Where is the closest waffle house
Why Is Waffle House so Popular? — Cult Following
- [Narrator] People go to great lengths
to eat at Waffle House.
Loyal followers ride motorcycles across the country.
Choreograph dances
or simply show up and order the same thing
everyday for 50 years.
Waffle House is so enduringly popular
that the chain serves 341 strips of bacon,
238 orders of hash browns
and 145 waffles every minute.
And so many eggs
that two percent of all those produced in the U.S.
for food service,
end up on a Waffle House plate.
But as anyone whose eaten at Waffle House quickly discovers,
it's not actually the waffles that draw people in.
So what sets this southern favorite apart from
other chains like Denny's and IHOP?
- You've gotta do the Waffle House when you come
to the A town.
It's only right.
- Happy Birthday from Waffle House.
- Oh, thank you.
See.
- [Narrator] Waffle House isn't exactly pushing
any culinary boundaries.
But from the waffles to the hash browns
all the food is cooked to order
exactly how you want it.
Over the years
the chain has devised some quirky was to make
its food as consistent a possible.
Its got its own secret language.
- Smothered, covered, chopped, diced,
peppered, cap, topped and country.
- [Narrator] Which is code for different toppings
on hash browns like onions,
ham, jalapenos and melted cheese.
They also have a complex system that servers
and cooks use to mark plates.
Servers place condiments in specific positions
on a plate to indicate to the cook
how exactly the customer wants their order.
For example,
jelly placed on the left side of the plate signals
that the eggs are to be cooked over easy.
The sheer amount of love for Waffle House
has turned it into an iconic pop culture touch stone.
- Hi, welcome to the Waffle House.
May I take your order?
- [Narrator] Today on Judge Faith.
A trip to the Waffle House
ends in a battle between best friends.
- You don't come here expecting
The French Laundry.
- This is better than The French Laundry man.
- Oops. (laughing)
- [Narrator] Waffle House is frequented by celebrities
from Kim Kardashian
to Kobe Bryant.
And FEMA even uses the restaurants
to evaluate how hard hit disaster areas are.
- If you get there and the Waffle House is closed?
That's really bad.
- [Narrator] And the fact that it literally never closes
also means that late at night
things can get a little out of control.
(yelling and banging)
- Whoa.
- Maple syrup.
No, no.
Oh my god.
- [Narrator] But that's hardly enough to keep people away.
- This is the same type of stuff I can make at home,
only I don't have to make it.
And I don't have to go to the store to get it.
- It's like Denny's.
I've been raised,
born and bred in Atlanta.
So
this is a part of our culture,
if you will.
You know what I mean?
- I've been getting the same thing
to eat for like
12 years.
Like, they know my order
like when I walk in.
My coffee and my coke are ready to go, so.
- [Narrator] For better or for worse
you'll always get exactly what you order
at Waffle House.
And for us in the south
it's a fixture.
24 hours a day.
