I’ve never been come across a waffle house. But can attest to the breakfasts at small town diners. Peterborough, NH; Florence, MA; Waldoboro, ME. Bottomless coffee cups, booths as designated to locals as to celebs at Rao’s NYC. Everybody knows everybody, except us who look kind of funny.
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Heck yeah. We have two local places that kill the breakfast. I tried to convince the owner of our Mexican place to go breakfast, but he wouldn’t bite.
You might look funny at the start; but I bet you could leave friends (everybody 'cept crabby Bill in the corner.)
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Men of a certain age. 
As true here as abroad. First visit, you’re a stranger; second time recognized and honorary regular; third time, family. We have often been told that they appreciate our loyalty. There are so many one night stands that a visitor who returns is valued.
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That’s too bad. I love all breakfast foods Mexican.
“I’ve never been come across a waffle house.”
As far as I know, in the U.S., they are primarily in the south.
I’ve been to Roscoe’s Waffle House in Pasadena.
Good to know! I remember Roscoe’s in So Cal. Is that part of the Waffle House chain?
That is reminding me that I was surprised to learn that when speaking to some folks, at least in Northern California, “the south” sometimes means southern California!
I looked it up and it looks like they are not only in the US south. I usually see them when I am visiting family in Georgia, North Carolina, and Atlanta, but they are indeed elsewhere!
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The first time I noticed Waffle House was on a road trip from Pittsburgh to Charleston WV to Gatlinburg to Nashville to Cincinnati and back to Pittsburgh 9 years ago. On that trip, I focused on indie breakfasts.
It was a FB friend who lives in Columbia NC who mentioned the hash browns that got me interested in trying Waffle House at some point. Looks like there are some in Ohio, which would probably be my closest option. It looks like there are some independent or small chain waffle houses in Detroit with waffle house as part of their name, which are waffle specialiasts and not part of the big chain.
There’s an IHOP in Niagara Falls, Ontario, I think, but it isn’t common here. I had a breakfast at an IHOP in San Mateo in 2014, and before then it would have been in the 80s with relatives near Pleasanton.
I think my last Denny’s breakfast was in 2002 near the Wisconsin Dells on my drive from Calgary to Chicago . There are Denny’s in Canada, but I haven’t been to one in 20 years. 20 years ago, Denny’s seemed expensive compared to independent greasy spoons.
That said, I do go to some breakfast chains and chain diners in Canada. Humpty’s and Smitty’s when I am in Saskatchewan or Alberta, and Sunset Grill in Ontario.
I also have a soft spot for Bob Evans when I drive to Pittsburgh, and choose Cracker Barrel over other chain options near the Interstate when I need a meal while driving past Erie.
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Someone told me it was started by some grads of the Georgia Institute of Technology and that the signage colors (black letters on yellow background) are to honor the school.
Doesn’t seem to be a perfect match, though (although that could just be an artifact of the stock photos themselves).
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I remember that one! I really loved their sausage gravy. There’s some flavor in it that I can’t define and can’t seem to replicate.
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IHOP and Cracker Barrel don’t draw the same clientele as Waffle House.
The patrons are the entertainment at WH.
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Anyone who travel to the South should at least visit and dine in a Waffle House once, preferably twice.
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The Cracker Barrel in Erie attracts people wearing their Sunday Best after church on Sunday. There’s a wait for the table on Sundays.
I expect that kind of line at a Macaroni Grill in Colorado Springs, not at a Cracker Barrel anywhere.
While attending the car show at Hershey PA, we settled on breakfast at a local McDo.
A handful of senior guys, a few couples, gathered every morning for Breakfast Club. It was a cheerful and guaranteed community event As in, “Where’s Ed?” and someone would contribute information.
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Was supposed to say Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama.
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My friends and I (6 of us, total) stopped into a McDonalds in southern Missouri one time on our way to a river canoeing weekend on the aptly named Current River (pretty fast water!).
The restaurant was spotless, and there were hot-n-cold running assistant managers all over the place refilling drinks at patrons’ tables, asking if anyone would like more (complimentary!) fries, etc.
Place was packed. I’d never before, and haven’t since, seen a fast food restaurant so well run.
Edit - is it just me? Every time I see this thread title I think it says “Eating Ethnically while traveling”.
Doh!
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And at least one of those at about 2am on a Sunday morning…right at the convergence where 2nd shift is heading out for something to eat, the the club kids are out to sober up, and the bartenders and servers need fuel before they head home.
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Oh I miss that one.
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Yes, I always get this too. While some things are typically more expensive, there are actually a lot of reasonable eats in Japan (and even Tokyo in particular) that are quite good. Food halls - and they are delicious - help, but many restaurants are smaller neighborhood places that offer excellent set meals for lunch and dinner. This is where those wonderful plastic food models are so helpful; so many places show you what the special set meals are that usually include some sort of appetizer and/or salad, soup and then an entree. These were often in the $10-15 range when I traveled to Japan more in the late 90s through 2010 or so. Even some of my most splurgy meals (like an all crab meal for myself) came to about $60 - a lot to spend for me alone, but worth every penny for a lot of crab.
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