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t is early Sunday morning along one of the few congested stretches of the Lincoln Highway when an empty parking lot below the familiar cheery yellow sign for the local Waffle House catches the eye. The 24-hour diner chain, born in the Atlanta suburbs 65 years ago and now spreading across 25 states with nearly 2,000 locations, is primarily known for its ability to serve as a touchstone in every community it serves. It feeds a cult-like following among foodies and road warriors. But it is also known for another remarkable distinction: It closes for no disaster.
service. Yellow means services have been limited. Red indicates closures – a major disaster. A whole bunch of Waffle Houses including this one hit red on Sunday due to the novel coronavirus. The shuttered doors along the first coast-to- coast U.S. highway tells you everything about the state of things. The coronavirus’s spread is likely to get worse in the coming weeks before it gets better... before we get better. No matter where in this country you walk into a Waffle House – whether in the diner’s home state of Georgia, here in Chambersburg or in Clark Summit, Pennsylvania
– without fail, you can expect a cheerful hello at the door, a jukebox at your table, no-frills seating and the nostalgic scent of
Yet at store No. 1673, the doors are now locked. It is one of 418 diners the chain has closed, an announcement made through social
frying oil for the hot irons. The waitstaff will definitely call you “honey,” and, of course, you’ll hear orders shouted to the kitchen in the diner’s distinct hash brown lingo... When your waitress shouts, “Scattered!” that is someone’s hash brown order, meaning they are all spread out on the
media last month with the hashtag #WaffleHouseIndexRed. The reference is to the Waffle House Index, an informal metric created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a measure of the effect a natural disaster is having on a community. A green index means full menu
Waffle House announced last week it was selling its waffle mix online... enough to make 18 waffles for $20. That's a steal! If you wanted to load up on that many at the Waffle House counter, it'd cost you around $36 for nine "double waffle" orders plus a whole lot of stomach pain a few hours later. The mixes sold out within hours, but the company is restocking. Check out shop.wafflehouse.com for availability. An Ode to Waffle House It's sad that they had to close Waffle House. But selling their mix Is doing the trick To keep us from having an awful house!
American Consequences
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