Waffle House (Austin, Anthony, Howe: living, food, kitchen)

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by Azure110

Waffle House serves a certain clientele that doesn't really exist here, that not to say we don't have trash here, just a different kind of trash here.

I have been to Waffle House many times in Kentucky and several times in Ohio...anyone that has been to these Waffle Houses would know exactly what I am talking about.

A lot of that "trash" that you are referring to are truckers, you know those men and women who are on the road day and night delivering everything that you use on a daily basis to the shops so you can purchase those items and use them, daily.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by CSD610

A lot of that "trash" that you are referring to are truckers, you know those men and women who are on the road day and night delivering everything that you use on a daily basis to the shops so you can purchase those items and use them, daily.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion as my own.

Having worked in a shipping and receiving job in the past, I am not surprised you are saying they could be OTR drivers. What they do doesn't make me forget how rude and smelly they can be.

[huckster]

Waffle house ain't exactly fine dining. Waffle House is a roadside restaurant that serves Grits and Hash browns, nothing more. One must expect a clientele that smells and is rude in such a place. The Hilton it ain't.
Truck drivers do move the nation however, and it would be crippled without them and... they rule the road. These people are- the modern day cowboy and the backbone of the nation. It is a very good thing that fuel prices are down or else we would be paying a great deal more for any or all transporteds good due to the accompanying shipping costs passed on down to us.
CSD610 is right about these unsung heroes...some occupations are completely under-unappreciated.
With their CB radios in hand they have come to the aid of many a motorist.
Heroes can be maladorous. Infrequent bathing and rudeness ? They can be an assault to the senses of polite folk, yes. Poorly educated are they ? Yes. Are the trucks a nuisance on the roads and streeets? Yes.
Did The Alamo defenders have any Ban Roll on deodorant either? No.

Originally Posted by Azure110

You are certainly entitled to your opinion as my own.

Having worked in a shipping and receiving job in the past, I am not surprised you are saying they could be OTR drivers. What they do doesn't make me forget how rude and smelly they can be.

[WVREDLEG]

My guess is WH lost out to those other places mentioned in the thread (add Denny's and all the Mom -n- Pops). Traditional breakfast service can be a profitable meal for a restaurant....easy prep and cheap ingredients...I mean, with eggs you can make any omelet to order, not to mention the variations on the egg beyond the omelet. Appears others have figured this out long before me.

I agree with the OP that the lines at some of the other joints can be long...maybe time to set up a competitor nearby? The IHOP at the Forum (when I lived on NE side) was always packed. The Denny's in Boerne is packed, and the Mom -n- Pops with good breakfast service in Boerne do a fair business.

In a few places I lived, there was not only an off the highway market, but a end-of-shift market and a post-nightclub market (serve breakfast when the bars and clubs close). WH seemed to be one of those places that captured these folks. There was a local breakfast joint (my reference is more than 20 years ago now) outside of Lawton, OK that was always full of the "night owls" and the night shift from the Goodyear plant--not really proximate to the highway for the OTR truckers.

[asutrane]

Originally Posted by WVREDLEG

My guess is WH lost out to those other places mentioned in the thread (add Denny's and all the Mom -n- Pops). Traditional breakfast service can be a profitable meal for a restaurant....easy prep and cheap ingredients...I mean, with eggs you can make any omelet to order, not to mention the variations on the egg beyond the omelet. Appears others have figured this out long before me.

I agree with the OP that the lines at some of the other joints can be long...maybe time to set up a competitor nearby? The IHOP at the Forum (when I lived on NE side) was always packed. The Denny's in Boerne is packed, and the Mom -n- Pops with good breakfast service in Boerne do a fair business.

In a few places I lived, there was not only an off the highway market, but a end-of-shift market and a post-nightclub market (serve breakfast when the bars and clubs close). WH seemed to be one of those places that captured these folks. There was a local breakfast joint (my reference is more than 20 years ago now) outside of Lawton, OK that was always full of the "night owls" and the night shift from the Goodyear plant--not really proximate to the highway for the OTR truckers.

I always felt that if they opened a WH next to UTSA it would do fine. I used to eat there in college at 3am lol.

My wife always said if we had the money she would open a breakfast restaurant here. They do seem to do well!

