Waffle House — Restaurant in Gastonia

Unfortunately my experience there yesterday was not the best.

I met my nephew up there, who just returned from out of the country studying abroad. We were seated at 9:00, ordered our food and were both finished, sipping on coffee and enjoying my nephews stories before he had to leave again in the morning for an out of state internship. We met at the West Franklin BLVD location because of its ideal distance between our homes.

At 9:40, our waitress approached the table and made the following statement: “If y’all are finished I can go ahead and ring you up because we got a family waiting for a table”

I was so appalled that I hesitantly agreed, not knowing what else to do, and got up to pay and leave. While paying, the family who was “waiting for a table” was then escorted to another table across the restaurant. The waitress then began dropping subtle reminders to tip her.

Look, I get it. I have worked in and managed 6 restaurants in Gaston County over the last 27 years. I know how it works when waiting tables. Each person through the door is a potential tip, a potential bill paid or potential Christmas present for your kid. But this is NOT the way to treat customers. Especially if they have only been there for 40 minutes.

I went ahead and gave Waffle House corporate a call to let them know about the situation. They reassured me that their managers are not taught to run customers off who are enjoying themselves. They apologized and asked me to keep track of this behavior, should I return again.

I’m not going to say the waitress’s name, as I don’t think this worthy of harsh action on their part, but I will say this: I will return to this location weekly and if this happens to me or anyone else again, I will call corporate. There, on the spot, and put them on...

I didn't realize it was Sunday. I was thinking it was Monday. So I placed a to -go order to pick up around 11:45, thinking it wouldn't be workday lunch time yet. Oops. The food was exactly what I ordered. I got an extra bacon BLT & a 2-egg breakfast because you can't just order a side of eggs. Not online anyway. It was ok. There was no mayo and they didn't give me any for the sandwich. It was hard to eat because it was dry. The bacon was cooked exactly how I like it though. The lettuce was brown and wilted. I had to take it off. The hash browns were good. The eggs were egg-cellent 👀 lol. Anyway, there was no ketchup for the hash browns either. The parking lot was PACKED. I drive a small RV and didn't realize that this location is on a closed corner with only one access. I was LUCKY that when I pulled in there was a spot in front of the dumpster. It left just enough room for me to back my beast vehicle out and leave without any problems. The cashier that asked if she could help me when I went to the counter was nice enough. I didn't get her name. She was short and to the point, but it was busy. All tables were full, though no one was waiting for seating. It wasn't noon yet though. Not all the churches had let out yet. Very loud, lots of employees and people. They seemed efficient if not actually friendly. Not a bad experience, but not brimming with joy to return for a repeat. Oh, and just a sandwich, 2 eggs, toast, and hash browns was $26 after tax and tip. Even in this economy of over-priced everything, that was a BAD value...

Went to Waffle House in Shelby first. Our waitress, Mikaela, was the sweetest you can have.... But they didn't have regular coffee that morning at 10am, only decaffeinated, but not a big problem.....we wanted a few changes with our food and the dum dum of cook got an attitude with the waitress, saying he can't do that, ok, food came and was cold, not Luke, but cold....again he got an attitude with waitress, didn't have the balls to talk to me personally...we just left the restaurant because I'm not dealing with stupid kids who think they own the world.....ugh... We went to Gastonia Waffle House on Franklin Blvd, with excellent service, hot food, quick service and delicious....the same order with changes , trying to get in Shelby with no luck..... From there I called the DM of the Shelby restaurant to complain , to tell him what happend.. He said he'll look into it.... That kid of a wannabe cook knows he won't get fired because they need people desperately, so he probably gets a soft slap on his hand.....anyway, I'll never go to Shelby WH again, I'd rather go...