We Finally Know Why Waffle House Is So Cheap

Affectionately known as Wa Ho, Waffle House is an American institution. Opened by two neighbors way back in 1955, over the years the chain has grown to more than 1,900 locations across 25 states, according to the official Waffle House website. A prominent part of southern culture, the 24/7 diner chain is a firm favorite with a cross-section of the population. Whether it's a bruncher, shift worker, trucker, or a boozed-up teenager in search of a snack after a night out, the cheap and unpretentious diner caters to all. The chain's director of public relations, Pat Warner, explained, "Our customers have a feeling that it is really their restaurant and not ours. And we are okay with that. From the very first day we've had a welcoming presence, and today we feel like our customers are attached to their restaurant because it is theirs" (per FSR Magazine).

Aside from its consistent fare and service, one of Waffle House's biggest drawcards is its affordable menu. In fact, at Waffle House, you can still fill up on greasy goodness for under $10. Here are just a few examples. The chain's waffles go for around $3. Meanwhile, a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich will set you back just under $4, while a bowl of cheese grits costs just over $2 (via Menu Prices Guide). So, while other chains continue to raise their prices, how does Waffle House keep its food so affordable? Read on to find out.

While not quite fast food — Waffle House is a house after all, and eating a waffle on the go isn't an easy task — the chain makes its money by serving as many customers as possible. According to 25iq, food orders are expected to be out of the kitchen within eight minutes of being placed and the customers fed and out the door in under 20 minutes. A former Waffle House server went as far as posting the following on Quora: "There is often a sense of wonder at ordering your food, then having it appear less than four minutes later at your table."

So, how does Waffle House manage to get their orders filled so fast? The southern diner icon has an ultra-efficient ordering system. When calling their order to the cooks, servers are expected to stand on a special red tile called the "The Mark." This avoids confusion by ensuring that only one server is able to call in an order at a time (via Mental Floss). And, even if the girdle operator fails to hear the order, there is a backup plan in the form of a visual coding system. Seemingly simple, yet complex to the uninitiated, the system sees servers place condiments, such as mini tubs and butter pats, in a particular position on a plate to communicate a specific order to the kitchen (per Eater).

As per the Waffle House website, the chain has nearly 2,000 locations across 25 states. It also has around 40,000 employees, or, as the website calls them, "associates." This means that you can hardly go around a street corner without running into a Waffle House outlet — that is, if you happen to be in the right part of the country. While Waffle House might expand in the future, for now, as noted by Atlanta magazine, most of its outposts are located in the southern part of the U.S.

While the chain's original Avondale Estates Waffle House location is now a museum, Waffle House has over 200 outposts in metropolitan Atlanta that serve around 80,000 customers a day (via The Atlanta-Journal Constitution). According to the restaurant's co-founder, Joe Rogers Sr., there's a very good reason why the 24/7 restaurant is so beloved in the south. "People stay up all night in the south. They go to bed early in the north on account of the weather," he said in a 2007 interview with Atlanta magazine. "I've worked in Cleveland, I've worked in Buffalo. The snow comes in, the buses stop running, and you don't do any business."

While different websites quote different salary ranges for Waffle House servers, it's abundantly clear that the chain's wages leave a lot to be desired. According to Glassdoor, Waffle House servers make an average base pay of $3 and $4 in tips an hour, which comes to a rather unimpressive $7 per hour. Indeed estimates the salary of a Waffle House server to be, as of this writing, slightly higher at $9.30 an hour.

Along with the low wages comes an enormous amount of work. According to a former employee, at the completion of their shifts, servers are responsible for performing housekeeping duties, including washing dishes, sweeping, mopping, and cleaning the bathrooms (via Quora). As such, it's little surprise that many Waffle House employees may lack attention to detail. And, according to some diners, it shows. "I watched as the employee poured endless pots of water through the coffee machine with the same grounds. Result? Brown flavorless water! I [also] found a long black hair in my eggs," one Tripadvisor reviewer wrote.

Waffle House serves its entire menu around the clock. This means that diners can end their day with breakfast (which might actually be beneficial in more ways than one) or indulge in a steak on the way home from the club at 3 a.m. It also means that Waffle House can take advantage of the growing popularity of dining out for breakfast rather than eating the first meal of the day at home (via Eater). The chief marketing officer at Taco Bell, Marisa Thalberg, told USA Today, "There's an emerging behavioral trend with millennials of just wanting the convenience of someone else making [breakfast] for them."

Selling breakfast is highly profitable for restaurants, so serving it all day makes a lot of sense. And the profitability isn't surprising considering that breakfast is made from some of the cheapest ingredients around. Case in point: eggs, a very popular item at Waffle House. Interestingly, in 2015, McDonald's took advantage of the increasing popularity of breakfast menu items by introducing all-day breakfast, a move that helped the fast food chain turn around a two-year sales decline (per USA Today).

Waffle House has taken its menu on the road. More specifically, the chain offers a food truck catering service that can elevate any event with the finger-licking goodness of waffles, hash browns, and Texas melts. Whether it's a birthday party, a corporate gathering, or even a wedding, Waffle House Catering offers delivery or on-site service stations. While the Waffle House truck mostly serves the Atlanta area, those outside Georgia with a hankering for a waffle or two needn't despair: The truck can be hired nationally by those prepared to pay extra and cover the lodging costs of the chain's employees (via Wide Open Eats).

It's a well-known fact that each Valentine's Day, Waffle House serves romantic candle-lit dinners. However, few are aware that the roadside staple also caters weddings. And, while it may be too low-brow for some, overall, the service seems to be met with a positive response. "My husband and I were off taking pictures when the food truck rolled up, but we knew it got there because we heard our guests cheering!" one satisfied reviewer posted on WeddingWire.

Next to waffles, the undisputed star of the Waffle House menu is the hash brown. And many wonder how the restaurant manages to make the snack so delicious. According to Idaho Potatoes, this may not be fresh potatoes and a bit of magic, but, rather, dehydrated potatoes and butter-style oil. And you would be forgiven for thinking that Waffle House uses fresh spuds in its hash brown creations since that's what the chain's website clearly implies through the following statement: "It takes highly-skilled grill operators in your Waffle House restaurant to turn the spuds into [hash browns]."

In reality, it's very likely that Waffle House's hash browns are made from dehydrated potatoes. A server who worked at the chain for two years revealed the harsh reality on Quora, saying, "Waffle House hash browns come in a megastore-sized box with freeze-dried bits of potato shreds in them, and hours before a new batch will be needed, the box is opened and filled with water." As such, it's not surprising that Waffle House is now selling its hash brown mix online.