Waffle House — Restaurant in Mansfield

5:05 a.m. Working with only two hours of sleep, a long shift behind me the day prior, and a jog already finished at 3:00 a.m., I was on my way to chase another Waffle House farther from home that I had never visited. But something stopped me. Just before I hit the on-ramp, the glowing yellow letters broke through the dark. A hidden Waffle House I’d never noticed before. It felt like fate, like the road itself telling me to turn in.

The lot was mostly empty. Just a couple of cars, the kind that looked like they had been parked there since the night before. Inside, the building wore its years proudly. The kind of Waffle House that hadn’t seen a remodel in decades. The same tile floors. The same worn booths. It was like stepping into a time capsule of grease and comfort.

Two tables had customers when I sat down. Within minutes it was only me and one other soul, both of us scattered in this big open diner. My food landed in front of me: eggs soft, hash browns spread across the plate like a golden carpet, two Springer Mountain chicken sausages that tasted far better than their simple look. Steam rose into the air like incense.

Then I thought back to yesterday. I remembered a TikTok trend where people claimed the rapture was supposed to happen. Some were selling their belongings, some saying “today is the day,” and others warning not to be on the toilet when it came. And I realized something. If it did happen, then I wasn’t left behind. I was raptured, because this was heaven. Heaven had double hash browns, a quiet jukebox humming in the corner, and the kind of fluorescent light that makes you question what time it really is.

I ate slowly, glancing at the other diner like we were two survivors in an empty world. When I walked back to my car, I looked at the sign outside still glowing, holding its place against the night like a beacon. I thought to myself: if the real rapture comes, I hope God raptures at least one Waffle House into the pearly gates.

And if He doesn’t?

Then I’m perfectly fine staying down...

Last night we stopped in after a fantastic night with family and friends.

Initial observation as we walked in was that they were not cleaning up efficiently after previous diners had left as there were several dirty bar-top seats and several dirty tables. After seating, we informed the waitress that we were one large group and specifically stated that our group is through the"kids at the bar top". The waiter then took over and took our orders and he seemed terribly disorganized and was wearing an airpod as well.

As we sat there waiting, it was twenty minutes later that three in our party did not have their order taken which included two very hungry kids (5 and 9 years old) and the waiter took the order. As we continued to wait, it took telling the waiter four times that I was still waiting on my drink.

After our food came out, it was terribly over-cooked and dry, the hash browns were dry and worst of all; the last three that had their order taken, either the waiter didn't call the order out or the chefs told him he couldn't, either way, the two kids were not getting their food in a timely manner despite us clearly stating that they were part of our party.

When it came time to pay, the waiter had three tickets of which one was the food that was never made in which we told the waiter that we are not paying for the food that was never put in.

There was no Leadership presence last night and when asked who we can talk to in the morning, there was no way of actually calling the store.

Normally Waffle House is a great place for a quick meal but during the overnight hours, try to avoid...

Ruby an her cook held it down for midday rush ! We seated and our server Jen I think was her name forgot our drinks, kept wondering off to the back, and overall lacked enthusiasm to be participating besides taking the order and dropping the food (Ruby had to ask her if she took the order after forgetting our drinks) and we'd already been seated a minute. It was super busy so I totally get it! Ruby balanced us and the entire restaurant bouncing back and forth being a happy addition to the environment and the cook getting as many orders out efficiently-they was handling the mishaps from Jen and remaining professional. Once it seemed some form of leadership entered our server returned to us and was smiling, even asked if we needed anything as if she'd been attentive the entire time. My husband and I laughed ! 😅 then proceeded to go get cash to tip our real workers ! Overall though it's nice to see the mansfield waffle house have good food, service, and atmosphere provided besides our server Jen. I mean it's all in the open so kinda hard to hide the guffs and dirty looks our disgruntled server was giving. Don't know what happened besides it being busy. Hopefully next time she realizes the value of adding to the atmosphere. I'm still giving 5 stars because I been coming to this location for nearly 12 years now and know the ups and downs it's had. I love my town and knowing good things happen here ! Thank you for the good food and still providing high customer service under stress. It was seen and...