Waffle House

 By Bruce Shawkey

A welcome sight along the Interstate as you begin to enter the South are Waffle House restauants. Comfort food at a reasonable cost.

On a recent trip to Chattanooga, my buddy Chris Vandall and I stopped at a Waffle House outside of Nashville to take a break and avoid some of the rush hour traffic.

I ordered a plain waffle, a side of bacon, and coffee. Chris ordered a pecan waffle and loaded hash browns. Mine was the usual excellent. I think Chris erred on the loaded hash browns. He could only eat half, took the other half to go, and eventually threw them out. 

Waffle House was founded by Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner. The first Waffle House opened on Labor Day weekend in 1955 in Avondale Estates, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.The founders aimed to create a restaurant that provided good food, friendly service, and a welcoming atmosphere for locals. It was designed to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to cater to any time of day or nightIn the 1960s, Waffle House began franchising its concept, which spurred significant growth. By the end of the 1960s, there were 27 Waffle House locations. The chain continued to grow rapidly through the 1970s and 1980s, expanding its presence primarily in the southeastern United States.

The menu remained relatively consistent, focusing on breakfast items like waffles, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns, as well as diner staples like burgers and sandwiches.

By the 1990s, Waffle House had become a cultural icon in the South, known for its reliability, straightforward menu, and consistent quality. Waffle House gained a unique reputation for staying open during severe weather events, earning it a place in FEMA's disaster response system, where the "Waffle House Index" is used to gauge the severity of disasters.

The chain continued to expand, with more than 1,500 locations by the early 2000s, and it now boasts over 2,000 locations across 25 states. Waffle House is known for its community involvement and support for local events and causes. One of Waffle House's hallmarks is its round-the-clock operation, making it a popular spot for late-night diners and travelers.

The menu has remained largely unchanged, focusing on breakfast foods, diner classics, and comfort food. The chain has built a strong base of loyal customers who appreciate its no-frills, reliable dining experience.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Latest Trip to Costco

Image
 By Bruce Shawkey Time for another Costco run. This time to the Costco outside Verona. First off, lunch in the food court.  Quarter pound hot dog and a Pepsi for $1.50. Cheapest lunch around. The Costco hot dog was introduced to food courts in 1984, one year after Costco's opening in 1983. The original hot dog was made by Hebrew National, and was sold at a hot dog cart outside a Costco location in San Diego. The price was set at $1.50 at its introduction, and has remained at $1.50 ever since.  As of 2018, Costco sold a yearly average of 135 million hot dogs, more than every Major League Baseball stadium combined. Next, shopping for supplies. Dawn and I were at once approached by a salesman hawking cellular service. Dawn told him were just there for a rotisserie chicken.    The  chicken is one of the things Costco is famous for.  Costco has been selling rotisserie  chickens   since 1994   when sales of the item started becoming popular at grocery stores. The cooked bird debuted at
Read more

John "Ben" Bolerud, Mayor of Mineral Point

 By Bruce Shawkey This is a story illustrating how so many lives can intersect and what a small world it is. This is a story of my dad, a high school classmate of mine and his grandfather, and a former mayor of Mineral Point, a city in iowa County, Wisconsin. John "Ben" Bolerud was of Norwegian descent and was elected mayor of Mineral Point in the 1950s and '60s. He road around town on a mule, presumably because of the hilly terrain of this former lead mining town with a history dating back to the civil war (lead shot for rifles). This is how a local paper remembered him: Tuesday evening, Benjamin Bollerud, former Mineral Point mayor, area historian, and traveler passed away at his home on Meeker Street. Bollerud's death marks the end of an era. In Mineral Point history. Bollerud's colorful dress, speech, actions and style was of another era that some may remember but few have lived. This week, the Democrat-Tribune has gone back into previous issues to give our re
Read more

Raymond "Skip" Henderson

Image
 By Bruce Shawkey I met Raymond "Skip" Henderson about 1986. He was (and is) a watch collector. He lives in New Orleans, and scours the antique shops along Royal Avenue in search of treasures. He also combs the local garage sales and flea markets. One time, he found an old lamp and lampshade. He inquired as to its origin. He was told the shade was made from human skin and was an artifact of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. It was $35, and Skip decided to buy it.  He held on to it for about a year and then decided to get rid of it. Said Skip, "I mean, you take it out of the box, man, people do not want to be in the same room as this thing." Skip sent the shade to a friend in Brooklyn, Mark Jacobson, who writes for New York magazine. Jacobson paid $6,000 to have it tested at a leading genetics laboratory. The results confirmed every ones' suspicion. It was made from human skin.   The story ends there. Skip did not wish to have the lampshade returned to him. Skip
Read more