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I grew up in a suburb just off Buena Vista in Columbus, GA. The Waffle House on Buena Vista was "my" Waffle House. It was in that parking lot that some strange

by Mz 9y ago

I grew up in a suburb just off Buena Vista in Columbus, GA. The Waffle House on Buena Vista was "my" Waffle House. It was in that parking lot that some stranger tried to buy the family car from my parents. My parents bought it new and kept it for more than two decades. It had become a "classic" and was still in good shape. Lots of good memories. And I love their decor. It is practical and convenient. The layout is extremely efficient. If you know what you want, you can be served hot food in minutes. I don't know why there aren't any other chains trying to imitate parts of their model.

jedimastert 9y ago
>If you know what you want, you can be served hot food in minutes. >I don't know why there aren't any other chains trying to imitate parts of their model. I've noticed this too. It seems like there's a split between "fast food" and "sit down" in the chain l world, bit no one else goes for the short order diner style. It's really a shame, as I think there's a big space for it.
- freehunter 9y ago
  What you're talking about is, in more modern times, called "fast casual". It's not quite fast enough to be fast food, because it's actual real food, but it's cooked in an efficient enough process that it can be served within minutes. Noodles and Co, Panera, Culvers, etc.
  - Balgair 9y ago
    Yet those places are 4x the price of Waffle House. I mean, yes, you are paying for the decor and the avo-toast, but they are still a lot more than dollar coffee and 2$ hash browns.
    - freehunter 9y ago
      I'm willing to bet every town with over 500 people in America has a shitty local diner with greasy food for dirt cheap prices, and any town over 10k has at least one Denny's, so "why doesn't anyone do what Waffle House does" isn't really the question. The answer to that is "plenty of places do", they're just not chains. But really at that price point and that kind of food, if you really need a chain restaurant, McDonalds is going to fill that niche just fine. The other places are more upmarket, yes, because "greasy food for really cheap prices" is literally McDonalds. Anything between that and a real sit-down-and-order restaurant is called fast casual and you're going to pay a bit more for it.

by Mz 9y ago

jedimastert 9y ago

>If you know what you want, you can be served hot food in minutes. >I don't know why there aren't any other chains trying to imitate parts of their model. I've noticed this too. It seems like there's a split between "fast food" and "sit down" in the chain l world, bit no one else goes for the short order diner style. It's really a shame, as I think there's a big space for it.

freehunter 9y ago
What you're talking about is, in more modern times, called "fast casual". It's not quite fast enough to be fast food, because it's actual real food, but it's cooked in an efficient enough process that it can be served within minutes. Noodles and Co, Panera, Culvers, etc.
- Balgair 9y ago
  Yet those places are 4x the price of Waffle House. I mean, yes, you are paying for the decor and the avo-toast, but they are still a lot more than dollar coffee and 2$ hash browns.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    I'm willing to bet every town with over 500 people in America has a shitty local diner with greasy food for dirt cheap prices, and any town over 10k has at least one Denny's, so "why doesn't anyone do what Waffle House does" isn't really the question. The answer to that is "plenty of places do", they're just not chains. But really at that price point and that kind of food, if you really need a chain restaurant, McDonalds is going to fill that niche just fine. The other places are more upmarket, yes, because "greasy food for really cheap prices" is literally McDonalds. Anything between that and a real sit-down-and-order restaurant is called fast casual and you're going to pay a bit more for it.