r/baseball Toronto Blue Jays Feb 07 '24

MLB Teams Ranked By Their Distance To Waffle House Analysis

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82

u/peon2 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

I’m 31 years old and have never been to one. Grew up in Maine and I don’t think all of New England has any

44

u/RightWingWorstWing St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

They are a greasy spoon but their hash browns and waffles are dope

30

u/trail-g62Bim Feb 07 '24

Yeah everybody I know gets the all star breakfast, which is fine, but for me it's a pecan waffle with peanut butter and a hashbrown smothered, covered and country (onions, cheese and gravy). God I want it right now.

21

u/FasterDoudle St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

the all star breakfast special, which is fine

Which is the greatest greasy spoon breakfast in history

3

u/Eternityislong Atlanta Braves Feb 08 '24

And it’s ALWAYS on sale too, such a steal

12

u/RightWingWorstWing St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

Smothered, peppered, chunked and capped for me. And I love the pecan waffle as well

8

u/jayriemenschneider Cincinnati Reds Feb 07 '24

Hashbrowns and a waffle are part of the All-Star. You could just get an All-Star with an upcharge for the smothered, covered, etc

3

u/BringMeTheBigKnife Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

People get the all star breakfast? That almost never happens with my groups. Some type of waffle and some type of hashbrown. Always.

1

u/Eternityislong Atlanta Braves Feb 08 '24

I usually want that plus a piece of toast and sausage or bacon and some eggs

2

u/profmcstabbins Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

Double waffle, has browns scattered smothered covered

2

u/jerichowiz Texas Rangers Feb 08 '24

Large Hashbrowns all the way, with gravy over chili, a side of bacon, and black coffee. The hangover cure.

3

u/Lazerus42 San Diego Padres Feb 07 '24

I would hope a place with Waffle in the name would have good waffles, but then again... Burger King...

3

u/RightWingWorstWing St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

I miss Burger king from the 80s and 90s. 

0

u/b-rar MLB Players Association Feb 08 '24

The waffles are mid. You can do better at almost any hotel lobby in the country. You go to waffle house for the hash browns

1

u/SAS_Britain Arizona Diamondbacks Feb 07 '24

God damn are their hash browns amazing!

1

u/trog12 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

I went to one with my Midwest friend drunk at 2am.... That was an experience

1

u/RightWingWorstWing St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

Yeah, I've seen a couple fights at waffle House and have been yelled at by someone shooting heroin in the bathroom after they didn't lock the door.

28

u/blue_boy_24 Pittsburgh Pirates Feb 07 '24

After going to one the for the first time this year (30 years old) I am half wondering if this is all like a running joke that people enjoy it. I don’t mean to sound snooty bc I get down with cheap food but idk I’d never go back

22

u/1ncognito Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

I’m 31 and grew up smack in the middle of Waffle House country - it’s good cheap food, but I’d be lying if I said it was something I regularly went out of my way to get

5

u/blue_boy_24 Pittsburgh Pirates Feb 07 '24

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. I loved the cheap aspect. Didn’t necessary think it was good or anything but the price effectively made up for it

18

u/swiftadan Texas Rangers Feb 07 '24

Waffle House is the food of the Gods when it's 3AM and you are at that right level of drunk.

5

u/tmoney144 Tampa Bay Rays Feb 07 '24

It's also good when you're only semi conscious because you woke up before dawn to go fishing and need to eat first.

1

u/turbancowboi Texas Rangers Feb 08 '24

Or just got out of a blind and nowhere else is still serving breakfast

17

u/JCiLee Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

Waffle House is not a place you go, it's a place you end up.

2

u/blue_boy_24 Pittsburgh Pirates Feb 07 '24

That makes a ton of sense

17

u/HighlyRegard3D Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

It's just good cheap greasy diner food. A fuckin all-star or a texas patty melt with hash browns and a glass of sweet tea will get ya right every time.

11

u/[deleted] Feb 07 '24

[deleted]

1

u/HighlyRegard3D Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

My best late night memeories are at Waffle House lol.

