As the threat of snow and black ice led businesses in Georgia to hang closed signs on their doors on Friday, one creature comfort remained open, glowing like a lighthouse in the distance: Waffle House.
In the early morning hours and into the afternoon, the restaurants were like a warm oasis for diners looking for a place to thaw or wait out the snowy roads. Many metro area locations of the Norcross-based chain were serving a limited menu typically reserved for emergency situations, but it was still coming out hot and fast.
Some locations even had a short wait. Fitness instructor Andi Dunlop was surprised to see her Waffle House on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell so busy when she popped in with her husband Friday morning.
From the truncated menu, Dunlop’s husband had the All-Star breakfast, a signature plate of eggs, grits, waffle and other favorites. Dunlop had coffee.
“They gave us a printout. It had some pretty good stuff on it,” she said.
Most of the patrons seemed to have come on foot, she said, likely because the location is in a dense residential area. That’s how she and her husband arrived — Dunlop is also training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July, and thought a walk in the cold snow would be a good way to condition herself and test her equipment. The two walked about a mile.
Waffle House did not immediately respond to a request for comment or detail further plans about their operations during the winter storm.
But few things are constant in the South. One is change, and the other is Waffle House remaining open through rain, sleet or snow. Locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a point of pride for the 70-year-old company.
Rarely does a Waffle House close its doors during severe weather. In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency looks to the number of Waffle Houses that are operating during a storm to determine the severity of its impact and to identify the communities in need of assistance. If Waffle House is closed, you know things are bad.
At the location on Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody, Kostas Giannokostas and his wife Victoria said they stopped in for breakfast before 10 a.m. and enjoyed their eggs, bacon and waffles and coffee.
“We wanted to work today, but we can’t,” Victoria Giannokostas said.
The couple owns Apollon Auto Repair in Chamblee. They ventured out from their home in Dunwoody to their shop in Chamblee and the roads were tricky.
Kostas Giannokostas said they saw 18-wheelers stuck on I-285 and even helped out a Doraville police officer whose vehicle was stuck on Buford Highway.
“It’s bad,” he said.
The couple said they planned to spend the rest of the day watching Netflix. The Dunlops plan to do the same — staying in, warm and off the roads.
