they started accepting credit cards, at least in the company owned stores - before that Waffle House had been a cash only business.

Bride and I enjoy people watching, and going to Waffle House to people watch is one of the best places in the world, especially the Waffle House by the Jacksonville Airport. That Waffle House is surrounded by country and the people who live there so there is that traffic, it also receives traffic from the airport as well as the travelers who are going north bound or south bound on I95. I am not sure what category people put bride and I in when they are people watching us when we go there, does not really matter I guess. Anyway it is a great place to people watch. I also enjoy listening to the jukeboxes in Waffle Houses, weird huh? Did you know that lots of musicians record music that is only released and played in Waffle Houses? In 1984, "Waffle House Family, Part 1" debuted on Waffle House jukeboxes across the country. This first Waffle House song began a concept as unique as "scattered, smothered and covered" hash browns and as fresh as a cup of Waffle House Classic Blend coffee. More original Waffle House songs followed, encompassing a vast array of themes and musical styles. It went so far that in 2000 Hootie and the Blowfish released a CD "Scattered, Smothered & Covered" and pictured a Waffle House restaurant on the cover. In case you do not know scattered, smothered and covered hash browns are shredded potato’s with onions and cheese respectively. I think a breakfast joint has reached the pinnacle of success when someone names an album after their fried potato’s.

So recently I made a trip to Ohio and me and my niece drove back to Florida, of course we stopped two times in two days at two Waffle House’s. The first one was on Eastern By-Pass in Richmond Kentucky, we were the only two in there other than the cook and a trainee. I think this is the first time in my life I went into a Waffle House and had the joint to myself, other than my accompaniment. Since I have been frequenting the “House” for so long I thought I knew a thing or two about the process – boy was I wrong. I could tell right away that the kid was new, he was not standing in the designated position when he called out our order. He also did not have the lingo down yet. I sat quietly awaiting the tirade I knew was coming but it never did, I was stunned. My experience has been that the wait person better stand in the right place and had damn sure better bark that order out in the correct sequence and use the approved Waffle House lingo. Well I suspect that this guy was really new and the cook was cutting him some slack. After eating our server was off in the back performing some other tasks and I asked the cook how new he was, just started she said and then asked how did you know. I told her I knew a bit about the process and I felt like we had a moment, as much as you could have a moment in a Waffle House.

She pointed out to me the two different colored tiles in the field of tiles that were all the same color behind the counter. I knew they had to stand off to either side of the grill but was unaware of the very specific, and well marked, place they were to be when barking the order. I then asked why is that? She went on to show me exactly why, she simulated an order and she, the cook, has to go back and forth between the fridge for bacon on the right side of the grill and the waffle machines on the left side of the grill. If by chance the person who was barking the order was inside the perimeter the cook would be stumbling over them and that would slow the process down. I then began to ponder other Waffle House’s I have been in and I realize the cook part of the place is identical between all Waffle Houses, no kidding next time you are in one check it out. I am not sure how long they train to get proficient, the cooks I am talking about, because they are the true maestro’s of the operation. To be able to remember what folks called out and get the plates organized in the right way so the food comes right to the right people is a truly amazing talent that takes years to hone, I suspect anyway.

Some little known and less cared about factoids about Waffle House. When they were challenged to a test they were able to devise and document at least 70,778,880 different ways to prepare its USDA choice hamburgers, who has that kind of time? They have served an amazing 442,451,500 waffles (and counting!) since 1955, that is a half a billion damn waffles – that is CRAZY! They also serve more than 95 million cups of coffee each year. They have served over one billion orders of hash browns, and another billion orders of grits, yes those are billion with a B – WHO KNEW. I was able to find endless factoids that amazed me and some cases startled me and in others flat out scared me, like the number of eggs served was too scary to even put down here. Waffle House’s mission is to deliver a unique experience to our customers through delivering great food, friendly, attentive service, excellent price and a welcoming presence. I can buy into all of it except at some of the ones I have frequented the welcoming presence was questionable. That does not really bother me though because they do all the other things so well.

I love Waffle House breakfast food!