Interview with Thomas: Relief Manager of Waffle House in Tempe since 1992

Left: Thomas (Relief Manager), Right: Sean (Employee)

Does your restaurant has a location-, target group- or formula oriented concept?

The Waffle House has a formula oriented concept. Our formula is ‘serving good food fast & friendly’.

We saw on the Waffle House website that each restaurant is operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Why is the Waffle House 24/7 open?

Well, we want to serve every customer that’s passing by. As example: many ASU students come at night, because they are way too busy at daytime. Also many travelers are passing by. The most of the Waffle Houses haven’t got any locks.

The Waffle House is open 24/7, but you can’t work 24/7. What are the working times at Waffle House?
We work with three shifts in a day. There are two shifts of 7 hours at daytime and at night we have a shift of 10 hours.

Which time is the most crowded? Is it breakfast, lunch, dinner or another time?
The breakfast is the most crowded time here, following by lunch and dinner.

Do you have many regulars?
Yes, we have many customers who are coming back, because of the food and the friendly faces here at Waffle House.

We’ve seen that Waffle House is active on Twitter and Facebook. Which other kinds of marketing does Waffle House use?
Waffle House use word-of-mouth marketing and we spread flyers in local businesses in a two mile radius.

Do you know if Waffle House has tried to expand his restaurants to other countries? If yes, why was/wasn’t this a success?
No, Waffle House hasn’t tried to expand his restaurants to other countries yet. We even not expand to some other states because of their laws, which make it impossible to keep our low price.

What are the strengths of the Waffle House?
I think our consistency, the friendly faces and the fast served food.

Do you think the Waffle house could be successful in the Netherlands?
Yes, I think it could be successful in any country!