The Waffle House® Experience means different things to different people. It could be a bowl of Bert's Chili™, a glass of Alice's Iced Tea™ or just the friendly face behind the counter. Go to OUR HOUSE to read stories about special people and go to SIGNATURE ITEMS to get the story behind our chili, soups, tea and coffee
When Joe Rogers, Sr. bought a house from Tom Forkner in Avondale Estates, GA., in 1949, neither one knew where that relationship would take them.
It's the mid 1950's. Joe Rogers and Tom Forkner were neighbors–Joe working for a national restaurant chain, the Toddle House, and Tom in the local real estate business. Since employee ownership was not available with the Toddle House, the idea of starting a business they could own and share some ownership with other seemed like a good idea. Joe and Tom wanted to create a restaurant focused on people–both the associates and customers–while serving quality food at a great value.
On Labor Day 1955, their dream became a reality–and an icon was born–when the first Waffle House restaurant opened its doors for business in Avondale Estates, an Atlanta suburb. After Unit 1 opened there were no plans for another Unit, but the first restaurant established the Waffle House tradition of providing the friendliest service in town. Customer loyalty developed and the business grew steadily. A couple of years (1957) Unit 2 was acquired and by 1961, there were four small restaurants.
In 1961, Joe left Toddle House and went to work full-time at Waffle House®. Tom went full time soon after. The 1960's saw the emergence of a restaurant chain focused on customer service with a short order concept and, true to its founding beliefs, shared the ownership generously with management.
The company began to expand and new units were built in Georgia and neighboring states. The "Yellow Sign" soon became a familiar landmark along city streets and interstate highways across the Southeast. Under the guiding philosophy of "better before bigger," Waffle House restaurants continued to grow in both new and existing markets.
Since day one, each Waffle House® restaurant has provided guests with a unique and comfortable dining experience. At every restaurant, the bright "Yellow Sign" greets customers like an old friend, the jukebox plays a variety of the now famous Waffle House songs and associates give customers a heartfelt greeting as they walk through the door. In addition, each restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, inspiring urban myths such as "Waffle House doors have no locks."
Most established businesses of today started as just an idea among a few people with no expectation of great size and success. Joe and Tom did not envision what Waffle House has become, but they stuck by their concept and their belief in shared ownership. After 51 years in the restaurant business, the southern icon has become a Unique American Phenomenon™ by serving GOOD FOOD FAST®.
As the Waffle House system celebrates 51 years of service, we look forward to making the next generation of customers and associates part of the family. At Waffle House® restaurants, success is measured by one thing–PEOPLE.
Waffle House History Timeline
1955
Joe Rogers, Sr. and Tom Forkner opened the first Waffle House restaurant in Avondale, GA.
1957
The Waffle House System acquired Unit 2.
1960's
The 1960's saw the emergence of a restaurant chain focused on customer service with a short order concept and, true to its founding beliefs, shared the ownership generously with management.
In 1961, Joe left Toddle House and went to work full time at Waffle House. Tom went full time soon after. Waffle House, Inc., open 44 restaurants in the 1960's bringing the total to 48.
1970's
The system grew to 401 restaurants by the end of the 1970's.
1975
Waffle House Inc. celebrated 25 years in the restaurant industry.
1980's
Bert's Chili™, Lib's Patty Melt™ and hashbrowns "Scattered, Smothered and Covered®" debuted on the menu. The Waffle House System expanded to 672 restaurants by the end of the decade.
1990's
Walt's Soup™ warmed up the menu. The Waffle House System opened its 1,000th restaurant where it all started–Avondale Estates–in 1955. The 90's saw the biggest growth of the system, with 1,228 restaurants by the end of the decade.
2000's
Alice added her name to our already famous iced tea, making Alice's Iced Tea™ even sweater.
2004
Lucy Shelton, pictured on the right, retired after 47 years of excellent service to her customers. Miss Lucy is the longest serving Associate. Miss Lucy started her Waffle House career at Unit 2 in 1957.
2005
Waffle House Inc. celebrated 50 years of being America's Place to Work, America's Place to Eat. In 2005, Waffle House Inc., operated more than 1,460 restaurants in 25 states. Waffle House Inc. launched the first World Waffle- Eating Championships.
