Walk-up Waffle House opens in Underground

Waffle House has made Atlanta Police Sgt. Alex Howard one very happy man.

The Atlanta-based chain opened its newest restaurant right on Howard’s beat: Underground Atlanta.

“With this being here, it’s a blessing in disguise,” Howard said Thursday outside the eatery as he greeted familiar passers-by who stopped at the restaurant. “This is going to be so good for people who are looking for somewhere to eat late, late at night.”

Waffle House, which had been promising to open since earlier in the year, greeted its first customers Wednesday. Staff passed out coupons, waved for customers to come on in and smiled at those who couldn’t believe one of the city’s favorite diners was in the heart of downtown.

Derrick Hooper, area vice president, said the restaurant’s staff had seen everybody from state workers looking for a cup of coffee to get the day going to college students grabbing a bite between classes at Clark Atlanta and Georgia State.

The restaurant, which will be open 24 hours a day like others in the chain, is on the top level of Underground near the corner of Peachtree and Alabama streets. It’s a hair smaller than other locations, Hooper said, but comes complete with several tables, multilevel dining counters and seats for customers waiting for orders.

Unlike other locations, though, the Underground restaurant has an express menu for diners on the run. It is the first in the chain that depends entirely on walk-up service so the quick pickup was designed for people who don’t have time to sit down and eat.

Customer Thomas Ramsey said he was glad to have stumbled onto the store. When he gets hungry for a waffle, he usually stops at the location on Howell Mill Road because it’s on his way to work at Cobb County Water System. Now Ramsey, who lives near Clark Atlanta, can just scoot a few miles west for his waffle fix.

“I’m glad to see it,” he said. “This is like a central point between where I work and where I live.”

The Underground Waffle House will be Gary Norris’ new breakfast haunt. Norris, who eats at Waffle House at least three times a week, said it adds some local flavor to downtown.

“This is fantastic that we have a hometown restaurant in the middle of all this growth,” he said.

Adam Duswald, who works at Southern Candy in Underground, said, “It’s about time. You don’t have no place down there that serves breakfast. I’m just glad this is down here.”

Officer Howard, who works the overnight shift, said the restaurant will be very popular among party-goers at night. He expects many of them will want to stop by for an early morning breakfast, which might mean the need for additional police officers. But getting more food in their stomachs could also be a positive.

“This is going to draw a lot of the right people, but unfortunately, it will draw some of the wrong people, too,” he said.