Waffle House Museum

I wouldn’t make special plans to go here… but if you just so happen to be in the neighborhood and it happens to be open… then I would go. It takes a matter of minutes to go through the museum. The museum staff members are extremely friendly and welcoming. It is also a great place if you want Waffle House merch… yes there is a population of people that want Waffle House merch… my son happens to be one of them🤪… he walked away with a Waffle House t-shirt. Entrance is free!

They are open to the public without appointment quarterly. There is an additional meuseum next door with merch availible for sale.

Over the years, I’ve asked Waffle House customers if they know there’s a dishwashing sink located right in the middle of the restaurant—between the grill and the guest. Almost none of them do. Let that sink in. That’s how cognitively dissonant the entire Waffle House system is. The dishwashing system—central to hygiene, labor, and flow—is completely unacknowledged in their training manuals. It doesn’t exist in the “10 Steps of Service.” It’s not part of the designed flow of labor. It’s just... there. Loud. Wet. Central. And invisible. This isn’t just a logistical flaw. It’s a culture-wide blind spot. And that’s what Waffle House has normalized: the erasure of labor, the denial of reality, and the expectation that both staff and guests pretend nothing is wrong. I’m not angry. I’m awake. And this system desperately needs someone who is.

The Official Waffle House museum is phenomenal and an awesome piece of American history! I encourage everyone to visit and learn about the huge role Waffle House has played in the development of America as we know it today. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

This site of the 1st ever Waffle House is a great place to entertain the family on the cheap. Go during their free weekends and get waffles and bottles of Cokes...for free! A nice piece of Georgia history and a must for any Waffle House fan, but be aware, this is NOT an actual restaurant, so don't go looking for food on a non-open house weekend. My kid loved playing the available games with the other children and that iconic paper hat...couldn't get it off him!

Celebrated my wife’s 30th Birthday here! I was disappointed that it wasn’t setup like an actual Waffle House as I thought I saw in pictures, but nevertheless it was awesome. The food was catered by Waffle House, and we had an awesome time! If you’re looking for a small, intimate place for gatherings this is the place and it’s very affordable!

It was interesting seeing the history. A plus if you go when they are having an event you get a free waffle.💜

Really fun and interesting small museum about the history of Waffle House. They have a handful of open houses a year, but otherwise are appointment only for tours.

This is where it began. The very first Waffle House and it's now the Waffle House Museum. I've been to a hundred Waffle House restaurants, as far north as Scranton PA and as far west as Oklahoma City and 27 of them just in North Carolina. The marker reads, "At this location, on Labor Day 1955, Avondale Estates neighbors Joe Rogers, Sr., and Tom Forkner founded the first Waffle House restaurant. The name was inspired by the most popular item on the original menu. The restaurant's focus on fast-food speed and round-the-clock service reflected mid-century societal shifts toward an automobile culture. As suburbs and the interstate highway system developed throughout the region and the nation, Waffle House grew to include over 1,600 locations nationwide, becoming an American cultural icon open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In 2004 Waffle House reacquired the original restaurant building and opened it as a museum in 2008." This is marker number 44-2 and it was erected in 2012 by the Georgia Historical Society, the Waffle House, the City of Avondale Estates, and the Avondale Estates Downtown Development Authority. At the moment, the museum is closed for remodeling. I look forward to returning and having a proper tour. Until then, "Chunked and covered, please." [Review 241 of 2025 - 809 in Georgia - 23805 overall]

This is a southern icon. I wish they had better hours and more availability. We were happy to drive by and take outside pics but they are really missing an opportunity here!

