10 Rules Everyone Should Know For Eating At Waffle House

Waffle House is a Southern — and more specifically, an Atlantan — popular breakfast food staple. The chain breakfast restaurant got its start in 1955, and since then, it's exploded across the Southern states and beyond. You can now find Waffle House locations in 25 states, with over 1,900 restaurants throughout the country. But if you've never eaten at a Waffle House before (or if you've only eaten there a handful of times in your life), you might not understand some of the spoken and unspoken rules you should know for a top-notch dining experience there.

These are the most important rules you should keep in mind the next time you visit Waffle House. Some of them are literally hard and fast rules, while others are more guidelines to ensure the best visit possible. Either way, these guidelines will help you enjoy the indulgent food at Waffle House even more than you already do. Before you know it, you'll be an expert Waffle House diner (just like Anthony Bourdain).

It can be difficult to choose what you want to eat at a new restaurant, particularly when you don't know what's good and what's not. There are plenty of different options on Waffle House's menu, but we suggest opting for the most classic item of them all: the All-Star Special. This is absolutely the way to go if you want to get a good sense of the chain's breakfast food, since you get basically every breakfast item on the menu in one order.

The All-Star Special comes with a waffle (of course), your choice of breakfast meat, eggs, toast, and hash browns or grits. There are countless ways to customize your order, from selecting different waffle flavors to the different varieties of bread available. Yes, it's a lot of food, but it's a good way to get a taste of the best that Waffle House has to offer. Just make sure you go really, really hungry.

When you walk into any Waffle House location, you'll be met with a few seating options. There are booths that can fit a decent number of people, and then there's a counter where you can look directly into what's going on in the kitchen. Going to Waffle House in a group of two or more people? In that case, go ahead and snag yourself a booth if there's one available — that's probably where you'll be the most comfortable. However, if you've decided to eat at Waffle House on your own, it's a better idea to take a counter seat, particularly if the restaurant is busy.

Sitting at the counter when you're on your own is courteous and allows larger parties to take the booth spaces. It's even recommended by Waffle House's "house rules," so it's definitely something you'll want to take into consideration when you're deciding where to sit at your local WaHo.

Waffle House is a breakfast joint, so it may be unexpected advice to learn that you should visit at night. But that may just be when Waffle House is at its most glorious. Most Waffle House locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you can go in at any time and get your diner food fix. We love going to Waffle House at night because at a certain point after midnight, diner fare starts to taste its best. What you might have regarded as a soggy piece of bacon in the daylight transforms into the best thing you've ever eaten the closer to daybreak you creep.

Keep in mind that because Waffle House is open late, you may encounter people who have indulged in more than a chocolate chip waffle before arriving at the restaurant (which is why some don't like to visit at night), so make sure you're aware of your surroundings. That being said, once your stomach is full of scrambled eggs and grits, you're going to have an incredible sleep.

You've probably heard about secret menu items at some of your favorite fast food and fast casual restaurants. These "menu items" often blow up thanks to social media, encouraging curious diners to go to the restaurant in question so they can try these concoctions themselves. Often, though, ordering these types of menu items actually makes workers' lives a lot more difficult, since they may not know how to make the dish in question or simply aren't prepared to do so. The last thing you want to do is slow them down and make their work even more difficult than it has to be.

Therefore, we encourage you not to order any secret menu items if the Waffle House you're at is particularly busy. The last thing you want is to have to explain exactly what you're looking for to an overworked employee who's in the weeds. Honestly, you'll be just fine with something off of the standard menu. If you insist on ordering a secret menu item, though, just be sure to ask for it when you can tell the staff has extra time on their hands ... if you don't want to be met with some serious (and justified) annoyance, that is.

Because Waffle Houses have open, visible kitchens, once you place your order with your Waffle House server, you'll be able to see the staff get to work on your food right away. There aren't any scrambled eggs just sitting there getting cold until someone finally orders them. Instead, most dishes at Waffle House are made to order. That means that some items may be finished before others, and if you're visiting the restaurant at a busy time, it may take some time to receive your food.

