8 ms·
Eating at a Waffle House (preferably at 1am following a night out) is a unique American cultural experience that especially those confined to the Bay Area have
by wannacboatmovie 3y ago
Eating at a Waffle House (preferably at 1am following a night out) is a unique American cultural experience that especially those confined to the Bay Area have been denied. It's a place where those from all walks of life come together.
- treflop 3y agoSounds like IHOP / Denny's in other places
- dartos 3y agoAs someone who lives near all 3 and a Cracker Barrel. Waffle House is special.
- i_am_soo_tired 3y agoCracker Barrel is truly awful. Worst chain restaurant in America.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoIt could be worse, they could take away the rocking chairs and peg board game one day.
- brk 3y agoOlive Garden has entered the chat.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y agoNope, just when you think Olive Garden is awful, Applebee's manages to dig the hole deeper. TBF, we should just agree that they're all nasty at this point.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y agoThe sad thing is that they used to be good. At least not that long ago, the one near me was my go-to for corned beef hash. However, after the last visit barely 5 years ago, never going there again.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoThese places are far more civilized than a waffle house. Waffle houses have to hire security guards to deal with the drunken foolishness that goes down inside most weekend nights (at least those sited nearish to bars). Everything in the waffle house is able to be cleaned with a hose.
- toomuchtodo 3y agoOne day I hope to have time to have a brief stint as a WH short order cook, and learn the art of catching a thrown chair. It’s also the only way to buy shares in the org, as they’re private but have an employee stock plan. A special slice of America; if you haven't been, highly recommend. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/waffle-house-wendy-viral-hero-1234655493/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/waffle-hou...
- sokoloff 3y agoI read this as "catching a thrown chair is the only way to [earn] shares in the org..." which seems kind of fitting, to be honest.
- happyopossum 3y ago> Waffle houses have to hire security guards to deal with the drunken foolishness that goes down inside most weekend nights As is so often true, this is highly variable based on geography and local culture, and the contention that a Denny's is more 'civilized' than a Waffle House has a lot more to do with which one's you're frequenting than it does with the restaurants themselves.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoJust the way they setup the restaurants is enough to quell a certain level of chaos in a typical dennys. Usually they are pretty sprawling on the inside. Plenty of space between booths. Kind of dimmer/hotel lounge aesthetic in the more recently renovated ones (don't ask me why I am so familiar with short order breakfast chains). Same with ihop only they lean heavily into the kid friendlyness, with posters of decadent sweet pancakes. Waffle house is cramped, brightly lit with harsh fluorescent light, and nothing but hard surfaces. A few drunk people talking is enough to fill the entire restaurant including the exposed kitchen with sound. If they start throwing anything it quickly hits everyone in the restaurant including the line cooks. I've seen probably four people vomit all over the place in a waffle house. I can't say I've seen anything quite the same in the dennys, usually its truckers and the elderly there not people showing up after last call at the bars.
- rcmjr 3y agoIt is very different because of the size and layout. You almost feel like everyone, including the cooks, are at one big table. It is honestly one of my favorite places to eat alone. It can be really fun at times. Also, kind of dangerous too
- zer00eyz 3y agoWaffle House is an entity unto itself: See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index See: https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2011/11/four-senior-citizens-plotted-killing-spree-waffle-house/ https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2011/11/four-se... See: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kid-rock-arrested-in-waffle-house-scuffle-1047856/ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kid-rock-arrested... And the man himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bct8stbZafI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bct8stbZafI Waffle House goes from nice to war zone and back again just about every day. It never closes, never... If a Waffle House is closed you better have a boat or a gun cause what ever comes next will likely require one or both.
- keane 3y ago>Waffle House goes from nice to war zone and back again Saturday Night Live did a skit about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYNFqmu2toI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYNFqmu2toI
- zer00eyz 3y agoThat was funny and shockingly accurate.
- js2 3y agoWaffle House is for lovers too: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlqyWYgE6go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlqyWYgE6go (How About the Waffle House for Valentines Day?) - https://www.wvlt.tv/2023/11/01/newlyweds-hold-reception-waffle-house/ https://www.wvlt.tv/2023/11/01/newlyweds-hold-reception-waff... Lots of other tidbits: - https://www.mashed.com/99239/untold-truth-waffle-house/ https://www.mashed.com/99239/untold-truth-waffle-house/
- marcus0x62 3y agoIf you work there and can't get a day off to get married, apparently, they're cool enough to let you hold your ceremony in the parking lot! https://www.grubstreet.com/2008/09/national_gettin_hitched_at_the.html https://www.grubstreet.com/2008/09/national_gettin_hitched_a...
- rootusrootus 3y agoI think it is very different. IHOP is a low grade sit-down restaurant where all the food is too sweet. Denny's is sometimes better, but still decidedly low grade. The problem with both is they kinda try to serve stuff that could be better, but they suck at it. Waffle House has no pretensions, they are unashamedly serving super simple food with zero attempt to be fancy. But they're pretty good at what they do choose to serve (or at least pretty consistent). I love going there any time I'm in the South. I really wish we had them in the PNW. We're finally starting to get some In-n-Outs here, I'd be in heaven if we got Waffle House too. I can dream...
- sidewndr46 3y agoas a southerner I beg you to avoid comparing our precious Waffle House to a mere Denny's
- js2 3y agoAnthony Bourdain, upon visiting his first Waffle House, remarked "This is better than the French Laundry": https://youtu.be/bct8stbZafI?si=ru9hL8xH_a_75J5I https://youtu.be/bct8stbZafI?si=ru9hL8xH_a_75J5I
- IncreasePosts 3y agoYes, but it isn't.
