Waffle House Used To Be Called Something Totally Different
Waffle House is named as such for a very straightforward reason. According to NBC News, when its founders first came up with the idea of a sit-down restaurant that matched the speed and affordability of fast food, waffles were the most profitable item on its menu. So, they named their new diner "Waffle House" in order to encourage customers to buy that titular dish. The moniker stuck, and yet, there was a time and place when the chain had to be called something else.
Waffle House started in the American South but has since spread northward into the Midwest, due in part to clever site placement, eye-catching design, and franchising. Perhaps the real appeal, though, is the fact that the restaurants are open 24/7, selling delectables like burgers, eggs, grits, hash browns, and steaks on the cheap. That accessibility has its downsides — crimes frequently occur at Waffle House — but from a business standpoint, this strategy has paid off. As documented by Eater, celebrities like the late Anthony Bourdain have praised Waffle House, while others like Kim Kardashian have been photographed dining there. Meanwhile, the United States government looks to Waffle Houses to determine how bad natural disasters are (e.g. the more sites that close, the worse a storm is). Waffle House is so iconic, it's a wonder anybody would ever call it by another name.
Indiana was home to Waffle & Steak
There was quite a practical reason for once calling Waffle House something else. As explained by Waffle House's Twitter, there was already a preexisting "Waffle House" in Indiana when the chain first arrived in the Hoosier State. Sticking with the founders' strategy of advertising the best-selling food upfront, the Waffle House chain instead went by the name "Waffle & Steak" in Indiana for a time. Fortunately for the well-known company, that other, original Waffle House in Indiana has since closed down, and "Waffle & Steak" was renamed "Waffle House" to match the rest of the country's locations.
The other Waffle House in question seems to have been, as mentioned by The Herald-Times, a restaurant that opened during the 1960s in Bloomington, Indiana, near Indiana University. However, in 2013, that business shut down as its retiring owners sold their property so that the building could be knocked down to make way for a multipurpose high-rise. Prior to that sale, though, some employees had been working at the place for decades, and local patrons had been eating there regularly for just as long. Yet, with the exception of the better-known Waffle House's operating hours, all things must eventually come to an end.
Waffle House is leaving the past behind
The old Hoosier Waffle House, while important to the community it once served, is ultimately a footnote in the story of the Waffle House chain, just like the name "Waffle & Steak." As of 2022, per VinePair, Waffle House has more than 2,000 locations spread across 25 states, and 24 of those sites are found in Indiana, being officially known now as "Waffle Houses." Meanwhile, the chain also reached as far north as Illinois, as far east as Pennsylvania, and as far west as Arizona. Still, the company's highest density is found in the southern states, particularly Georgia. It would seem that the business is faring well.
However, like practically all food service businesses, Waffle House was negatively impacted by the pandemic in 2020 and '21, so this iconically always-open, sit-down restaurant turned to Postmates delivery. While Covid is still a concern, quarantines have at least waned, and Waffle Houses are open for business again. As FSR reports, though, the rush of customers coming back to dine in person combined with the nationwide labor shortage in 2022 puts Waffle House in a catch-22. Thus, the company plans to attract new workers by emphasizing its many employee benefits: bonuses, health insurance, hiring from within, paid time off, stock options, etc. Will this strategy work out? Fans can only hope so. After all, we wouldn't want the Waffle House chain to disappear the same way Waffle & Steak and Indiana's Waffle House did.