Waffle House 505920 225259462 2008-07-12T19:13:05Z 24.197.190.47 caption {{Infobox Company | company_name = Waffle House Inc. | company_logo = [[Image:Wafflelogo.gif|Waffle House logo]] | company_type = [[Restaurant]] | foundation = [[Avondale Estates, Georgia]] ([[1955]]) | location = [[Norcross, Georgia]] | industry = [[casual dining]] [[restaurant]] | parent = Waffle House, Inc. | products = Food service, | revenue = $415M (2004) | homepage = [http://www.wafflehouse.com/ www.wafflehouse.com] }} '''Waffle House''' is a [[restaurant chain]] with over 1500 stores found in 25 states in the [[United States]].<ref name=hist>[http://www.wafflehouse.com/whhistory.asp Waffle House history]</ref> The "low-rent roadside cafe featuring [[waffle]]s"<ref name=script>[http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Tin_Cup.pdf#search=%22%22tin%20cup%22%20%22waffle%20house%22%22 ''Tin Cup'' script]</ref> (as characterized by screenwriter [[Ron Shelton]]) claims to be the world’s leading server of [[waffles]], [[T-bone steak]]s, [[omelet]]s, cheese 'n eggs, [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] Choice [[hamburger]]s, [[country ham]], [[pork chops]], [[grits]], [[hashbrown]]s, [[patty melt]]s, [[raisin]] [[toast]], [[apple butter]], and [[Heinz]] Traditional Steak Sauce. Most of the locations are in the [[Southern United States]], where the chain remains a regional cultural icon.<ref name=ap>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8927443/ Waffle House still dishin’ diner food at 50]</ref> [[Image:TypicalWaffleHouse.jpg|left|thumb|A Waffle House located in [[Hagerstown, Maryland|Hagerstown]], [[Maryland]].]] ==History== The first Waffle House<ref name=timem>[http://atlantatimemachine.com/commercialbldgs/waffle.htm Then and now photos of Waffle House #1.]</ref> opened on [[Labor Day]] weekend, 1955 at 2719 East College Avenue<ref name=timem /> just outside [[Avondale Estates, Georgia|Avondale Estates]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name=hist/> That restaurant was conceived and founded by [[Joe Rogers, Sr.]] and [[Tom Forkner]], who both continue to own a majority of the company today.<ref name=hist/> Rogers had started in the restaurant business as a short-order cook in 1947, at the [[Toddle House]] in New Haven, Connecticut.<ref name=atl>[http://www.wafflehouse.com/AJC.pdf ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', December 24, 2004]</ref> By 1949, he had become a regional manager<ref name=ap/> with the now-defunct [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]-based Toddle House chain, and was moving to [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]]. He met Tom Forkner when buying a house from him in Avondale Estates.<ref name=hist/> Fast food was a new concept in the early 1950s. The first store in the [[Kentucky Fried Chicken]] chain opened in 1952,<ref>[http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=26246&category=22148 Fast Food Nation]</ref> and by 1954, when [[Ray Kroc]] met Richard and Maurice McDonald, there were already eight [[McDonald's]] locations. Rogers' concept was to marry the speed of fast food with table service and around the clock availability. He told Forkner "...You build a restaurant and I’ll show you how to run it,”’ recalls Tom Forkner.<ref name=ap/> [[Image:Waffle House.jpg|thumb|right|A Waffle House sign]] They painted their new building yellow, to catch motorists' eye.<ref name=ap/> Forkner suggested naming it Waffle House, as waffles were the most profitable item on the 16-item menu.<ref name=ap/> The flimsy nature of waffles also made the point that it was a dine-in, not a carry-out, restaurant, but it confused patrons as to meal availability other than breakfast.<ref name=ap/> Rogers continued to work with Toddle House, and to avoid conflict of interest sold his interest to Forkner in 1956.<ref name=atl/> In 1960, when Rogers asked to buy in to Toddle House, and they refused, he moved back to Atlanta and rejoined Waffle House, now a chain of three restaurants, to run restaurant operations.<ref name=atl/> Shortly after Joe returned full time, Tom followed suit and left Ben S. Forkner Reality. After opening a fourth restaurant in 1960, the company began [[franchising]] their restaurants<ref name=ap/> and slowly grew to 27 stores by the late 1960s, before growth accelerated.<ref name=ap /> The company is privately held and doesn’t disclose annual sales figures, but says they serve 2% of the eggs used in the nation's food service industry.<ref name=ap /> The founders limit their involvement in management, and currently [[Joe Rogers, Jr.]] is CEO, and [[Bert Thornton]] is President.<ref name=ap/> In 2007, Waffle House re-purchased the original restaurant which was sold by the chain in the early 1970s and was most recently a Chinese restaurant. The company is restoring it using original blueprints for use as a private company museum. The museum will be used primarily for internal corporate events and tours but will occasionally be open to the public.<ref name="Museum">{{cite news |title=Waffle House whips up a sizzling museum |url=http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2007/07/11/waffle_0712.html |newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |publisher=''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' |author=Macdonald, Mary |date=2007-07-12 |accessdate=2007-07-12}}</ref> ==Waffle & Steak== For years, Waffle House was known as "Waffle & Steak" in Indiana due to another chain of restaurants owning the rights to the Waffle House name in the state.<ref>[http://www.rumored.com/glossary/W.html The NecroKonicon]</ref> Reportedly, the original Indiana Waffle House chain has started using the name "Sunshine Cafe".<ref>[http://bomplist.xnet2.com/0208/msg02537.html Bomp]</ref> However, the [[d/b/a]] for "Sunshine Cafe" belongs to "Waffle House Greenwood Inc.", established in 1981.