In 2020, the unthinkable happened. A Waffle House closed. For good! It shut it's doors, never to serve another waffle to weary motorists ever again!
This Waffle House closed sometime in 2020, though thankfully it wasn't a victim of the pandemic, but a relocation (though an odd one).
The new location, listed here, is at 4005 W Eau Gallie Boulevard, an odd location to me, as while it is off I-95, there's not much there except some church organizations, a flea market on the other side of I-95, and a bunch of houses. This location was located on W New Haven (192) and in a much more active area for hotels and commerce. Maybe they're betting on future expansion.
This location was built in 1986, making it decently but not insanely old for a Waffle House. While it looks very drab here, that's only because they painted all the Waffle House Yellow panels brown when they moved out (yet didn't remove the big sign that says "WAFFLE HOUSE"?)
While the blinds are pulled down, they don't go all the way down, so we can still get a look at the stripped out interior. The tiles remind me a lot of the ones you used to see in mansard McDonalds.
I'm honestly surprised they were able to rip off this much of it. Most of these stickers are probably pretty much fused to the glass by now.
We'll round off our post with a photo of the entrance, which the Waffle House shares with a hotel that's behind it. I don't think they were ever affiliated in the past, though it's possible.
Also, to anyone wondering what the title of this is referencing- it's a level on FEMA's Waffle House Index, an actual danger level index that's based on whether or not Waffle House is open, on a limited menu, or closed! Luckily, the closure of this Waffle House was a simple relocation, and not the result of a terrible disaster that wiped Melbourne off the map.
Until next time, this was Cape Kennedy Retail.
Waffle House does have a presence in Houston, but it is perhaps not as large as it is elsewhere in the south. They have been slowly expanding in this area though. I can't say I've ever been to a Waffle House even though there is a fairly new one just a few miles from me in a Food Town shopping center.
ReplyDeleteThe history of Waffle House is interesting though because the chain was derived in a way from a once-popular breakfast restaurant called Toddle House which was founded by a man from Houston and a group in Memphis who ran the Britling Cafeteria. Toddle House then grew out of Memphis and a regional manager for Toddle House went on to found Waffle House. So, yeah, here's another example of a Texas and Mid-South retail connection if Retail Retell is looking for one, lol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toddle_House
As you can see in the Wikipedia article about Toddle House, the initial Toddle House faded away and there was a second attempt at them in the 1980s. The Wikipedia article really focuses on Toddle House 2's Florida locations. They must have had a large presence there, but we certainly had locations here in Houston as well.
There was another restaurant of prominence here in Houston that was founded by a Toddle House employee. That restaurant is the Kettle Restaurants chain. Kettle once had a pretty large presence here in Houston, but I have not seen one around here in a long time. It seems they had Florida locations as well based on their Wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_Restaurants
The Waffle House Index fascinates me. I even actually did a whole presentation on it in my public speaking course a few years ago. I can't say I've ever seen a permanently closed Waffle House though (or even a temporarily closed one, if I'm being honest!)
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous -- thanks for sharing those details. "Toddle House Omelettes" are actually still on the Waffle House menu today. This article mentions them, as well as another very cool connection: https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/11/opinion/greene-waffle-fedex/index.html
As for your lack of Waffle House experience... I suggest you remedy that :) They can be (but are not always guaranteed to be... don't let that scare you off though, haha) one of the best restaurants out there!
Does anyone remember the late night waitress that worked there? her name was renee
ReplyDelete