Waffle House

Matthew Durkee : This is a place for smokers, and I'm not talking about gentlemen with pipes or power brokers with fine cigars. This is blue collar Camel or Lucky Strike territory here. The only difference between smoking and non here is that non has no ashtrays on the table. But all are forced to breathe the same stale cigarette air. The food was only average. It was the kind of meal that if sometime later on in the day you are asked what you had for lunch you may just not remember. They offer a Reuben Omelette which sounds interesting, but not interesting enough to get me back here. (2004-10-12)

Carl Klutzke : The exterior of the Waffle House is a friendly, bright yellow, and the interior is clean and bright, if a bit well worn. The staff was very friendly and polite, and though our waitress did later record Matthew's order incorrectly, she quickly had it fixed (and _his_ Reuben came out with decorative toothpicks). My only quibble about the dining area was that it was just a bit smoky: probably because the non-smoking section consisted of only five booths in the entire restaurant, not separated from the others in any particular way, judging by the distribution of ashtrays on the other tables. It seems like they would have at least put the non-smoking section at one end or the other, but then people would have to walk through the smoking areas to get there, and would probably complain about that too. Given the neighborhood, I assume the paucity of non-smoking seating is dictated by the preferences of their clientelle: it's hard to say. Waffle House is running an Oktoberfest theme this month, which somehow led to reubens being featured on the placemat-menu (I guess the sauerkraut was the tie-in). I ordered mine with a pair of potato cakes: they had some ranch-type seasoning mixed in, and were pretty tasty. My diet Coke was served in a smallish plastic glass, but it was refilled for free. The meal was served on a china plate with metal flatware. A few pickle slices were scattered alongside, and their flavor reminded me of those on a McDonald's hamburger. The dressing was presented in a little plastic cup with a lid; I agree with Chris that the dressing on the side is the way to go, and so this was a plus as far as I was concerned. The bread on the sandwich was definitely rye, and looked like it would have been tasty and nicely toasted if it hadn't been sliced quite so thin. The bottom slice on the first half of my sandwich was already pretty soggy by the time I ate it, and so I flipped the other half over: the bread was so thin it had partially dried by the time I got to it. They didn't try the cheese-as-moisture-barrier trick, but the bread was so thin it may not have helped: I'm talking measurable in millimeters here. There was certainly no shortage of cheese, and again it was nice to have a reuben where the cheese could be tasted. Kraut was also in good supply and flavor. The beef was available in a proportional amount, and had good texture, but didn't contribute much to the flavor. In all it was a tasty sandwich, but a bit too small to fully satisfy my appetite, even with the potato cakes. I think it was a ploy to get me to buy pecan pie, which nearly worked, but ultimately I was too stingy to pay $2 for a slice. I'm pretty sure Waffle House will get more of my money in the near future anyway: we have to go back and try the reuben omelette before their Oktoberfest promotion ends. (2004-10-12)

Chris Rowland : The sandwich was small, but very tasty. The quantities were well-balanced, and like any good Reuben, it was a little sloppy to eat. The beefsteak rye was good grilled just right, but was much too thin for the sandwich. There was a good supply of sauerkraut and cheese. It could have used a little more meat, but for the price, it was probably just the right amount. The restaurant doesn't have a good non-smoking section, just a few tables as an island in the sea of smokers, but fortunately there wasn't a lot of smoking going on when we were there. It wasn't a fancy dining area, but the restaurant was clean and in good repair, the exterior had also been recently painted. Our server was attentive and very friendly. She went out of her way to let us know that we should make ourselves comfortable--change tables if we wanted, or whatever. She was also prompt and got us in and out pretty quickly. Other than a small error writing down one of the orders, I'd have to say that she outshined servers at many a nicer place. I would be glad to return to have the Waffle House Reuben any time. (2004-10-12)

Brian Skiles : The experience exceeded my expectations. The sandwich was better than most, but was a bit small and got very soggy. I'm mostly interested in going back and trying the Reuben omelette they have for the rest of October. (2004-10-12)