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by huckster

Waffle house ain't exactly fine dining. Waffle House is a roadside restaurant that serves Grits and Hash browns, nothing more. One must expect a clientele that smells and is rude in such a place. The Hilton it ain't.
Truck drivers do move the nation however, and it would be crippled without them and... they rule the road. These people are- the modern day cowboy and the backbone of the nation. It is a very good thing that fuel prices are down or else we would be paying a great deal more for any or all transporteds good due to the accompanying shipping costs passed on down to us.
CSD610 is right about these unsung heroes...some occupations are completely under-unappreciated.
With their CB radios in hand they have come to the aid of many a motorist.
Heroes can be maladorous. Infrequent bathing and rudeness ? They can be an assault to the senses of polite folk, yes. Poorly educated are they ? Yes. Are the trucks a nuisance on the roads and streeets? Yes.
Did The Alamo defenders have any Ban Roll on deodorant either? No.

FWIW, while some of the people at WH may look like OTR drivers (truckers)...not all of them are, CSD610 is just using my post to defend truckers because it must have hit close to home for him/her. In my original post, I never did make one single reference to truckers.

I still stand by my comments though. OTR drivers can be some of the rudest people on or off the road and what they they do doesn't excuse their behavior. I have seen enough of it when I worked in shipping and recieving department in the past. I never said they are poorly educated although that may apply to some of them, not all of them are dumb.

Once in awhile, you meet the cool OTR drivers but it is not very often.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by asutrane

I always felt that if they opened a WH next to UTSA it would do fine. I used to eat there in college at 3am lol.

My wife always said if we had the money she would open a breakfast restaurant here. They do seem to do well!

A WH near southtown-downtown area would probably not do too bad either. I also have this hunch that waffle house might do good at the shopping center near 151 and 410 although Village Inn failed there.

[WVREDLEG]

Originally Posted by Azure110

A WH near southtown-downtown area would probably not do too bad either. I also have this hunch that waffle house might do good at the shopping center near 151 and 410 although Village Inn failed there.

The Village Inn at Pat Booker-1604 went under as well. They were right in front of a new apartment complex and one of those extended stay hotels (also built around same time as apts). It appears VI is still in El Paso, but must have lost too much market share here. Frankly, VI was a nice diner concept and I thought they were going head to head with the Denny's near NE Methodist, which was not the cleanest or nicest Denny's I've tried. BUT, IHOP was at the Forum to challenge the breakfast market, and twenty other chains to pretty much lock up lunch and dinner. I just think VI did not have enough quality or gimmick to separate itself from the standard American fare full service restaurant in SA. Seems like everyone is offering wifi, designer coffee drinks, and any trendy methods to keep or add customers.

WH is a simple concept that might recapture the segment of breakfast diners who can get by on a cup of coffee from a Bunn and a short stack without sprinkles and whipped cream

[steve807]

I'm just back from many years in Atlanta, home of WH. Some freeway intersections have a WH on each side within view of each other. There's over 100 in the Atlanta metro area - more than Bill Miller's here. I like WH for a few things.

FEMA uses the fact of whether particular WH's are open to determine how bad a natural disaster is.

Also, as to the truck driver nonsense: I've never seen a WH from the 6 southern states I've been in that can accommodate a big truck.

A time or two, I've left before sitting down based on the thug-factor of some of the diners. They are fairly often the location of violent crime after 1AM. But maybe that applies to any public place in Atlanta, I'm glad to be out of there.

Their coffee to go is a good deal anytime of day, quality and convenience wise.

[huckster]

Yes they are rude people. There is no doubt that they are unrefined. No , your remarks did not " strike close to home" for me and I would agree that also , yes, it does not take a lot of intelligence to steer a truck. However that does not diminish the fundamental import to the nation of what they do for a living. Rude and malodorous at Waffle House be they or not.

"If you've got it, a truck brought it to you."

Stand by. I will get back later on. I will first confer with the experts in shipping and recieving.

Originally Posted by Azure110

FWIW, while some of the people at WH may look like OTR drivers (truckers)...not all of them are, CSD610 is just using my post to defend truckers because it must have hit close to home for him/her. In my original post, I never did make one single reference to truckers.

I still stand by my comments though. OTR drivers can be some of the rudest people on or off the road and what they they do doesn't excuse their behavior. I have seen enough of it when I worked in shipping and recieving department in the past. I never said they are poorly educated although that may apply to some of them, not all of them are dumb.

Once in awhile, you meet the cool OTR drivers but it is not very often.