Most of the time, you'll be able to see the hardworking staff members behind the counter flipping fried eggs, toasting bread, and making golden brown waffles, so you'll know that your meal will be at your table shortly. Until you get your food, though, be patient — chances are that the staff is trying to get it to you as fast as they possibly can.

If you're not a grits person and you're craving breakfast carbs from Waffle House, you're probably going to opt for the hash browns. These shredded hash browns get nice and crispy, and the portions tend to be generous. But just because the hash browns are delicious on their own doesn't mean they don't need other ingredients to make them shine. Luckily, Waffle House offers a variety of toppings for your hash browns. You can choose just one or get creative with several toppings at once.

You'll need to know the lingo if you want to order correctly, though. Want your hash browns served with onions? Ask for them "smothered." Prefer them nice and cheesy? You'll want to order your hash browns "covered." You can also get them "chunked" with ham or "capped" with grilled mushrooms. But don't worry — you don't have to remember all of these terms, since they're all written on the menu for your convenience.

These days, jukeboxes in diners aren't as common as they once were ... unless you're at Waffle House, of course. Playing music on the jukebox is part of the fun of visiting the restaurant, and it's something you have to try the first time you visit. Of course, you can always go up to the jukebox and select the song you want to play, but there's even an app you can use to control it straight from your phone. That may mitigate some of the feelings of nostalgia a jukebox might otherwise provoke, but it does make for convenient listening.

However, if you're going to use the jukebox, just make sure you're being courteous to the other patrons and staff. Don't play several songs in a row, especially if the restaurant is busy and others want to play their own songs. Plus, hearing others' selections may just help you find some new music.

Once you've finished your meal at Waffle House (especially if you ordered the All-Star Special), you're probably going to feel pretty full. So once you've received your bill, you may just want to pay and be on your way. You put your card down, but you're waiting forever. Your server never comes back over to you. What to do? At Waffle House, you pay at the register, not at your table. Whether you plan to pay with a card or cash, you'll need to settle your bill at the front of the restaurant before leaving.

This may not seem very intuitive if you're used to dining at restaurants where you pay at the table (or pay at a counter before actually receiving your food), but once you get used to the way Waffle House does things, you'll be glad that you don't have to wait for your server to come back before you can pay and leave.

If you've ever worked in a restaurant of any type before, you know that it's not an easy job. First of all, it's physically demanding, often requiring that you stay on your feet for multiple hours on end. Secondly, it can be hazardous, especially if you're working in the kitchen. Plus, dealing with customers can be difficult, especially when you have patrons coming into your establishment at all hours of the night. And working at Waffle House specifically can be especially challenging, with some claiming that the company exploits vulnerable workers and a labor group claiming that the chain doesn't properly pay its employees.

These difficult working conditions are just one reason you should be respectful of your server. They're probably dealing with a lot, and having to contend with difficult patrons doesn't make their lives any easier. Regardless of Waffle House employee working conditions, though, not being a jerk is always the right thing to do when you go out to eat.

Finally, we come to what might be the most important rule of all: Make sure you tip well. You may have heard otherwise, but 20% is the standard for a tip. You can tip more if you received especially good service, but it's not necessary. This rule is applicable for any type of restaurant where you're getting table service, whether you're at a fine dining spot or just eating eggs at Waffle House. Keep in mind that Waffle House generally doesn't automatically add gratuity to bills, so you'll have to do the math yourself to leave the proper tip.

It's so important to tip at restaurants, including Waffle House, because servers generally make the tipped minimum wage, which tends to be incredibly low. They rely on tips to get paid at their job, so refusing to tip means you're asking them to actually lose money by serving you. Just remember: If you can't afford to tip — at Waffle House or elsewhere — you can't afford to eat out.