2006
Waffle House System grew to 1,500 restaurants and took a step into the 21 Century by accepting credit cards in company-owned restaurants. Since 1955, Waffle House had been a primarily cash-based system.
FUN FACTS
Since 1955, the WAFFLE HOUSE System has served:
495,264,367 Waffles
957,041,599 Cups of Coffee
1,173,838,328 Hashbrown Orders
370,545,935 Sausage Patties
786,449,152 Bacon Strips
14,899,594 Slices of Ham
1,527,602,959.24 Eggs
22,217,455 Slices of Pie
123,587,123 T-bone Steaks
115,220,427 Hamburger Quarters
479,312,699 Glasses of Coke®
1,108,574,633 Order of Grits
72,567,509 Cheese n' Eggs
204,164,660 Omelets
Did you Know?
If you lay all of the Bryan bacon end-to-end that Waffle House serves in a year, it will stretch from Atlanta to Los Angeles seven times! (That's more than 21,000 miles of bacon)
If you could stack all of the sausage patties we serve in one day, it would reach the TOP of the Empire State Building! (Did you want grits with that?)
Waffle House serves more than 3.2 million pounds of grits each year. That is enough to fill 86 semi-trucks!
Each year Waffle House customers eat more than 334,000 pounds of pecans in their waffles. That is more than 21 million pecans.
Waffle House customers consume two percent of the total eggs produced in the United States for foodservice use. That is more than 185,000,000 eggs every year, 500,000 eggs everyday, 20,833 eggs every hour, 347 eggs every minute and five eggs every second.
If you used all of the eggs Waffle House serves in a year to make a cheese omelet, it would weigh 28 tons and would need 185 million slices of cheese. (Do you want hashbrowns with that?)
If you lined up all the bowls of Bert's Chili® Waffle House serves in a year, it would stretch the length of Florida's coastline on both the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts!
Waffle House serves more than 10,000 T-bone steaks every day.
If you stack all of the USDA Choice hamburger patties Waffle House serves in a year, it would equal the height of 18 Mount Everests!
Waffle House serves more than 381 tons of country ham every year. That translates to more weight than a fully-loaded Boeing 747 at takeoff.
- The first Waffle House® restaurant opened on Labor Day in 1955 in Avondale Estates, GA.
- The Waffle House System operates more than 1,500 restaurants in 25 states.
- Waffle House® restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day).
FOOD FACTS
The Waffle House System is the world's leading server of:
- waffles
- T-bone steaks
- omelets
- cheese 'n eggs
- USDA Choice hamburgers
- country ham
- pork chops
- grits
- hashbrowns
- patty melts
- raisin toast
- apple butter
- Heinz Traditional Steak Sauce The Waffle House System only serves the best brands including:
- Coca-Cola soft drinks
- Heinz complete line of sauces
- Sara Lee family of pork products
- Bryan bacon, ham and country ham
- Jimmy Dean Sausage
- Minute Maid Orange Juice
- Wishbone salad dressings
- Waffle House Classic Blend Coffee
- Waffles made with White Lily Flour
- Challenged to a test, Waffle House® restaurants have found at least 70,778,880 different ways to prepare its USDA Choice hamburgers.
- The Waffle House System has served more than 442,451,500 waffles (and counting!) since 1955.
- Waffle House® restaurants serve more than 95 million cups of coffee each year.
THE WAFFLE HOUSE EXPERIENCE
- Waffle House® restaurants are the only place where you can hear classic waffle songs "Good Food Fast," "Waffle Doo Wop" and "Waffle House Family" on a real jukebox.
- Although there is one "official" Web site, an Internet search turns up more than 2,200 Web sites that mention Waffle House® restaurants. Waffle House® restaurants ranked in the "Top Five" of "Around the Clock Eats" on the Food Network.
- Bert's Chili® and our world famous hashbrowns were featured on "Sara's Secrets" on the Food Network.
- Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy are seen eating at a Waffle House® restaurant in their 2003 movie, Blue Collar Comedy Tour - The Movie.
- A Waffle House® restaurant is featured in a scene in the 2002 Britney Spears movie "Crossroads."
- The R & B group "112" filmed their "It's Over Now" video at a Snellville, GA, Waffle House® restaurant.
- Hootie and the Blowfish released a CD in 2000 entitled: "Scattered, Smothered & Covered" and pictured a Waffle House® restaurant on the cover.
