Waffle House

The first Waffle House opened on Labor Day weekend in 1955 at 2719 East College Avenue in Avondale Estates, Georgia.{{Cite web |date=2016-07-20 |title=A State of Innovation: Waffle House |url=https://georgiahistory.com/a-state-of-innovation-waffle-house/ |access-date=2022-10-19 |website=Georgia Historical Society |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-09-05 |title=TODAY IN HISTORY: Waffle House opened its doors 68 years ago in metro Atlanta |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/today-history-waffle-house-founded-65-years-ago-metro-atlanta/QNPN5Q7AT5FCTJ2DVE35CKWB3M/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta |language=en}} That restaurant was conceived and founded by Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner.{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/local/waffle-house-founder-dies-month-after-business-partner/ST26EuQ9oaEqgg8o5u6wEO/|title=Waffle House co-founder dies at 98, a month after business partner|last1=Sharpe|first1=Joshua|date=27 April 2017|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421000506/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/waffle-house-founder-dies-month-after-business-partner/ST26EuQ9oaEqgg8o5u6wEO/|archive-date=2019-04-21|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2023-08-06 |title=Waffle House's 1955 menu offered this ritzy dish for just $1.50 |url=https://www.wjbf.com/top-stories/waffle-houses-1955-menu-offered-this-ritzy-dish-for-just-1-50/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=WJBF |language=en-US}} Rogers started in the restaurant business as a short-order cook in 1947 at the Toddle House in New Haven, Connecticut.{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/joe-rogers-profile-the-cornerstone-waffle-house/A3Fzs0PhbRUIpGle0Gu61N/|title=The Cornerstone of Waffle House|last1=Osinski|first1=Bill|date=24 December 2004|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405214728/https://www.ajc.com/news/joe-rogers-profile-the-cornerstone-waffle-house/A3Fzs0PhbRUIpGle0Gu61N/|archive-date=2018-04-05|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}} By 1949, he had become a regional manager with the now-defunct Memphis-based Toddle House chain. He then moved to Atlanta, where he met Tom Forkner while buying a house from him in Avondale Estates.

File:Waffle House Museum Exterior.jpg, Georgia. Note original "syrupy" font on the sign.]]

Rogers's concept was to combine the speed of fast food with table service with around-the-clock availability. Forkner suggested naming the restaurant "Waffle House", as waffles were the most profitable item on the 16-item menu. Rogers continued to work with Toddle House, and, to avoid conflict of interest, sold his interest to Forkner in 1956.

In 1960, Rogers asked to buy into Toddle House, and was subsequently refused. Afterwards, he moved back to Atlanta and rejoined Waffle House, now a chain of three restaurants, to run restaurant operations. Shortly after Rogers returned full-time, Forkner followed suit and left Ben S. Forkner Realty.

After opening a fourth restaurant in 1960, the company began franchising its restaurants and slowly grew to 27 stores by the late 1960s, before growth accelerated.

File:A_Waffle_House_restaurant_in_Jasper,_Georgia,_US.jpg]]

In 2007, Waffle House repurchased the original restaurant, which had been sold by the chain in the early 1970s. The company restored it using original blueprints for use as a private company museum. The museum is used primarily for internal corporate events and tours.{{Cite web |title=Waffle House Museum, Decatur, Georgia |url=https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/18095 |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=RoadsideAmerica.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Chopra |first=Sonia |date=2013-07-18 |title=A Look at the First-Ever Waffle House, Now the World's Only Waffle House Museum |url=https://atlanta.eater.com/2013/7/18/6400475/a-look-at-the-first-ever-waffle-house-now-the-worlds-only-waffle |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=Eater Atlanta |language=en}}

In 2008, one of the biggest Waffle House franchises in the southeast, North Lake Foods, was bought out by Waffle House, Inc. North Lake Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closed some stores. Waffle House, Inc. plans to rehabilitate the franchise.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} In early 2009, East Coast Waffles bought North Lake Foods to become a new franchise.{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/business/bankrupt-waffle-house-franchisee-109022.html|title=Bankrupt Waffle House franchisee draws bids|author=Collier|first=Joe Guy|date=2009-08-05|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613185759/https://www.ajc.com/business/bankrupt-waffle-house-franchisee-draws-bids/1DQ7c2I5x1LScsAWVoqCkO/|archive-date=2019-06-13}}

