"Waffle House" news and stories

Waffle House customers who love scattered, smothered and covered hash browns as much as they love their significant others are in luck this year: The restaurant chain is expanding its Valentine's Day program, offering candlelit dinners in more than 40 outlets.

A district manager in Johns Creek, Ga., dreamt up the romantic evening concept in 2008, impressing the Waffle House corporate office so much that all managers are now urged to gussy up their eateries on Feb. 14.

"We put out suggestions," spokeswoman Kelly Thrasher explains. "A lot of units will have white tablecloths and soft mood music. If the staff wants to dress up in ties, they can do that."

There's no additional cost for Valentine's Day dinner, which features the restaurant's standard menu.

A cup of joe at Waffle House. Photo: mfajardo, Flickr.

If the local Waffle House just happens to be your second home, this is your week!

The chain, based in Norcross, Ga., is celebrating National Waffle Week by honoring its patrons -- those regulars who often duck in for a fix of T-bones, country ham, cheese 'n eggs and waffles.

Through Sept. 12, local Waffle Houses will be awarding their Top 20 customers with "Official Regular" pins, and more than 31,000 customers are expected to be honored at the chain's approximately 1,550 restaurants.

And as it's National Waffle Week, Waffle House is also rolling out a new flavor.

This way to the Waffle House. Photo: Shana Lee, Flickr

The key to winning marathons might just be a stop at the Waffle House, if 1978 Boston Marathon winner Gayle Barron is to be believed. According to this Atlanta Journal-Constitution piece, the Atlanta woman discovered the chain best known for its fluffy waffles and late hours a decade ago after a session with her running group. WaHo, as it is known to devotees, discovered Barron's fandom and declared her their spokeswoman. She touts the tastiness and energy boost of her thrice-weekly fix of grilled chicken, hash browns and scrambled eggs.

A member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, Barron has won the Atlanta marathon five times and still runs 15 to 20 miles per week. And though a stickler might note these runs are not, er, waffle-powered (a nutritionist notes Barron's meal is heavy in protein), some might say this is a pleasant contrast to hardcore athletes who consume raw egg milkshakes and dry, so-called performance bars. Pass the syrup.

[Via Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Food snobs who typically ignore the scattered, smothered and covered charms of Southern greasy spoons have begun flocking to former Waffle Houses, partaking of the latest trend in start-up eateries down South.

A new generation of enterprising chefs is taking refuge in the abandoned shells of retired chain restaurants, realizing their edible ambitions in the very spaces where truckers once drank too much black coffee and elderly women paid for their grilled cheese sandwiches in change. Formidable Mexican, Thai and Italian restaurants have taken up residence where eggs and hash browns once reigned.

The Southeast is dotted with former Waffle Houses and Huddle Houses (WH's cut-rate cousin), their industrial-strength kitchens still very much intact. For restaurateurs with limited budgets and a boundless appreciation of late-night Dixie dining culture, the allure is irresistible.

The Waffle House, a bastion of cheap breakfasts and surprisingly great waffles, now has a reason other than tasty food to be in the news. Musician Kid Rock got a little rowdy in an Atlanta-area Waffle House Saturday night after a show, beat up a male customer (with the help of five of his groupies) and got sent to jail for his actions. Apparently the man they bloodied knew a woman who was with Kid Rock's party. They exchanged words, it got heated and Kid and his friends just got involved in order to defend her virtue. Or something like that.

Let's hope this doesn't sully the reputation of the esteemed Waffle House, as they really do serve of one of the better chain diner breakfasts available. I recently ate one in Hellertown, PA (the morning after a very raucous wedding reception) and was delighted by the awesomeness of the food.

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