- After enjoying a meal at a Destin, FL., Waffle House® restaurant, TV talk show host Rosie O'Donnell flew a grill operator and two salespeople to New York to be on her show in December 2000. They presented her a "Waffles for Life" certificate.
- A Waffle House® restaurant is prominently featured in a scene of "Tin Cup," a feature film starring Kevin Costner.
- A sampling of the many other celebrities seen eating in a Waffle House® restaurant:
- Former President George Bush
- Kenny Chesney
- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
- Jeff Foxworthy
- Vince Gill
- Amy Grant
- Merle Haggard
- Faith Hill
- Beyonce Knowles
- Ludacris
- LeAnne Rimes
- Pete Sampras
- Emmitt Smith
- Marty Stuart
- Billy Bob Thornton
- David Toms
- Usher
- Mark Wills
- Reese Witherspoon
- Jay-Z
BERT'S CHILI™
Yes, there really is a Bert! As a matter of fact, Bert has been with the Waffle House Inc. more than 30 years. He created his famous chili recipe in the early 1980's when he was working in Dallas, Texas. He tested several combinations before coming up with the perfect bowl of chili.
Twenty years later, Bert's Chili™ is still made to his exacting standards. Each pot of chili is prepared using only the finest ingredients, including chili beans, USDA Choice hamburger, Jimmy Dean sausage, tomato, onions and a special blend of seasonings.
Keep an eye out for the legend himself. Bert is often seen serving customers at all hours of the day behind the counter at a Waffle House® restaurant. If you see Bert, ask him to fix you a bowl of his famous-recipe chili.
Walt's Soup™
Comfort Food in a Bowl! Walt's Soup™ has been on the Waffle House menu for more than 10 years. The chicken soup is cooked each day using Walt's original recipes.
The Waffle House® soup story starts on a cold winter day in 1991. Walt sat eating his lunch at the Waffle House high counter thinking that a hot, steaming bowl of soup would be perfect on such a dreary day. Walt decided then and there to create a thick, hearty meal in a bowl. Two years later, Walt's Soup was perfected and added to the Waffle House menu.
Walt's Soup has been a Waffle House menu staple providing comfort food for our new and regular customers alike. Try a Texas grilled-cheese sandwich with your next bowl of steaming Walt's Soup for the perfect winter meal.
ALICE'S ICED TEA™
No one really knows exactly when the first glass of iced tea was served, but the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis just might be the time the America fell in love with it.
As the story goes, a group of Far East tea producers lead by Englishman Richard Blechynden traveled from Calcutta, India to the World's Fair to sell their tea. The group set up a tea pavilion and sold cups of hot tea to the passing visitors. The problem was, the temperature outside was as hot as the tea. The hot, steamy summer was putting a damper on the tea sales. People were passing right by the brightly-colored, Indian-inspired pavilion and heading to the booths with ice-filled drinks.
Being a good businessman, Richard decided to give the people what they wanted. He filled glasses with ice cubes and poured the hot tea over them. Word spread quickly throughout the Fair and customers lined up outside the tea pavilion to buy the cooling beverage. By the time the Fair closed, the cold tea had become popular. Today, it is America's national summertime drink.
At Waffle House® restaurants, we think Richard Blechynden was a smart man. We took his idea and made it our own with Alice's Iced Tea™. Alice worked with our vendor, Royal Cup, to perfectly combine China Black Tea with other specialty teas to create Waffle House® restaurants' refreshing tea. Alice continued to perfect our rich, golden brew by adding just the right amount of sugar to each glass. Alice's Iced Tea™ makes the perfect drink.
WAFFLE HOUSE® COFFEE
According to legend, coffee was first discovered when a goat herder in Ethiopia noticed his goats dancing on their hind legs after eating red berries. He tasted the berries and was full of new found energy. Eventually, the berries were roasted and boiled to make what is now known as coffee.
Coffee's popularity spread from the Middle East to Europe to the New World. High taxes on tea and the Boston Tea Party quickly made coffee the most popular beverage in the United States. Today, Americans consume nearly one-fourth of the world's coffee.
Coffee is the fruit of an evergreen shrub native to northern Africa. Each plant yields only enough coffee for one to two pounds of roasted coffee per year. It takes more than three million pounds of coffee beans to produce a year's worth of Waffle House® Classic Blend Coffee.