- Kon-Peki 3y agoBourdain’s show was about traveling the world, eating cheap food with the local common man. He was good enough to cook in the kitchen at French Laundry and rich enough to eat in their dining room as often as he wanted. But he was very much anti food snobbery.
- IncreasePosts 3y agoIt's fine to be anti-food snobbery, but it doesn't change the facts, and to make a comment like that descends into reverse snobbery(which is just as ridiculous as snobbery but rarer) Maybe if he was as drunk at the French Laundry as he was at the Waffle House, he would rate it differently.
- lisper 3y agoBeing anti-food-snobbery is great. But let's be real: the Waffle House might be fantastic (I've never eaten at one so I wouldn't know), but there's still a reason that the Laundry can charge two orders of magnitude more for a meal than the Waffle House and still be sold out every single night.
- triceratops 3y agoCan the French Laundry serve as many customers as the Waffle House in the same night? Taste is a matter of taste. And there's a time and place for all foods.
- nerdjon 3y agoI don't think Waffle House has locations in any major Urban location. I really wish we had them in Boston also. It is an experience that even other diners don't really replicate. Especially the price, I am always shocked when I go to visit parents just how much you get at Waffle House for multiple people for what I am used to spending on just myself. But it is more than that. The size, the layout, the code words for how you want your hash browns, etc.
- skyyler 3y ago>I don't think Waffle House has locations in any major Urban location. Columbus, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia both have Waffle Houses. I don't think it's universally a rule that they stay out of cities.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- selimthegrim 3y agoAlso New Orleans (by the VA Hospital). And I recall eating at one in on the northside of Dallas (which may or may not be "urban")
- madcaptenor 3y agoHere's their map: https://locations.wafflehouse.com https://locations.wafflehouse.com Waffle House started just outside of Atlanta, and you can still see that. In other big cities they seem to stay outside of the core - I suspect they don't want to have locations without parking. (But off the top of my head I can name two Atlanta-area Waffle Houses that don't have their own parking, namely the one right off Centennial Olympic Park and the one in downtown Decatur.)
- flyingswift 3y agoThe one at Georgia Tech also doesn't have parking
- jiveturkey 3y agoWell, not VC or tech elites, apparently.
- lasermatts 3y agoThe tech elites of Atlanta and the Waffle House outside of Georgia Tech beg to differ
- PopAlongKid 3y agoI have never lived near a Waffle House, but did eat lunch at one in Mobile AL about ten years ago. I found nothing particularly unique about it.
- lastofthemojito 3y agoI think it's the affordable, approachable 24/7 always-welcome aspect more than the food. People have fond memories of going to Waffle House after partying, or going with their tween friends as the only place they could afford to go out to eat, or going after softball games in their still-dirty uniforms. Another commenter mentioned that Anthony Bourdain said Waffle House was better than The French Laundry (while eating Waffle House drunk, late at night). To eat at The French Laundry you need to plan ahead and try hard to get a reservation. You have to act and dress appropriately and show up in maybe a 15 minute window for the hostess to deign to grant you the privilege of being seated. You can eat at Waffle House on a whim, with anyone you like, in (just about) any state you like. Having had both I wouldn't say that the food at Waffle House is actually better than the food at The French Laundry. But there is something that people appreciate about Waffle House being the reliable place you can always show up for comfort food, at minimum cost with minimum judgement.
- galdosdi 3y ago> in (just about) any state you like. In any state but a northern one. Sadly, there are none in the northeast. Waffle House to me borders between being an "american" thing and specifically a "southern" thing
- brodouevencode 3y agofun fact: Waffle House used to sell Chick-fil-A sandwiches
- chasd00 3y ago> from all walks of life come together. that's an interesting take and i suppose in a way you're right. Another way to describe waffle house at last call is imagine you picked up a zoo and shook it really hard for about 5 minutes then set it down and walked in.
- rvba 3y agoDoes USA have places that sell kebab?
- stouset 3y agoYes but no. What we consider "kebabs" are skewers with grilled meat and/or veggies on them. I'm guessing you mean döner kebab. We do have shawarma which is similar, but I've never seen somewhere that really nails the kind of döner kebab I had in Europe.
- TheGRS 3y agoThink this is catching on slowly, give it another 10 years or so we will probably have something like that everywhere. America is pretty good at adopting popular food vehicles.
- stouset 3y agoI will be so happy if this happens.
- tomwheeler 3y agoWe've got them in St. Louis, although they are slightly different than the ones common in Europe. (as the places that serve them here are usually Bosnian instead of Turkish). They're served on somun or lepinja bread and use tzatziki sauce instead of the sweet white/spicy red sauce combo that's typical in Germany. Here's the online menu for one of my favorite places: https://www.jspitaria.us/s/order https://www.jspitaria.us/s/order (they also have a Berliner kebab, which is a little closer to the ones in Germany, but not quite the same).
- jdeisenberg 3y agoThere are a few outposts of The Kebab Shop (https://thekebabshop.com/locations/ https://thekebabshop.com/locations/), and here in San Jose California area there are a lot of Mediterranean restaurants selling shwarma.
- PawgerZ 3y ago
- shakabrah 3y agoand just like fight club, if it’s your first time, you have to fight.
- gnicholas 3y agoTrue, but we have In N Out. I've been there in flip flops and in a tux (as has Paul Giamatti, apparently [1]) 1: https://ew.com/paul-giamatti-in-n-out-burger-awards-8426387 https://ew.com/paul-giamatti-in-n-out-burger-awards-8426387
- jmward01 3y agoThere are in-n-out Waffle House crossover cities. Yes, I did plan one cross country trip just to have this perfect day.