About two months ago, a Wffle House MBA decided they did not have to keep the lobby open at night. After late at night, you could only order pickup using a brain-dead web page. We stopped going there day or night. Also 100% staff turnover. Tonight, the newly hired server told me the lobby is now open 24x7. YEA! I often drive long distances at night and used Waffle House for reliable, biology beaks and hot food. Now I can use them again instead of the ‘pig in a poke’ truck stops. Their web page remains especially lame but it never made sense to park in their lot, do the web page, and pray you get what you wanted to order. Then poop on their sidewalk because the bathroom is locked inside! (Yes, it is a dirty job but someone has to do it!) Bob Wilson
And if there's any late night trouble you can be certain that waffle house employees never lose when fists start flying...
In Huntsville AL, the night shift cops like to get a hot coffee and take a break at Waffle House. No where in the USA is free from some sort of threat. If nothing else, we lead the world in mass shooting outside of war zones. Bob Wilson
Closest WH to me are in AZ -- and have been to the one on Bell Rd ages back. Yep -- 14 locations in AZ alone. But holy smokes 65 in DFW, 39 in Houston, 45 in Mobile, and 231 in Atlanta
We have two that are within 50 miles. I remember when their audiobook rentals were a road trip staple. We used to eat there semi-regularly, but even before their CEO doubled down on stupidity we throttled back on that because the food quality went down and the prices went up. They even started selling mixed drinks to try to drive up profits, but I'm not enough of a Southern Baptist to be putt off by that. A good restaurant will generally make their money at the bar, and try to just break even in the kitchen. I was not put off in the least by the new signs or the tone-deaf interior re-designs, and they're entitled to keep whatever CEO they want to in their corner office. CB still a regular stop on road trips because they're generally interstate convenient and have good restrooms - but I don't eat there.
Prefer Claim Jumper... though exps are late '90s-vintage. Used to have team building lunches there working for AMEX. May be garbage now, everything else '90s franchise heyday' is. But good slop back then, when I could eat that stuff.
They're a different genre. The Barrel is aimed at boomers roaming the interstate with their RVs and, families on spring and summer vaca. Claim Jumper is a brass and glass joint - or more like, leather and wood in their case geared for working lunches and semi-casual evening dining. I thought they went out of business a while back but there seem to be a short dozen of them left clinging to life.
Still occasionally enjoy Waffle House for breakfast if I'm in a hurry. Quality is OK by breakfast joint standards, pricing isn't competitive with my local go-to joint. Haven't eaten in a CB for a while, years ago when traveled more would time my stops for their 6am opening time and enjoyed their Uncle Hershel breakfast with pork chops (no longer a meat option with Uncle Hershel, sad). In younger days in TX frequented Dennys quite a bit too, but only 1 close by to me now and it's a 30 min. drive. Yep WH has a reputation for clientele that on occasion feel the need to go to fist city....
meh. Big city drama. Try that in most small towns in the deep south and some 90-lb elderly griddle operator will toss the combatants out into the parking lot without knocking the ash off of her ciggy-butt. We're talking about a place whose resilience has earned it a place in first responder folklore..... I can report that while I was doing hurricane restoration during Hurricane Katrina, WH was one of if not THE first establishments that reopened after the storm in more than one city and town...... Waffle House Index - Wikipedia