There are basically two types of coffee plants: robusta and arabica. The robusta is the sturdier of the two plants and contains twice the caffeine content of arabica. It has a heavier body and is primarily used for the production of commercial brands and instant coffee. The arabica tree produces a finer coffee bean. The arabica is very delicate with a strong, sweet aroma.
Royal Cup, Waffle House® restaurants' sole coffee vendor since 1972, uses only the highest-grade arabica beans. The beans are roasted perfectly to create the perfect cup of Waffle House Classic Blend coffee every time.
To enhance the Waffle House Experience, we believe in developing relationships with potential customers and businesses located in the areas where our restaurants operate. By collaborating with local organizations, retailers, school, hospitals and local government associations, we increase our brand and local awareness. We call this our FIRST MILE EXPERIENCE.
Check out to see what some of our restaurants are doing in their First Mile
Lanier Middle School in Buford, Georgia
The Waffle House collaborated with Lanier Middle School for the 2005-2006 school year and offered certificates for their Honor Roll and Merit students. The All-Star certificates are good for one free waffle for Honor Roll students and the Certificates of Achievement, good for one order of hashbrowns, are awarded to Merit students. Waffle House has donated the certificates every nine weeks since the start of the school year and will continue until the school year ends.
Funny Bones Learning Center in Savannah, Georgia
Charley Sikes and the team at Unit 1010 helped the students from "Funny Bones Learning Center" find out all about the letter "W" during a field trip to the Unit. The class investigated (and ate) all the "W"affles they could find! Charley spent time with the students, helping them mix up their own batter. The team cooked up the kid-created batter and everyone enjoyed learning about how waffles are made.
In the Florida Panhandle
Waffle House in the Florida Panhandle partners with several schools to promote the Reading Rewards program. They are also very involved with Cub Scouts, sponsoring various events like the Pinewood Derby and summer day camp. Waffle House also donates paper goods and Certificates of Achievement. (Division Manager John Sudduth spends time with the summer camp participants.)
B.D. Lee Elementary School in Gaffney, South Carolina
We have had several Waffle Nights at Unit 1414. Students receive a free waffle when their parents order a meal. The principal of the school told us Waffle House® restaurants are the first to recognize the students for their academic achievements. The Unit has experienced a sales increase because of the partnership.
If you're interested in developing a First Mile relationship with your local Waffle House, please visit the restaurant in your area and ask to speak to the manager about developing a partnership.
The Waffle House Community Involvement program positively influences the communities where we live and work. We do this by developing partnerships, inspiring philanthropy and promoting goodwill both inside and outside the company. Waffle House community involvement efforts are accomplished through sponsorship of events, partnership and in-kind donations. Community involvement is organized and supported on the corporate and local restaurant level.
If you wish to inquire about our sponsorship, please submit proposals via mail or e-mail to the communications department at P.O. Box 6450 Norcross, GA. 30071, attention: Communications Department or send an e-mail to communications@wafflehouse.com.
Waffle House in the community
Waffle Fridays
Waffle House and metro Atlanta Red Cross team up for Waffle House Fridays. Now through December 2006, all blood donors who give blood on Wednesdays, at any of the seven metro Atlanta Red Cross Donor centers, will receive a coupon for a free waffle that can be redeemed at any participating Waffle House locations.
Donor Mary McClure takes time out of her busy schedule to donate platelets to the American Red Cross.
Crossroads Ministries
Waffle House Senior Vice President Rob Abney and Director of Training Mick Miklos, congratulate Clyde Corbin of Crossroad Ministries in Atlanta, GA on serving his 2,000,000th meal to the homeless. Clyde, Crossroads and Waffle House will launch a training program in March for Crossroads clients to receive Waffle House cooking training for possible future employment at Waffle House® restaurants.
May 15, 2005, Clyde Corbin completed his Waffle House In-unit training. Waffle House and Crossroads Ministries have partnered to help homeless men in the Crossroads Ministries program obtain future employment with Waffle House® restaurants.
HERO for a Day
On Saturday July 22, 2006, more than 450 people including 143 children, attended HERO for a Day–the State of Georgi's largest field day of fun for children infected with/affected by HIV/AIDS. Waffle House supported the event by donating water bottles for the children.