Waffle House

ate here last night. we got 2 sirloins to go. steaks were thin and had a strip of fat down the side. cost $ 25. also had an order of buscuits and gravy too. not alot of flavor, but for wafflehouse at 11:30 pm you will eat anything. only be back when we are done drinking and it is pass time to order a pizza.

It’s what you’d expect. Typical diner. Hits the spot if it’s what you want!

One of the few places to get some food after work, so we occasionally stop here. But it’s not at the top of the list, just handy.
Service is hit or miss; usually friendly enough and almost-​efficient, but never great. Food is, well, cheap. Not awful, but you get what you pay for, and it’s really cheap.
This time I had a burger, and it wasn’t bad at all. I’ve had breakfast stuff, even a steak (pretty bad.) Clientele can be weird. Just sit back, enjoy the craziness and eat your breakfast at 3 am, then get out of there.

Waffle House.
You know at some point within your lifespan you will have stopped and eaten at a Waffle House. Be it a late night drunken grease binge, or the morning after, or even when you’re traveling… Waffle House will undoubtedly be on your list somewhere.
The only time I can vouch for great service and awesome breakfast-​esque/​crusty spoon food at this location is on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Beyond that, or during late night, you will be sorely disappointed with consistency, but the weekend morning crew has it down, and has been doing their thang for years and years.
The regulars here are fairly mild and timid compared to other locations I’ve been to where ex-​cons are trying to one-​up each others prison sentences. (True story-​Bro-​sta)
Buttery goodness clogging my arteries, crispy bacon, grizzly regulars sipping on coffee, salty waitresses… yep, they’ve got it covered.
The best thing about Waffle House is that it’s the one place I can come in looking like a turd on a bad stretch of road, and not one person will give a damn.

A little background, I’m a huge Waffle House fan and have been to them around the country. Indeed, one of my favorite parts to any trip to Gramma’s house in Florida or the relatives in Tennessee was getting to drop by a branch of the originally Southern chain. I was absolutely thrilled when the franchise finally came north. Upon moving to the Columbus area, I soon began frequenting this branch since it is on my way home from work, and there’s nothing like a waffle and a side of hashbrowns after a long day.
Then, the company instituted something called the Waffle House Regulars which just made things that much better as coupons were issued almost monthly. Sometimes they were for a cup of coffee, other times a side of hash browns. But the best coupons and the ones I greeted in my inbox with the most enthusiasm were for a free waffle.
Around Halloween, I received just such a coupon, which I printed off and waited for the right night to use. The late evening after a long 13 hour work day seemed perfect, so I took the few extra minutes to drop in the Waffle House, anticipating waffly goodness.
Slouching into my seat, I shoved the coupon forward and waited quite a few minutes while the servers all converged and chatted amongst each other. Finally, they came over like there was an intervention going on and the waitress very curtly told me they did not accept that coupon, her demeanor and the general nervous tension in the air making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Eventually it came out that there had been people trying to use the coupon repeatedly or counterfeiting it or something, which had led the manager to refuse to allow any of the coupons. …Which I guess explains the attitude of the staff who appeared to have judged me guilty in light of there being no evidence to the contrary. Charming way to treat a paying customer.
Now in their defense, and that of the people who have used these coupons, the Waffle House regular program does make it very easy to reuse the offers. For one thing, I don’t think most branches received any warning or explanation of the promotion to begin with. I remember the first time I tried to use one, I was treated with great suspicion and dirty looks (again at this branch) but that was because the server had never seen or heard of this particular promotion.
I will confess too regarding my first coupon for a free waffle that did plan to use it multiple times, until I read the fine print and saw that it actually is intended for one use only. There-​in lies a problem with the entire system. I’m sure many people have used these coupons multiple times, not always realizing their error. Even more have acknowledged the fine print but ignored it intentionally. Unless the servers recognize you, they will have to assume the coupon is valid and has not been used before. Even if they know for a fact that’s not true, it’s very difficult to accuse a customer of lying.
Well, usually anyways.
Anyways, long and short of it is I do understand why the branch has made this determination, and recognize that a lot of the blame lies on the HQ and its website (check out Wendy’s for a coupon site that would help regulate the flow of offers). It makes me mad since the coupon brings in customers like myself with the promise of a deal, only to be told that it doesn’t exist in this location and leaving them having to either depart or make purchases they weren’t planning on (great free advertising I suppose), but I do understand.
What I do not understand is the attitude of the staff. Indeed, it changed what I ordered. You know, had they been polite about it and made it feel less like an intervention with a dangerous criminal and more like, well you know, normal, I might have gone ahead and ordered the waffle and sides I was planning to get. As it was, I nearly walked out of the place and really probably should have, but decided to just get the cheap burger. Truth is I don’t need a big meal this late at night anyways.
To my server’s credit, after I guess it became evident I wasn’t trying to pull some crap\throw a fit\they lost interest, she was polite enough. The food was greasy as usual but good. Thing is, this is something of a tipping point. The service at this branch has always been mediocre at best. There are a few decent, friendly folks now and then (the younger boy on staff tonight who did try to be more apologetic is actually one of the friendlier folks I’ve met at this branch and the main reason I didn’t just leave). A lot of the time, though, the service is very curt and disinterested, especially for a Waffle House. This does not just apply to any one server, either, but to various ones I have dealt with in past visits.
Anyways, I give it one star for the food and another for a couple of the slightly more positive experiences I’ve had here. Definitely a «Meh, I’ve had better» situation, though.