The founders of the Waffle House brand died in 2017 within two months of each other: Joe Rogers Sr. died on March{{nbsp}}3 and Tom Forkner on April 26.{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/local/waffle-house-founder-dies-month-after-his-business-partner/ST26EuQ9oaEqgg8o5u6wEO/|title=Waffle House co-founder dies a month after his business partner|last=Sharpe|first=Joshua|date=April 27, 2017|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421000506/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/waffle-house-founder-dies-month-after-business-partner/ST26EuQ9oaEqgg8o5u6wEO/|archive-date=2019-04-21|url-status=live}} On September 8, 2024, it was reported that Walter G. Ehmer, who oversaw Waffle House since 2012, had died.{{cite news|url=https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/waffle-house-ceo-walt-ehmer-dies-age-58|title=Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer dies at the age of 58|publisher=Fox 5 Atlanta|date=September 8, 2024|access-date=September 8, 2024}}

Each Waffle House location is open 24 hours daily.{{cite web|url=https://wafflehouse-menus.us/waffle-house-locations/|title=Waffle House Locations in USA

|date=February 1, 2025|website=Waffle House Menu}} This schedule has inspired the urban myth that "Waffle House doors have no locks".{{cite web|url=https://www.wafflehouse.com/history/|title=People business|first=Mike|last=Howard|access-date=May 6, 2019|archive-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506232233/https://wafflehouse.com/history/}}

The chain's restaurants almost always have jukeboxes, which have traditionally played 45-rpm singles{{Cite web|title = People business|url = http://www.wafflehouse.com/history/|website = Waffle House|access-date = 2015-09-30|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151001102345/http://www.wafflehouse.com/history/|archive-date = 2015-10-01}} and, in some cases, CDs. Waffle House has released music through its own record label, Waffle Records. It has released songs from "Saturday Night At My Place" by Gary Garcia released in 1995 to "They're Cooking Up My Order" by Alfreda Gerald released in 2006. The co-founder Joe Rogers had high standards and said, "If it sounded like a commercial, it got the ax." If the song makes the cut, it will be recorded and make its way to Waffle House jukeboxes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/15/470554245/a-b-side-with-your-bacon-waffle-house-has-its-own-music-label|title=A B-Side With Your Bacon? Waffle House Has Its Own Music Label|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2019-09-26}} The songs are on ordinary discs, which are produced for Waffle House and are not commercially sold, but the chain has made a CD of some of the songs available for sale.{{Cite web|url=http://wafflehouse.com/your-house/waffle-house-records|title=Waffle House Records|website=Waffle House|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521115645/http://www.wafflehouse.com/your-house/waffle-house-records|archive-date=2011-05-21}} Other artists that recorded for Waffle Records include Eddie Middleton who recorded "Good Food Fast" and "Waffle Doo-Wop," which was composed and produced by Jerry Buckner.45Cat - [https://www.45cat.com/artist/eddie-middleton Eddie Middleton - Discography]Popsike - [https://www.popsike.com/WAFFLE-HOUSE-RECORDSEDDIE-MIDDLETONGOOD-FOOD-FAST/165356662518.html WAFFLE HOUSE RECORDS--EDDIE MIDDLETON--"GOOD FOOD FAST"]

The company claims to be the world's leading seller of several of its menu items—the namesake waffles, ham, pork chops, grits, and T-bone steaks. It also claims that it serves 2% of all eggs in the U.S.{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Dave |date=October 19, 2017 |title=Is this heaven? No, it's a Waffle House |url=http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21067022/college-football-saturday-sec-country-waffle-house |access-date=October 19, 2017 |website=ESPN.com}}

In the 1960s, S. Truett Cathy, the owner of a local diner called the Dwarf House, contracted with Waffle House to sell his proprietary chicken sandwich, the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. However, the Chick-fil-A sandwich quickly overtook Waffle House's own items in sales and Waffle House ended the deal, prompting Cathy to spin off Chick-fil-A into its own chain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g2919/waffle-house-facts/|title = 12 Things You Didn't Know About Waffle House|date = January 16, 2016}}

