For those of you who are unfamiliar with Waffle House, let me give an introduction. The company began in Georgia in 1955 when two neighbors decided to open a 24-7 sit-down restaurant for their friends and neighbors. Their goal was to provide the friendliest service in town while offering employees rewarding and quality careers. Today they have 1,900 locations in twenty-five states, mostly in the southeastern United States.

WAFFLE HOUSE IS COMFORT FOOD

You won’t be surprised to learn that waffles and other breakfast items (served all day) are the main draw, including hashbrowns cooked scattered, smothered, and covered. For lunch and dinner, you can find burgers, sandwiches, or plates containing steak, ham, pork chop, or chicken.

Oh, and they can cater your wedding, school function, or corporate gathering.

WAFFLE HOUSE CORPORATE CULTURE

There is only one way for a server to deliver a customer order—the Pull Drop Order Calling Method. They have designed a fascinating system to indicate the client’s preference. Scrambled eggs, grits, and white toast are marked by placing a jelly packet right side up at the edge of the plate. For wheat toast, the jelly packet is flipped over. The list is exhaustive.

Amazing for the food industry, the company touts the following benefits:

Here at Waffle House, we believe in “Homegrown Leadership,” which means every Manager in Operations begins their career as a single unit manager.

“6 Days On, 2 Days Off Guaranteed” Schedule – unmatched in restaurant industry
3-Month Training Program – to learn how to run the business
All Promotions From Within
Stock Ownership

Annual Stock Options Granted – based on % of your compensation
Career Stock Options Granted – at hire and with each promotion

Health Insurance: Medical, Dental, Vision, And Life Insurance — available for you and your family
Vacation – three 10-day vacations each year
Paid Maternity Leave – 6 Weeks (8 Weeks for C-Section)
Advancement – steady growth = promotion opportunities
Culture – fast pace, teamwork, winning

The group does not use traditional advertising and has grown with the interstate highway system, with its iconic yellow signs readily visible.

WAFFLE HOUSE FEMA INDEX

Hurricane Katrina destroyed seven company locations and shut down 100 in 2005. The company realized that business went through the roof at the sites that reopened quickly. They soon determined that an effective strategy was to respond quickly to disasters. They invested in portable generators, a storm center, mobile command centers, partial menus, and teaching employees how to prepare food with no power, using gas grills.

The chain shares color-coded maps on social media of its locations that are either in the path of a storm or recovering. Green—full menu, Yellow—partial menu, and red—closed.

FEMA executives soon noticed that Waffle Houses were some of the few places open and, by looking at the “Waffle House Index,” could identify where the storm damage was most severe.

WAFFLE HOUSE MUSIC LABEL

Waffle House has its’ own music label, Waffle Records. Who knew? The label has released about 40 songs since the mid-1980s, including hits such as “There are Raisins in my Toast” and “They’re Cooking Up My Order”. These songs do find their way onto the jukeboxes that play a range of popular music.

WAFFLE HOUSE FANS

The chain has a celebrity following. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the late Anthony Bourdain, Bruno Mars, Carry Underwood, Dwyane Wade (basketball pro), Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Chris Rock, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, and Shaquille O-Neal are customers, just to name a few.

WAFFLE HOUSE FIGHTS

Fights are legendary at the chain and can be found all over youtube.com and TikTok. In their defense, these locations are open 24-7 when many drunk and/or drugged people have emptied the bars.