If you want to assess hurricane or earthquake damage, you can send out inspectors, pore over aerial photographs, and monitor emergency communications. Or you can visit the local Waffle House.
The restaurants are one quick way W. Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, figures out the severity of a natural disaster. Using what's come to be known as the "Waffle House index," he checks to see if the restaurant is open in any given area.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2011/0901/Waffle-House-index-How-breakfast-signals-storm-damage
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Give me steak & eggs, hash browns, and toast. On second thought, make mine a double.
i thought you was talk the p i s s at first and having a laugh but yeah its excellent how they have put things in place to get up and running as quickly as possible after a hurricane
Neat. Smart too.
Gotta be rough though, FEMA is blind in those areas of the country that have no Waffle House restaurants.
I miss Waffle House.
>Give me steak & eggs, hash browns, and toast. On second thought, make mine a double.
Never a truer word spoken :)
>I miss Waffle House.
Ditto.
For those who haven't had the WH Experience, particularly those in the UK, it's hard to explain. Sort of half restaurant, half cult. They are to steak & eggs what Starbucks is to coffee ...a meal-serving machine of the first order. I first visited one outside Atlanta, GA in the 70's. Someone had told me I had to go just to watch the cook (they cook right behind the counter in the serving area). Back then (and still in some locations) the waitresses yelled the orders to the cook using sort of a shorthand code. This particular WH was busy, really busy, with 50+ customers and 4 or 5 waitresses constantly calling out orders. He never turned around. He never acknowledged an order. He just cooked. He constantly has 6-10 meals in progress. It's obvious that the whole operation revolves around him, staff assists him by bringing massive amounts of ingredients and he's churning through tray after tray of it. I'm not all that easy to impress, but this was waaaay off the chart for short-order cooks. I've been hooked on 'em ever since and usually take my EU guests whenever they're over here and get them hooked. Rumbas, as you can see, is having mad cravings about now. (Torben, OTOH, tends to favor the more genteel Cracker Barrel with their plate-sized ham slices.)
And, yes, they are usually grimy and greasy. You should try cooking by the truckload and see if it's messy.
aaaah, I always imagine waffle house as some sort of waffly dunkin donuts. Greasy spoon model I can understand much more why people would like it.
American food culture fascinates me. Not sure if its big in the US but there's a programme on Sky called 'Man-v-food' which makes me feel ill and amazed in equal measures.
The American food culture fascinates me too Girtie, i love watching "Diners Drive ins and Dives"
the amount of food they serve to one person is enough to feed a family of 4 in the UK :)
>Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
And only a guy like Guy could pull off a show like that. These are my favorite places to eat: where the focus is on the food. ONLY the food.
Waffle House also has a consistent look: imagine a restaurant the size of a trailer house. They are long and skinny and you're packed in asses to elbows. The kitchen is on part of the long side, and there is bar seating for singles.
From 6 to 8 in the morning, there is always a line. And, don't forget to bring cash. They don't accept cards or checks.
the program has never shown a Dive, they always serve great food with lots and lots of herbs and spices in the mixture
its such a pity the UK does not have fantastic places to eat like what you guys have over in the states, we have a lot of very good restaurants but not the type of places it shows on the program where its been owned by the same person for many many years serving fantastic food and they are always full too
Well Mick, your Indian food is better than ours, at least.
But I must admit there's nothing like some Scattered Smothered and Covered to go with some eggs, grits, bacon, toast, waffle and coffee.
yeah thats is true but the food they serve in our Indian restaurants has been toned down to suit the UK taste buds and is nothing like you get if you visit a Indians home
>food culture
So we had a very small nonconference in Charleston, SC a few years back. Now, this was a group that could afford to go eat anywhere we pleased and we did try out plenty of good restaurants throughout the week. THIS was the *ONLY* place we all chose to do a 2nd visit:
http://www.jackscosmicdogs.com/menu.asp
heh. Not sure I'd love it (they do have veggie options but its all a bit in-yer-face-meaty for me) but I'm going to stick 'waffle house' on my to do list :)
UK food is good top-end and good specialiy but we definately fail on our small-town food experience. Pasties, pies and some greasy spoons I guess we do quite well. I blame Little Chef.
To me, Waffle House is THE US South. Not that the cuisine is extraordianry, but it has just the right amount of grease and plenty on the plate. Even the menu is huge and will satisfy even the most hungry guy.
RC's description is spot on - provided the waitress is named Doris and calls you sugar or honey. Gotta experience it more than once in your life :)
>Doris and calls you sugar or honey
Don't forget the requisite missing tooth. (or teeth.)
>Honey
Fair enough, I call all the waitresses "Sugar."
>tooth
The busboy at the Charleston WH took top honors in the Appearance Category with that ear-to-ear scar from having his throat cut. Whoever sewed him up must have been practicing medicine on a learner's permit.
Hahaha! Yeah, the staff is not most beautiful bunch, but they cook some mean grits.
I think I need to try a waffle !
My local breakfast (when not at home) used to be here:
http://thebuscafe.com/home.html
They shut 6 months ago :(
they were in "eggs bacon chips and beans" not tried any of the other 50 mentioned.
I had a nice enough Indian last night, but I do love an English breakfast. Food always comes back to Bacon for me.
Hurricane Matthew update:
Put your head between your knees and kiss your a## good-bye.
Waffle Houses Close in Florida, in Bad 'Index' Omen
http://www.nbcnews.com/card/waffle-houses-close-florida-bad-index-omen-n661291
Quote from: rcjordan on October 06, 2016, 11:25:16 PM
Hurricane Matthew update:
Put your head between your knees and kiss your a## good-bye.
Waffle Houses Close in Florida, in Bad 'Index' Omen
http://www.nbcnews.com/card/waffle-houses-close-florida-bad-index-omen-n661291
Ugh, now we know it's bad.
@rcjordan How are things at frog level? Is Matthew coming your way?
>frog level
As it is predicted now, it's going to miss us. We've had **really** crappy weather here for the last 3 weeks, though. Still better than a hurricane!