Okay, y'all: this place is adorable and if you're a fan of the Waffle House (and who isn't?), it's definitely worth a visit. First and foremost though: it's only open about 4x a year, once a season. It can be reserved for private parties and tours, but otherwise you have to catch it on the right day. (I'd suggest following them on social media, like Facebook: they'll post when the next open day is.) This weekend it was so we made the trek over: a very easy walk from the Avondale MARTA station or go ahead and drive over if you want: there's a big enough parking lot for free parking. Oh, and did I mention visiting is FREE too? It's a small space, as it should be. It's the spot of the original Waffle House established in 1955 and one half of the museum has been remade to look like the original. When you walk in, very friendly and knowlegable staff is there to welcome you, tell you a bit of the history and let you wander about. I don't know why, but I was also entirely tickled to be able to go behind the counter and pretend to be a WH cook! :) And don't forget to go back into the "kitchen" where you can see the typical supplies they had in the day and even read the instructions on how to turn 10 lb. sacks of potatoes by hand into those delicious delicious scattered covered smothered hash browns you love today. The second half of the building contains memorabilia from over the years, articles and display cabinets full of history. Here you'll also find really nice staff to help answer any questions too. And a bonus: free Waffle House koozies and coupons for a free waffle your next visit to one of their restaurants (and psst! there's one right down the road if you're feeling the need after your visit too). Plus cute little paper hats and menus reflecting original prices from back in the day. (filet mignon for $2, whaaa?) It's not something to plan your whole day around: an hour tops should be enough to take in all the WH goodness. But there's a lot to do in this charming community to do too: restaurants and coffee houses, consignment and antique stores to wander through, and no less than 3 local breweries to stop by and tour and taste if that sort of thing fits your fancy too. All within walking distance of here. I'm a big sucker for preservation of a city's history and the folks here did a wonderful job in getting the space back to celebrate this little bit of Atlanta after it went through a series of other establishments over the past few decades. In a city that has been known to tear down the past way too easily, it's nice to see this sort of celebration instead. Go visit. It's sweet kitchy fun. :)

Little known fact: I worked for the WH 6 years while in highschool and before going to college. I can still order in WH speak and usually get "order scrambled cheese raisin plate scattered smothered covered chunked and capped." The price of coffee when I worked there was 85 cents. I LOVED the museum. I didn't believe my husband when he told me the very first one was located in Decatur and was shocked when they turned the old chinese food place into the WH museum. (I had to admit my defeat to the hubby as well.) They had it all decked out like the original WH and had the orig prices on the menu. They also had some of the old uniforms in the back, which I got a kick out of. Did you ever notice that the WH uniforms change every few years? Yup, tis true. There are also some examples of the pins they have issued over the years. FUN. But if you've never been an employee, I can see how you'd be bored. :)

The theory of a Waffle House museum by itself is worth a veritable googolplex of stars. Who among us hasn't marveled over the selection of Waffle House songs in their jukebox, gazed jaws agape at the speed of the short order cook, or dry heaved in a corner booth at 4 in the morning while regretting being talked into those last couple of tequila shots? No? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? OK, maybe it's just me, but the ubiquity of the Awful Waffle inspires more than just a little bit of curiosity. I mean, how DID it get started? Why are they all that shape and size? How did they come up with that number of hash brown combinations when countless engineers and full-on mathematicians I know couldn't replicate their numbers (More on that later.) In fact, how did a place called The Waffle House become known more for their hash browns than anything else? So yes, I was intrigued enough to head to Avondale to see the Waffle House Museum. Unfortunately, as I covered earlier, though the theory of a WH museum can't be topped, its execution is more scattered and dicey, ultimately smothering the whole experience. Why? First, it's not open to the public. Viewing is by appointment; the number is on their website. However, they've been holding several open houses, free to the general public, lately and that's how I got in. There are two sections: the memorabilia room and the restaurant recreation. The memorabilia room is just that. Tsotchkes and relics of bygone eras, seats, old promo items, menus, mugs, etc. each lovingly labled, but with very little context. Then again, how much context does one need for "Cooks' Paper Hats Throughout the Years?" The founder's notepad designs for the first WH are also housed here, supplying the template for all future Waffle Houses. Well, at least THAT question was answered. But my other questions? Not so much. Then again, the memorabilia room is more homage than it is education; I doubt very much a curator was involved in the collection. The restaurant recreation, though, is what everyone wanted to see. Yes, it's a complete restoration of the restaurant just as it looked in 1955 which, honestly, looks pretty much the same as they all do now. They thoughtfully supplied plastic food stuffs in all the right places and they encourage you to step behind the counter to play out your short order dreams. You can toast plastic bread, flip fake waffles. You can shoot faux-angry stares at fake drunks slurring orders at the counter. I admittedly spent more time playing back here than a grown man should. The experience was cute, but, when someone asked me about it later, I responded, "Well, if you want to see the entire thing, it'll take about 10 minutes. I mean, hell, it's the size of a Waffle House." You can spend more time here if you talk with the welcoming staff (including the nice, yet somewhat condescending marketing guy who assured me "Well, the Waffle House Board is mostly GA Tech engineers, so I'm sure the number of combinations they have published on the menu is correct." Further research on my part has uncovered that they count as toppings THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING, BLUE CHEESE, Tabasco, and Ranch frakin' dressing among their toppings. Really, Marketing Guy? REALLY?) In all, I'm glad there's a Waffle House museum, and, if you've got an hour to kill (and it's open) give it a look. But to my friend Matt down in Orlando who wanted to plan a pilgrimage, you might be a little disappointed. Three stars.

