Friday, April 13, 2012

Welcome to the Waffle House

With one cranky husband despondent over his much-anticipated Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' pick, being closed, we dejectedly pulled into the next restaurant we could find in Tucker, Georgia:

Waffle House.


One would not normally plan an entire road trip around a visit to Waffle House, especially when you consider we counted 213 of them along the way to Florida.     

But perhaps this one would be special?

We walked in at the crack of dawn to the vibrations of some ridiculously loud base blaring from a rap song set to full volume.

Joe, being less than appreciative of this particular musical art form, merely shot a Medusa-like look in the direction of the employee nearest the sound system. The music was positively deafening, and even I was surprised that nobody else had complained about it.  It was so early and the seizure-inducing base was torture. Joe's killer look, heightened by his Matthew's Cafeteria disappointment and general morning grumpiness, was all it took. Both the radio and the clerk turned immediately to stone.

Appeased, Joe glanced up from his menu to speak with our waitress. He did a double-take at the woman who, as luck would have it, sported her own giant yellow Waffle House forearm tattoo.

I started to hear the theme song from The Twilight Zone in my head right around this time.

Despite early misgivings, the food and service were fantastic. I now understand why there are 1600 Waffle Houses throughout the United States. There are also about 1600 billboards for pecans throughout the state of Georgia. I have never wanted a slice of pecan pie so badly in my life, and I hate pecans.

As we left Waffle House and Georgia behind, I thought it fitting that a familiar song played on the only non-country music station we could find:

No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind


Indeed.

13 comments:

  1. I almost wish I'd gone on this trip with you. Almost.

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  2. Waffle House, while somewhat terrifying to the uninitiated, is really the best go-to diner place on a road trip. I love Waffle House! It could be said that a lot of the very important things in my life have happened at a Waffle House.

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  3. I love love love Waffle House. Many moons ago I used to do a middle-of-the-night commute from Atlanta to Chapel Hill every Sunday night/Monday morning, and I literally would sleep in my car at a Waffle House for a half hour about halfway along the drive. The people at the WH always watched out for me ... tattoos and missing teeth and all, they are hands-down almost to a person the nicest people ever. And the food? Scattered, smothered, covered, extra crispy all the way! :) But I'll say it again -- wish I'd known you were in town!!

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  4. I've never been to a Waffle House, but I've been to Huddle House in Asheville, NC. We went in only because we were starving- it ended up being delicious. They had the best pepper bacon EVER.
    I'm one of those uninitiated people that find them terrifying. ;)

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  5. mmmm.... Waffle House. I seriously miss that place.

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  6. I'm with hubby, it would be quite a disappointment to be expecting a DDD picked restaurant and end up at Waffle House. Hope you had a good trip otherwise.

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  7. Waffle house , White castle , Not much of a difference.

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  8. Is it a long way from Mathew's to Waffle House? A long time to hang in the sky?
    Pecan Pie eh. The power of advertising.
    You paint a strong picture and I feel like I was there. Love the photo.

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  9. Excuse me if I post this twice,,,,I'm at my mancave and the Wi-Fi is working when it feels like it. I finally got my furnace working after remembering to open the outside vent. With the storms they're predicting tomorrow,it might not matter....I feel like I'm sleeping on the Edmond Fitzgerald in dry dock.

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  10. so, Georgia On My Mind was playing on the non-country station? Isn't that country song. Wasn't that Willie Nelson?

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  11. Waffle House! One of the things I miss from our treks back and forth from Minnesota to Texas. Unfortunately we don't have them up here.

    Waffle House and Whataburger. Gawd, I miss those. Thanks for the memories!

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  12. Anonymous - Smart reader, agreeing to pass....

    TangledLou - Do I sense an upcoming blog post on the topic? I'm intrigued.

    Jennifer - next time we're heading south, I'm calling you and we're going for waffles.

    Tina - Pepper bacon....mmmmm. Stupid Weight Watchers.

    Just Keep Swimming - Surprisingly good! I never knew!

    Kat - We had an event-filled trip, which is just as good as a great trip in my book!

    Anonymous - Is it bad that I love White Castles, too?

    Julie - it was just up the street (2 minutes away). Thanks, I do try to create a colorful picture for everyone!

    Maplewood - there are supposed to be storms??? Crap. I'm going to have 3 kids in bed with me tonight.

    Brea - Wasn't it Ray Charles? It didn't sound country.

    Blissflower - adding "Whataburger" to the list!

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  13. I really wish you had gotten a photo of that tattoo. I'm sure that would have been totally inappropriate though. Just reading this gave me a bit of a hangover. I think I've been conditioned to get a hangover anytime I read "crack of dawmn" and "Waffle House" in the same sentence.

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