Photos: Waffle House moments through the years

Food & Dining

Photos: Waffle House moments through the years

1955: The first Waffle House opens in Avondale Estates. The restaurant has since been turned into the Waffle House Museum.

1960s: Waitresses pour coffee at Waffle House.

1960s: An early Waffle House menu.

1960s: A Waffle House cook makes waffles.

1980s: Bert Thornton holds a bowl of his namesake chili that became a cult favorite.

1989: Waffle House employees work in Charleston, South Carolina has Hurricane Hugo threatened to make landfall.

1984: Waffle House started releasing music on its Waffle Records.

1989: Waffle House stayed open when Category 4 Hurricane Hugo made landfall in the southeastern United States. A Waffle House jump team was created in response to the storm.

1990s: A Waffle House employee decorates a Christmas tree.

1996: Employees stand outside a new Waffle House built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, which were held in Atlanta.

2000s: A Waffle House employee shows off a heart-shaped waffle. Waffle House started taking reservations for its popular Valentine's Day dinner in 2008.

2000s: Waffle House founders Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner pose with Alice Johnson, for whom the menu's Alice s Iced Tea is named.

2000: Angie Shepard, senior third-shift waitress at a Rockdale Waffle House, wears a 'waitress cam' on her visor while waiting to begin the filming of Waffle House Live, a TV show pilot thought up by Pat Crosby.

2004: Lucy Shelton retires after 47 years at Waffle House, making her the chain's longest-serving associate.

2005: Waffle House founder Tom Forkner. then-Governor Sonny Perdue, Waffle House founder Joe Rogers Sr. and cook Rhonda Anderson gather at Waffle House to celebrate the chain's 50th anniversary.

2006: Joey Chestnut wins the first Waffle House World Waffle-Eating Championship held at Stone Mountain Park. Fifteen contestants had 10 minutes to eat as many waffles as possible. Chestnut ate 23 waffles for $5000.

2008: Kid Rock poses for a photograph with the Waffle House staff after a two hour autograph session at the Waffle House on Old Peachtree Road in Duluth.

2010: Waffle House installed solar panels on the restaurant near its Norcross headquarters.

2013: Waffle House added a food truck to its offerings for catering events.

2015: The Waffle House at 5245 Stone Mountain Highway opened the chain's first drive-thru.

2005: Chef Sean Brock took Anthony Bourdain for his first Waffle House experience. Bourdain called it "better than French Laundry."

2018: Waffle House launced a hash-brown bar --that also serves beer -- at SunTrust Park.

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1955: The first Waffle House opens in Avondale Estates. The restaurant has since been turned into the Waffle House Museum.

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