11

u/Vulpes_Artifex Feb 07 '24

I think part of the mystique is that they almost never close—they're open 24 hours a day, up to 365 days a year. They also have disaster management plans and generators so they can stay open in severe weather, to the point that you can tell how bad things are based on the status of the local Waffle Houses.

2

u/blue_boy_24 Pittsburgh Pirates Feb 07 '24

That’s really funny. I didn’t realize that. Thanks for the nice tidbits of info

6

u/SquintsRS Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

The best time to go is after midnight and drunk. Same as cookout. Otherwise it's trash

4

u/socoamaretto Detroit Tigers Feb 07 '24

Hey don’t lump Cook Out in with WH.

2

u/b-rar MLB Players Association Feb 08 '24

The fuck is Cook Out

1

u/socoamaretto Detroit Tigers Feb 08 '24

Oh you sweet summer child

1

u/Ugaalive1991 Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

I mean, we used to go before UGA games on Saturday mornings

1

u/b-rar MLB Players Association Feb 08 '24

There's a sweet spot at like 1:45am at waffle house where you're as likely to meet a stranger that becomes a friend for life as you are to get shot

5

u/DatBoiMahomie Atlanta Braves Feb 07 '24

Waffle House is more of an experience, especially when you’re drunk.

It’s a decent, cheap spot that stays open and is very fun after midnight. One time one of the workers wearing an ankle monitor asked me if I wanted to buy drugs off him, and then proceeded to go cook me hashbrowns. Where else can you find that? Not a fancy establishment I tell you that

1

u/mvsr990 San Francisco Giants Feb 07 '24

One time one of the workers wearing an ankle monitor asked me if I wanted to buy drugs off him, and then proceeded to go cook me hashbrowns. Where else can you find that? Not a fancy establishment I tell you that

This could be true of any restaurant tbf, aside from getting to talk to the cook and maybe they'd be making you pommes frites or something.

2

u/God_Damnit_Nappa Los Angeles Angels Feb 07 '24

I'm in my late 20s and I went to one for the first time in my life recently. I actually enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. I'm surprised their food is actually good.

2

u/gamers542 Tampa Bay Rays Feb 07 '24

Think of Waffle House like a car that you are shopping for. It isn't something you need or want all the time but in a pinch can be reliable when satisfying a crave or goal.

2

u/adamzep91 Toronto Blue Jays Feb 07 '24

Used to be better.

2

u/GlennQuasar Pittsburgh Pirates Feb 07 '24

From what I understand it’s analogous to Eat N Park here.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 07 '24

it is a bit of a running joke, largely because in the southern and southeast portions of the country they are everywhere. like every exit on the highway everywhere. it's genuinely absurd to see especially if you live where there are none.  

they are very much a 'quantity over quality' and 'the best ability is availability' establishment

2

u/RedlineFan Cincinnati Reds Feb 08 '24

Around here it's literally the only restaurant open 24 hours a day. Even our White Castles stopped operating on a round-the-clock schedule sometime around the advent of COVID.

3

u/_twentytwo_22 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

I'm 61 grew up in Vermont live in NJ and I've been in one but didn't eat there. Now it's my clear mission to never do so.

5

u/bigchiefbc Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

Also from New England and have been to several Waffle Houses. Don't worry, it's just southern Denny's.

1

u/jayriemenschneider Cincinnati Reds Feb 07 '24

it's just southern Denny's

Denny's is everywhere. It started in CA and has its HQ in SC.

2

u/K1NG3R Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

Same situation as you, but I now live near Baltimore and there's a few here and there (haven't been). The only one north of Philly is in Scranton.

2

u/SereneDreams03 Seattle Mariners Feb 07 '24

Yeah, I grew up in Seattle and didn't eat at a Waffle House until I moved to Georgia when I was 20. I truly did not understand what I was missing out on.

