ROUSES.COM
13
W
affle House short order cooks use a
“Magic Marker” system to help them
remember a bunch of orders at once. What
packet of condiment the cook places on a
plate, where it is, and which side is facing
up helps the cook remember the order. The
placement of knives, forks and spoons on
the plate also helps them keep track.
“Onyourmark”
—The cookneeds toget ready
because the waitress is about to call an order.
“Pull two pork chops”
—The meat goes
on the flattop griddle first.
1 bacon = 3 slices
1/2 bacon = 2 slices
1 sausage = 2 sausage patties
1/2 sausage = 1 sausage patty
1 pork chop = 2 pork chops
1/2 pork chop = 1 pork chop
breakfast
In Short Order
by
Chef Tory McPhail, Commander’s Palace
I
’m from Washington State, the Canada side. The first
time I went toWaffle House was in Pensacola, summer
of 1993. It was my first trip to the Gulf Coast beaches,
actually, and between WaHo, Stuckey’s and all of the
Bushwackers I drank, I earned my Southern stripes.
My classic Waffle House order is an All Star Special
with eggs over medium, sausage links, not patties, and
hashbrowns scattered,coveredandcapped.I’drecommend
the melts and sandwichy stuff, too. I love a country-fried
steak in the morning with biscuits and gravy; I’ll get an
extra side of gravy just for my hashbrowns.
I have two pieces of advice if you’re new toWaHo. First,
go twice as often as you think, because half
the time you’ve been drinking and everything
tastes good when you’ve been drinking. Waffle
House is open 24 hours a day, every day of the
year, even Christmas, and Thanksgiving, so this
shouldn’t be hard.
Secondly ... and this is the really important thing to
remember if you want refills on your coffee ... regardless
of what your waitress looks like, flirt with her. Don’t get me
wrong; there are a lot of cute waitresses at Waffle House. But on
the off chance you get one who looks like your Uncle Burt, don’t wait
to tip her at the end to show her the love. Do it the minute you sit down.
WAFFLE HOUSE LINGO — Pull, Drop & Mark
“Drop the hashbrowns”
— Hashbrowns
are cooked three ways at Waffle House:
in the ring, scattered and scattered with
toppings. A large order is called a double. An
extra larger order is called a triple. Light tells
the cook not to brown them too much.
If there are no hashbrowns, the cook defaults to
grits.
Smothered: with onions
Covered: with cheese
Chunked: with ham
Diced: with tomatoes
Peppered: with green peppers
Capped: with mushrooms
Topped: with chili
All The Way: with everything
“Mark the Plate, Order scrambled.”
—
Before the waitress tells the cook how you
want your eggs, she tells him how many eggs
you want, and if you want a biscuit or waffle.
Single = 1 egg
Order = 2 eggs
Triple = 3 eggs
