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Waffle House closes 365 locations across the U.S.
- mindcrime 7y agoOK, now we're fucked[1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
- mark-r 7y agoTo be fair, many of those closures may be legally mandated. These are crazy times.
- theklr 7y agoGlad I was not the only one that this came top of mind to.
- nkcmr 7y ago> to determine the effect of a storm
- r00fus 7y ago"Hurricane" Corona, based on projections, is estimated to claim more lives in FL than all other hurricanes combined. Could be hype or truth, but both storms and pandemics require lots of prep and recovery.
- triggercut 7y agoThey also both have major impacts on supply chains but in different ways. Although those with more global dependence are at much greater risk here.
- deskamess 7y agoI always thought Florida would take the brunt due to its demographics, but then the casual attitude towards Spring break strengthened that thought. Do you have a link to that projection?
- baxtr 7y ago> While more than 300 locations have closed, 1,627 remain open.
- kregasaurusrex 7y agoFrom one of the article's citations[0]: “They [Waffle House] have good risk management plans in place and are great examples of how their supply chains get affected in two different ways. On the one hand, your own supply chain is exposed,” he continued. “At the same time, your stores are supposed to be the first to react and provide the basic supplies. Your supply goes down, while your demand goes up.” In the context of this pandemic, the essential components for treating patients (N95 masks, respirators, tests, other PPE) require supply chains that span across multiple countries; of which are dealing with their own responses and can't act as net exporters of these materials. The US response of tapping into its stockpile may give a faster immediate response, but there's practically zero domestic manufacturing capacity at a time when they're needed most. Governor Cuomo of New York said the federal government offered 400 ventilators, when the state needed nearly two orders of magnitude more than that [1]. Flattening the curve will take much longer if patients and providers don't have access to these tools. [0] https://www.ehstoday.com/emergency-management/article/21906815/what-do-waffles-have-to-do-with-risk-management https://www.ehstoday.com/emergency-management/article/219068... [1] https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/1242480808742522880 https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/124248080874252288...
- charlesju 7y agoWaffle House is so good. I was on a road trip between New Orleans and Atlanta and stopped at a Waffle House in the middle of Alabama. Biggest surprise in terms of expectations and food quality. It's like the In-n-out of breakfast food.
- DoreenMichele 7y agoThe hash browns are amazing. They are usually open 24 hours and there are reasons why we have a Waffle House Index. Previously on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15105662 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15105662
- toomuchtodo 7y agoI highly recommend either smothered and covered or all the way. They’re one of my favorite eateries, and working the grill for a short stint is on my bucket list to buy a few shares of stock to frame on the wall (their stock is private and can only be bought by employees).
- DoreenMichele 7y agoI've been on the West Coast so long I've forgotten the lingo. How do you order it with onions?
- toomuchtodo 7y agoSmothered is onions, smothered and covered is onions and melted cheese. https://www.wafflehouse.com/waffle-house-menu/ https://www.wafflehouse.com/waffle-house-menu/
- DoreenMichele 7y agoSmothered is my standard order. Or I get two orders: One plain, and one smothered. You can't have too many hash browns. That's just not a thing. (Please do not actually take my dietary recommendations. My body isn't normal and eating like me might kill a normal person.)
- justlexi93 7y agoI just saw that comment today, and now this. Things are going downhill fast.
- hgfhnnkbb 7y agoHopefully they close forever. Why on earth do Americans like such disgusting fast food?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- pedroguitarm4n 7y agoWaffle house is delicious, but they've got a lot of locations around the country. so I think they'll be fine
- mark-r 7y agoI don't think they have any left in Minnesota anymore. They closed the one closest to me at least a year ago.
- ianai 7y agoWe need a map of the locations.
- jader201 7y agoA lot of these articles announcing closings don’t make it clear whether it’s temporary or permanent. This one is no exception. While I would assume it’s temporary, I’m confused why this is front page on HN. Several businesses are closing temporarily due to Coronavirus. Not sure why this is news. Unless these are permanent closings, which would be (sad) news indeed.
- teraflop 7y agoIt's news because, as pointed out by a number of other comments, Waffle House is notorious for staying open even in dire circumstances.
- jader201 7y agoNot sure anybody here has seen more dire circumstances than what we’re seeing today, so still doesn’t seem that surprising. Maybe it could be argued that these closings suggest that indeed these are the direst of circumstances, but I think that was already known a week or two ago.
- downshun 7y agoNo. It's news because people are using their brains for hipster drama and not critical thinking. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22682636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22682636
- ohiovr 7y agoI bet the wafflers are making a disaster plan for pandemics and they will be ready to come back soon.
- zenexer 7y agoIt’s relevant in this case because Waffle House closings are used to measure the severity of disasters. It’s called the Waffle House Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
- ChrisArchitect 7y ago
- bbunix 7y agoBefore today, the record number of Waffle House closures at one time was 107 (Hurricane Katrina, 2005)
- josteink 7y agoOn international waffle day, of all days! https://nationaltoday.com/international-waffle-day/ https://nationaltoday.com/international-waffle-day/
- ChrisArchitect 7y agodamn, that's dark.