Bites Nearby: Waffle House

Customer service is what it’s all about at the . You can tell it comes from the top down, as Joe Rogers Sr., co-founder of the iconic chain of Southern restaurants, says:

“We are not in the food business, we are in the people business.”

The Waffle House has been serving good food to generations of regular customers since 1955, and prides itself on giving the customer his or her food, his or her way.

Its hashbrowns have achieved cult status and can be ordered “all the way,” scattered on the grill and smothered with sautéed onions, covered with melted cheese, chunked with grilled hickory smoked ham, diced with grilled tomatoes, peppered with spicy jalapeño peppers, capped with grilled button mushrooms, topped with Bert’s Chili or country–sausage gravy.

Waffle lovers will find bliss here. The menu features the house waffle, a buttermilk waffle, a double waffle, and customers have the choice of adding toppings: apple cinnamon oats, chocolate chips, pecans, blueberry or strawberry. Eggs, biscuits, grits, sausage, bacon, country ham, sausage gravy and an assortment of breakfast wraps are also among the breakfast selections.

The Waffle House can accommodate your breakfast needs 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year. But the restaurant is not only about breakfast. Try Bert’s Chili or Walt’s Soup, trade-marked Waffle House foods.

T-Bone and rib-eyes steaks, Angus burgers, pork chops, chicken, sandwiches and salads are also on the menu.

This Georgia-based company believes in supporting the communities that have supported it. The Web site states: “Waffle House community involvement efforts are accomplished through sponsorship of events, partnership and in-kind donations.”

Craig Fugate, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator, uses the “Waffle House Test,” to determine how a community is faring after a disaster. Fugate stated: “If a Waffle House store is open and offering a full menu, the index is green. If it is open but serving from a limited menu, it’s yellow. When the location has been forced to close, the index is red. Because Waffle House is well-prepared for disasters . . . it’s rare for the index to hit red.” 

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Waffle House management worked to develop a disaster management strategy that will enable their restaurants to open quickly after an emergency. Power might be out in your community, but chances are, if you can get to a Waffle House you can have a hot meal. Whether you like your hashbrowns scattered or smothered, you have to like the way the Waffle House does business in both good times and bad.

1720 Epps Bridge Pkwy., Athens , GA 30606. Open 24 Hours Daily. 706-546-4400. Pricing: Low to Moderate