File:Waffle House in Urbana, Maryland.jpg

For years, Waffle House was known as "Waffle and Steak" in Indiana due to another chain of restaurants owning the rights to the Waffle House name in the state.[http://www.rumored.com/glossary/W.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060510151831/http://www.rumored.com/glossary/W.html|date=May 10, 2006}}{{cite web | url=https://www.reddit.com/r/indianapolis/comments/145alu1/does_anyone_else_remember_the_old_indiana_waffle/ | title=Does anyone else remember the old Indiana Waffle Houses? | date=June 9, 2023 }} The original Indiana Waffle House chain has started using the name "Sunshine Cafe".[http://bomplist.xnet2.com/0208/msg02537.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929171030/http://bomplist.xnet2.com/0208/msg02537.html|date=September 29, 2007}} However, the d/b/a for "Sunshine Cafe" belongs to "Waffle House Greenwood Inc.", established in 1981. The oldest "Waffle House" entity listed with the Corporations office of the Indiana Secretary of State is "Waffle House of Bloomington, Indiana, Inc." established in 1967, and, like Waffle House Greenwood, it is still an active corporation.{{cite web|url=https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search.aspx |title=Secretary of State - Business Services Division |publisher=Secure.in.gov |access-date=2015-08-26}} The Bloomington operation, the city's second oldest restaurant, closed in 2013, and was demolished to make way for an apartment complex.{{Cite news|url=http://www.idsnews.com/article/2013/10/the-end-of-the-waffle-house?id=94816|title=The end of the Waffle House |last=Contrera |first=Jessica |date=2013-10-21 |newspaper=Indiana Daily Student |access-date=2017-02-12}} (Many of the Waffle House corporations in Indiana have been dissolved.) "Waffle House Inc." of Norcross, Georgia, registered with Indiana in 1974. In 2005, the Waffle and Steak restaurants all adopted the "Waffle House" moniker, bringing the entire chain under the name.

File:Waffle House in Oklahoma.jpg

In 2004, in response to a serious Salmonella problem in 2003 at a Chili's location in Vernon Hills, Illinois,{{cite web |url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/8/prweb149095.htm |title=Marler Clark announces settlement of 49 Chili's Salmonella Claims |publisher=Prweb.com |date=2004-08-12 |access-date=2015-08-26 |archive-date=February 7, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207072008/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/8/prweb149095.htm }} and by four deaths in 1993 from E. coli in undercooked hamburger at a Jack in the Box,{{cite web |url=http://www.marlerclark.com/news/jackbox10.htm |title=Jack in the Box E. coli Outbreak Lawsuits - Western States (1993) |publisher=Marlerclark.com |access-date=2015-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121054519/http://www.marlerclark.com/news/jackbox10.htm |archive-date=2008-11-21 }} the television news magazine Dateline NBC investigated sanitation practices of popular American family restaurant chains, measuring the number of critical violations per inspection. The Waffle House averaged 1.6 critical violations per inspection.{{cite web |url=http://www.marlerclark.com/news/chilis22.htm |title=How safe are your favorite restaurants? |publisher=Marlerclark.com |access-date=2015-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422020146/http://www.marlerclark.com/news/chilis22.htm |archive-date=2016-04-22 }} Waffle House's response to the study pointed out that they prepare all meals in an open kitchen, and consumers can readily observe their sanitation practices themselves.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6081409 |title=Restaurants respond to rankings - Dateline NBC - Consumer Alert |publisher=NBC News |date=2004-09-28 |access-date=2015-08-26}}

On September 17, 2019, customers who ate at a Waffle House in Goose Creek, South Carolina, were exposed to Hepatitis A. One of the employees who had worked there tested positive for Hepatitis A. After upper management found out, they immediately shut down the Goose Creek Waffle House location to sanitize the facility. DHEC officials said they would be working with Waffle House to investigate possible exposures and provide guidance for preventive treatment for anyone who may be affected.{{cite web | access-date=2019-09-26 | url=https://www.live5news.com/2019/09/17/dhec-customers-who-ate-goose-creek-waffle-house-may-have-been-exposed-hepatitis/ | title=DHEC: Customers who ate at Goose Creek Waffle House may have been exposed to Hepatitis A | last=Rivera | first=Ray | language=en-US | website=live5news.com| date=September 18, 2019 }}

