Waffle House — Restaurant in Melbourne

The Waffle House Melbourne, FL (Eau Gallie Blvd. Location) Fast Food/Chain rating- 4 Stars

"It's 2:00 and the bars are all closed, I must have shut em all down by the shape I'm in." - G. Jones

Walking into the immaculately clean Waffle House on Eau Gallie Blvd in Melbourne, Florida I was immediately transported back to my youth in the 1970s. Taking family vacations on the interstate highway system back then meant a Waffle House at practically every exit. They were everywhere. I swear it still smelled the same. They are still open 24 hours. Of course, back then, they were mostly filled with professional truck drivers, truck stop "gals", stale cigarette smoke, and drunks having just closed the local saloon, so it was nice to see some things have changed for the better!

The layout is the same as it was with an open kitchen. I like being able to glance in and see what is transpiring on the grill. It can either fill me with anticipation or dread. In this case, it was anticipation as I watched their kitchen masters do their thing. My server was Janine and she was on the ball and outstanding in every regard a server can be measured. Thank you, Janine! I placed an order with her for two eggs, smothered, covered & chunked hash browns, bacon and waffles (I mean, they are the Waffle House after all!).

As you can see by the pictures, the eggs were a perfect over medium, the hash browns were golden, and...oh, forget it. Who cares? It's after bar close, they are open and it's fine! As far as open 24 hours "greasy spoons" and "choke and pukes" that line American highways and byways, Waffle House is hands down the best of the lot.

The Big Boy says, "any time of day you want some good Americana diner-type grub sans stale cigarette smoke, try the...

The employees here are an example of how teams should work. They have a very positive vibe and it's very cool to watch how they just flow together and coordinate like a machine with singular purpose.

I would like to add a special mention for Daryll, who made my breakfast today. Not only did he make everything taste amazing, but he didn't even flinch and kept completely professional when one of the other customers at the bar very rudely attempted to micromanage him. The customer in question was belligerent, condescending, and entitled, but Daryll didn't dignify it with any response. He just kept making the best breakfast I've had lately, served another awesome breakfast to the belligerent, entitled and possibly racist customer who tlhad treated him so rudely, and then, complete unphased by the rotten customer, greeted a large group of new customers with a smile and went out of his way to make them comfortable.

Daryll is an absolute professional and has more patience and grace than most of us deserve. Mad respect for Daryll and every one of the crew Waffle House today who helped us and also had each other's backs. Employees who work well together create a great atmosphere and, even with one of the rudest customers I've ever seen potentially ruining the other customers' experience as well as the employees" patience, they just kept doing their jobs with sincerity and good attitudes, which kept the rude man in check.

I don't know how they did it...whatever their wages are, I doubt it's sufficient for such professionalism. We've been here many times, and will keep going as long as they stay as awesome...

I arrived about 5:15 am and was the only one in the place. The cook “China” had her back to me cutting onions and a lot of them were falling on the floor. She slammed the knife down on the prep table that appeared to be anger. The onion fell on the floor and rolled into the broken floor drain. Finally the waiter (without name tag) soft spoken took my order. He appeared timid to verbally give the cook my order. I watched the cook wearing a pair of gloves pull her cell phone from the inside of her shirt and scroll through while cooking. Wearing the same gloves removed chopped jalapeños, ham and mushrooms with her hands wearing the same gloves. Later she began to clean the counter putting everything on the floor and she swept the wasted food up and handled other cleaning products and went back to handling uncooked and cooked food wearing the same gloves! She was also seen wiping her nose with her hand wearing the same gloves! When my food was ready she left it on the prep area while the waiter filled salt and pepper shakers, and took the trash out ignoring the food. Finally “China” turned around with my food and put it in front of me not saying a single word. The food was NOT as I ordered it. The place was absolutely filthy and the waffle makers were over flowing with...