This was a cool place to visit. I loved that the Waffle House is shown back in the 1950's with the awesome prices and such (.30 for a burger!). We were able to go behind the counter and pretend to cook and serve. This was a part of the FYLA activities and I'm glad this was one of the events. I made myself a bomb waffle and had some coffee (which kept me up alllllll night long). I became familiar with the gentlemen who started the Waffle House and their stories. Cool. I believe it is free to visit the museum, so there's no excuse not to go visit this gem in Decatur.

The good news is, there is indeed a waffle house museum. The bad news is that the odds of it being open and not sucking a little bit, are pretty low. We popped in shortly after it was complete only because we saw that it was finally opened. After that, I've never actually seen it open again. Guess you can make a reservation or something. Maybe you will be lucky and it will be open. Pretty good tour, short. Front part has been restored to it's original decor, and the back gives a peak at how things were stored and what ingredients were used. The funniest part was taking a photo with the wife in a mock his and her's Waffle House uniform. It's cool that this exists, it's just not that great. Most people don't know that Waffle House started in Avondale. Ironic because the Waffle House right down the street from the Museum is pretty crappy and definitely not the "model" for Waffle Houses.

I had the opportunity to visit here via FYLA [Forever Yelp Loves Atlanta] event yesterday. This place is pretty cool. We were greeted by a friendly tour guide who offered a hat and a menu. I think I was expecting a little more...like seeing some cooks in the open kitchen. I've been to too many Waffle Houses. I guess that's what I imagined there, just like you would see at any WH. I forgot that this was a museum tho - duh, Karen. I love little history lessons and, uh, free food so this worked for me hehe. Inside of the restaurant were clean utensils, ketchup bottles, cookware, everything. I loved that. We walked through the commissary where they displayed potatoes and other items on the menu that were made from scratch. Interesting. Those hashbrowns don't taste that fresh to me but I like them. The walkthrough was a breeze. The best thing about this museum is that you get to make your own waffle at the end. I also imagined that we would be making the waffles in the kitchen but whatever. There were 4 waffle makers along with 2 people to help direct us on how to make the waffles. There were about 6 toppings and fillings some of which looked like they came out of a Captain Crunch Berries box - blueberries, strawberries, pecans, chocolate and peanut butter. I topped mine off with chocolate and peanut butter, drizzled with icing. It was pretty good. I would've never tried it any other day so what the heck. My bf filled his with blueberries and pecans. The pecans were real by the way. I commented about the blueberries because he usually orders that when we visit WH. I just stick to the basics - a plain waffle with syrup. Anyway, I commented "I thought those were real berries when you ordered that at the restaurant." He chuckled "me too." I guess it was still good. I was a little reluctant to try it. Anyway, we had a great time walking through and reading the literature about the history of WH. I think the most touching one was the framed obituary of the first waitress at WH. She dedicated 47 years to the first WH built on Peachtree Street. She passed away in 2010 and they had her obituary there. I loved that. I am definitely a fan of this place. I was more excited that WH originated in Atlanta in 1955, although I'm not a native here, I love the city. I love the little known facts about this table-service, fast-food spot seen on EVERY corner. Geesh! Highlights: -It was a breath of fresh air to see a spotless WH lol -Its FREE -You get to make your own waffle!

This was a fun little tour, especially when combined with lunch at the working Waffle House down the road. Bring your camera and take silly pictures of your friends wearing a Waffle House hat behind the counter at the griddle. Lately it's been open to the public one day a month. When I was there, our host was the daughter of the man who designed the building. That's Waffle House royalty!