File:WaffleHouseClarksvilleTN.jpg]]

Waffle House has developed into a cultural icon. Part of Waffle House's fame is that they are prominent along Interstate highways in the South.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Paige |date=2007-12-01 |title=How Waffle House became a cultural icon |url=https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/waffle-house-became-cultural-icon/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Atlanta Magazine |language=en-US}}

A now defunct Geocities website, The Waffle House Shrine, hosted employee and customer comments about their experiences with Waffle House.{{Cite web |date=2009-10-26 |title=The Waffle House Shrine |url=http://geocities.com/waffleshrine/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026214054/http://geocities.com/waffleshrine/ |archive-date=2009-10-26 |access-date=2024-06-11 }}{{Cite web |title=Waffle House: A Strange American Dream {{!}} Kate Williams {{!}} The Hypocrite Reader |url=http://hypocritereader.com/60/waffle-house |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Hypocrite Reader |language=en}}

Waffle House has become known as an internet meme for viral videos of fights on its premises,{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=C. T. |date=2023-07-18 |title=The Internet Loves Waffle House Fights. They Make Life for These Workers Hell |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/waffle-house-viral-fight-labor-strike-1234789822/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-08-18 |title=Blood, sweat and syrup: Why are there so many fights at Waffle House? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/waffle-house-fight-avengers-austin-b2332715.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Orr |first=Niela |date=2023-01-25 |title=The Waffle House Brawl Belongs in a Museum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/magazine/the-waffle-house-brawl-belongs-in-a-museum.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} which have been attributed to the combination of being open 24/7 and its customers often being under the influence of alcohol, though this reputation has been described as a self-fulfilling prophecy with similar violence regularly taking place in other retail outlets.

{{main|1=Waffle House Index}}

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Waffle House is one of the top four corporations, along with Walmart, The Home Depot, and Lowe's, for disaster response.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904716604576542460736605364|title=How to Measure a Storm's Fury One Breakfast at a Time |newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=September 1, 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.popsci.com/article/science/how-waffle-house-became-disaster-indicator-fema|title=How Waffle House Became A Disaster Indicator For FEMA|website=Popular Science|date=March 18, 2019|access-date=May 6, 2019}} Waffle House has an extensive disaster management plan with on-site and portable generators, and positions food and ice ahead of severe weather events such as a hurricane. This helps mitigate the effects of a storm on the power grid and the supply chains.{{cite news|url=http://ehstoday.com/fire_emergencyresponse/disaster-planning/waffles-risk-management-0706/|title=What Do Waffles Have to Do with Risk Management?|publisher=EHS Today|date=July 6, 2011}} The company prepares "jump teams" of recovery staff and supplies, brought in from outside disaster-affected areas, so that local staff can focus on helping their own homes and families. The ability of a Waffle House to remain open after a severe storm, possibly with a limited menu, is used by FEMA as a measure of disaster recovery known as the Waffle House Index.[https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/if-waffle-house-is-closed-its-time-to-panic/?ex_cid=538twitter If Waffle House Is Closed, It's Time to Panic] By Maryn McKenna for FiveThirtyEight December 6, 2016{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/when-disaster-strikes-fema-turns-to-waffle-house|title=When disaster strikes, FEMA turns to{{nbsp}}... Waffle House|first=Garrett|last=Tenney|date=March 26, 2015|website=Fox News|access-date=May 6, 2019}}

{{Portal|Companies|Food}}

• Denny's
• Golden Nugget Pancake House
• Huddle House
• IHOP
• The Original Pancake House
• Walker Brothers

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/commercialbldgs/waffle.htm The first Waffle House restaurant] as seen in a then/now photo
• [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-1823 EEOC vs. Waffle House, Inc.]
• [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/dekalb/the-waffle-house Waffle House] historical marker

{{Fast-food chains of the United States}}

{{Atlanta companies}}

{{Waffles}}

Category:Fast-food chains of the United States

Category:Fast-food franchises

Category:Pancake houses

Category:Waffles

Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States

Category:Economy of the Southeastern United States

Category:Companies based in Gwinnett County, Georgia

Category:Restaurants established in 1955

Category:Culture of Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:1955 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)