Waffle House Has Its Own Record Label, and 6 Other Things Georgians Never Learned About the Chain

You’ve probably sat at a Waffle House counter more times than you can count.

But you may still not know the chain’s whole story.

Here’s why Waffle House has its own record label, and six other things Georgians never learned about the chain.

Waffle Records

Waffle House’s record label, Waffle Records, released its first song, “Waffle House Family, Part 1,” in 1984.

Co-founder Joe Rogers Sr. came up with the idea, and by 2016 the label had released about 40 songs.

Music videos followed, starting in 2007.

Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) reported that the company pressed approved songs on vinyl 45s, and you could play them on its jukeboxes.

By 2016, the process was digital.

The songs range from gospel and bluegrass to rock and roll.

Titles include “There Are Raisins in My Toast” and “Color Me Gone.”

The catch?

By Waffle House’s count, the songs made up 1 percent of all jukebox plays in 2015.

A Waffle House marketing manager told GPB the songs are mood music, not commercials.

1. Two Avondale Neighbors

Waffle House started with two neighbors in Avondale Estates, a suburb of Atlanta.

Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner opened the first restaurant on Labor Day 1955.

The two met in 1949, when Forkner, a real estate businessman, sold Rogers a home in Avondale Estates.

By combining their $4,000 in savings, they built out a 24-hour, sit-down restaurant.

So if you’ve eaten at a Waffle House, you’ve eaten at a chain that started with $4,000.

Forkner had been assigned to the Manhattan Project, and Rogers had been a B-24 pilot trainer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reported in 2025.

As of 2025, the chain had more than 2,000 locations in 25 states.

About 400 were in Georgia.

2. Joe Rogers Sr.’s Exit and Return

Waffle House co-founder Joe Rogers Sr. sold his interest to Forkner about a year after they opened.

He did it mainly to avoid any appearance of conflict with his position at Toddle House, the AJC reported in 2004.

He didn’t stay away.

In 1960, Rogers resigned from Toddle House after its new owners rebuffed his proposals for management ownership.

Forkner then persuaded him to come back to Atlanta and take over the restaurant-management end of the chain.

By 1961, you could eat at four Waffle House restaurants.

3. The Second Restaurant in Midtown

If you walk Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, you’ll reach the corner of 10th where Waffle House opened its second restaurant.

They hadn’t planned to expand.

By 1957, they had two.

The DeKalb History Center says that restaurant was originally called Wagon Wheel.

It sat on the ground floor of a Southern Bell office building, which was later demolished.

If you stand on that corner today, you’re on part of the Margaret Mitchell House property.

4. Chick-fil-A Chicken on the Early Menu

Waffle House served Chick-fil-A sandwiches in its early days, the DeKalb History Center says.

The company’s archivist told the Marietta Daily Journal in 2025 that you could get Chick-fil-A chicken at the original location in the 1960s.

The run was short.

Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy leased his chicken recipes to the chain, along with a patented deep fryer.

Because Waffle House cooks in front of you, the fryer stayed hidden in the back room.

5. The Yellow Shoebox Design

Architect Clifford Nahser designed Waffle House’s restaurants for co-founder Joe Rogers Sr.

The first restaurant was a simple brick box with a plate glass storefront running floor to ceiling.

In 1961, the sixth restaurant got a new freestanding design, with an A-frame roof and a gray brick exterior, the DeKalb History Center says.

The yellow came later.

In 1962, in East Point, the familiar yellow color scheme and “shoebox” design appeared.

You can credit Nahser for the yellow-and-black scheme that became familiar to drivers across the region.

6. The First Restaurant, Now a Museum

The original Waffle House, at 2719 East College Avenue, is now the Waffle House Museum.

Waffle House bought back the building in 2004 and opened the museum in 2008, according to the Georgia Historical Society marker at the site.

An exhibit floor covers the menu and uniform histories and the jukebox.

The interior was recreated to capture the look and feel of the original restaurant.

Admission is free, according to the museum’s page.

CBS Atlanta reported in December 2025 that the museum holds self-guided open houses on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., four times a year.

No appointment is needed during an open house, so you can just show up.

From Syrup Drips to Block Letters

The company’s archivist told the AJC in 2025 that Waffle House’s original logo was a drippy font meant to mimic syrup.

Then the font changed.

A Conyers restaurant that opened in 1969 was the first to use the block-letter logo.

A restaurant on a busy road needs a sign people can read from a distance.

Cash and Coca-Cola

Waffle House took only cash until 2006.

Credit cards came next.

If you order a Coke at the counter, Waffle House says it’s the brand the chain has served since Labor Day 1955.

Company-Owned Restaurants

In the 1960s, Waffle House expanded rapidly through franchising, according to the DeKalb History Center.

By 1967, the chain was a $3 million business with 25 franchises across three states.

That changed.

Waffle House has since bought back many franchised restaurants, the company's archivist told the AJC in 2025.

As of 2025, about 97 percent of locations were company-owned.

So odds are the company runs the Waffle House where you sit down.

A Million-Dollar Thank-You

An anonymous donor gave a $1 million donation to Avondale Estates in honor of Waffle House, announced in February 2026.