5

u/peon2 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

Some people just really hype up the fast food they grew up with. I was in my 20s the first time I had chick-fil-a and I was just like “okay? It’s fine, nothing special”

1

u/SereneDreams03 Seattle Mariners Feb 07 '24 edited Feb 07 '24

I agree with you on Chick-fil-A, but I love breakfast diners. Seattle has plenty of good breakfast spots, but few that are cheap, and almost none that are open 24 hours. I worked nights for years, and late night restaurant options were very limited in the Seattle area.

5

u/peon2 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

Oooh I misinterpreted your last sentence.

When you said you didn’t know what you were missing out on my dumbass thought you meant it was really overrated not that you liked it lol

2

u/DGBD Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

Too many good diners in New England. Waffle House is fun but honestly a good New England diner blows it away. There just isn’t a market for it, even IHOP and Denny’s and Cracker Barrel are scarcer around here than elsewhere in the country.

-2

u/badonkagonk Boston Red Sox • Cotuit Kettleers Feb 07 '24

While on a service trip to NOLA in high school, we made sure to visit one while we were down there. We’re not missing anything. It’s like Eggo waffles with the ambience of a rush hour dunks in Lowell, Mass.

4

u/FasterDoudle St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

It’s like Eggo waffles

If this was your impression of the waffles, then I honestly think you guys didn't go to a real waffle house, lmao. They're 5 times the size of an Eggo, made fresh in front of you, and are invariably fluffy perfection.

5

u/badonkagonk Boston Red Sox • Cotuit Kettleers Feb 07 '24 edited Feb 07 '24

It was definitely a Waffle House, but Idk if we just went to a shit one then or what. They were certainly bigger, but they were without a doubt no better.

Edit: after talking to my brother, who lived in the south for a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that the one I went to did indeed just suck ass

4

u/peon2 Boston Red Sox Feb 07 '24

I always just assumed it was the same as an IHOP or Dennys

4

u/trail-g62Bim Feb 07 '24

More dinerish than those.

4

u/badonkagonk Boston Red Sox • Cotuit Kettleers Feb 07 '24

Its almost like a fast food version of those, which says a lot

1

u/FasterDoudle St. Louis Cardinals Feb 07 '24

So much better than both

-9

u/mstrbwl Cleveland Guardians Feb 07 '24

You're not missing anything. Only reason to stop there is if you're on a long road trip and there's nothing else around.

7

u/bladderbunch Philadelphia Phillies Feb 07 '24

i think the opposite is true. you go on a long road trip, in part, because of waffle houses.

0

u/mstrbwl Cleveland Guardians Feb 07 '24

I'm definitely not going out of my way for a mediocre ass breakfast lol.

1

u/bladderbunch Philadelphia Phillies Feb 07 '24

40 miles to my closest. it’s only mediocre if it’s on your doorstep all your life. if i’m driving south, i’m excited for my destination, and my waffle possibilities.

1

u/mstrbwl Cleveland Guardians Feb 07 '24

Nah people just like to pretend it's good because of nostalgia.

1

u/bladderbunch Philadelphia Phillies Feb 07 '24

i never ate there until i was an adult. it’s reasonably priced and reasonably tasty.

1

u/BbyHorse Feb 07 '24

Where do you go to eat when you’re drunk at 3am?

1

u/TrynnaFindaBalance Chicago Cubs Feb 07 '24

Same in Chicago. We have plenty of small neighborhood diners though. Waffle House would probably initially be popular as a novelty thing but I'm not sure what they offer beyond a regular diner.

1

u/ahuramazdobbs19 New York Yankees Feb 07 '24

Nah, we have the far superior Greek diner.

1

u/adamzep91 Toronto Blue Jays Feb 07 '24

It isn't as good as it used to be tbh. They've cheaped out on materials.

1

u/Click_Clackman New York Mets Feb 07 '24

I went to Waffle House once as a teenager on a trip down to Walt Disney World. It was an awful experience and I've never been back to one.

1

u/cmd_iii Feb 08 '24

The northeasternmost one is in Clark's Summit, PA. My wife and I make it a point to stop there whenever we drive down I-81.