<ref name=search>[https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search.aspx Indiana Corporations search]</ref> 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's still an active corporation.<ref name=search /> (Many of the Waffle House corporations in Indiana have been dissolved.) "Waffle House Inc." of Norcross, Georgia registered with Indiana in 1974.<ref name=search /> ==Controversies== ===Race relations=== In January 2005, customers in four southern states filed suit against Waffle House for racial discrimination.<ref name=ap /> In their complaint, they asserted that servers announced they would not serve blacks, that the servers deliberately served unsanitary food to minority patrons, that servers directed racial epithets at blacks, and that servers became verbally abusive when asked to wait on blacks.<ref name=ap /> Juries exonerated Waffle House in the first two cases, and the plaintiffs were ordered to pay Waffle House's legal costs.<ref>[http://www.wafflehouse.com/Press%20Releases/WHI%20Statement_jan05_version2_prNEWS.pdf Waffle House press release]</ref> In August 2005, a [[Virginia]] Waffle House operator settled the lawsuits filed by 12 black, Asian-American and Hispanic patrons. Waffle House has otherwise had a long history of positive race relations. In 1960, when civil rights demonstrators were picketing many Atlanta businesses, many other businesses closed, but when Rogers saw demonstrators gathering outside a Waffle House, he walked outside, and invited the demonstrators to come in and eat.<ref name=atl /> <!-- UNCITED And it should be noted that in many locations through-out the South, and especially in Mississippi, almost all the employees are black. --> === Dateline NBC investigation === Apparently inspired by a serious [[salmonella]] problem in [[2003]] at a [[Chili's]] location in [[Vernon Hills, Illinois]],<ref>[http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/8/prweb149095.htm Salmonella at Chili's]</ref> and the four [[1993]] deaths from [[E. Coli]] in undercooked [[hamburger]] at [[Jack in the Box]],<ref>[http://www.marlerclark.com/news/jackbox10.htm Jack in the Box deaths]</ref> the [[Dateline NBC]] television news magazine in [[2004]] 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.<ref>[http://www.marlerclark.com/news/chilis22.htm Dateline NBC report]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6081409/ Waffle House responds to Dateline]</ref> ==Iconic status== Much as other open-all-night eateries have (including [[White Castle (restaurant)|White Castle]], [[Denny's]] and [[Krispy Kreme]]), Waffle House has developed into a cultural icon. Jim Ridley wrote in 1997: <blockquote>''The Waffle House is everywhere in the South. It has inspired country songs, comedy routines, loving editorials, a scene in the movie ''[[Tin Cup]]'', even Web sites and Internet newsgroups that breathlessly post late-breaking developments. With more than 1,200 locations in 20 states, as far north as Eastlake, Ohio and as far west as [[Arizona]], Waffle House is cherished by thousands of diners. Regular customers speak of its employees, its [[custom]]s, and its food with near reverence. Touring musicians have been known to eat five meals a week there. And yet the Waffle House is so pervasive it's invisible. It doesn't advertise; it hides in plain sight.''<ref>[http://weeklywire.com/ww/08-11-97/nash_cover.html Arts & Leisure: The Mysterious, Mundane Magic of Waffle House]</ref></blockquote> The chain's restaurants almost always have a [[jukebox]] which plays [[Single (music)|45 rpm singles]]. Often the entire first column of selections and much of the second have songs about Waffle House and its food. Many of the songs are written and/or sung by people with connections to the chain, such as [[Mary Welch Rogers]]. 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. References to Waffle House have cropped up in Southern hip hop music. Atlanta area rapper [[Gucci Mane]] mentions the Waffle House in several songs including his 2006 single entitled "pillz." It has now even reached into West Coast hip hop, with Compton's DJ Quik's 2007 Hit "Can You Werk Wit Dat", which features the lyrics "It's that southern hospitality, That's my reality, We hit the Waffle House and finish with some Alizé" The waitresses use [[diner lingo]] to call in orders, and the menu suggests the use of the same lingo when placing orders for hashed brown potatoes: "scattered" (spread on the grill), "smothered" (with onions), "covered" (with cheese), "chunked" (with diced ham), "diced" (with diced tomatoes), "peppered" (with jalapeño peppers), "capped" (with mushrooms), "topped" (with chili) and "all the way" (with all available toppings).<ref>Waffle House menu/placemat</ref> This has also made its way into popular culture: [[The Bloodhound Gang]] mentions in "[[The Bad Touch]]", and ''[[Scattered, Smothered and Covered]]'' is the title of a compilation album by [[Hootie & the Blowfish]]. Julia Williams, a [[Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 3)|third season]] contestant on the U.S. edition of the television series ''[[Hell's Kitchen (US TV series)|Hell's Kitchen]]'', noted her background as a short-order cook at a Waffle House location during competition. The [[October 12]], [[2007]] episode of [[The Steve Wilkos Show]], where Steve took over as a waiter, was taped at Waffle House. == References == {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== * [http://www.wafflehouse.com/ Official site] * [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://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1935 Waffle House Founders] - then and now * [http://hosted.slippymap.com/wafflehouse Wafflehouse Locations] [[Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States]] [[Category:Regional restaurant chains]] [[Category:Franchises]] [[Category:Companies established in 1955]] [[Category:Waffles]] [[Category:Companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Restaurants in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[de:Waffle House]]