Growing up in Atlanta, it was a law that on any drive longer than 1 hour, you had to stop to eat at a Waffle House. Being a law abiding citizen, I always followed that to a T. I love Waffle House. Greasy, messy, and totally delicious. I never did figure out how they added 80% gristle into a T-bone steak, but they did.
A few nights ago the family had a bunch of stuff going on and the Mrs. and I pretty much fed the girls and skipped dinner ourselves. Eventually I got hungry and, with the lack of provisions available in the old homestead, I decided to go to the Waffle House right down the road from me to get my favorite - A double order of hashbrowns with cheese, chili, ham, mushrooms, smothered in ranch dressing and Tabasco - a concoction I discovered back in my drinking days. Oddly, it's just as tasty in the early evening as it is when you're snockered at 3 AM.
However, I was denied my Waffle House experience due to the fact that said Waffle House was no longer there.
As it so happens, I was taking a Helmke this morning, reading the dead tree media that someone had left in the stall and came across this story.
TAMPA - The days may be numbered for "scattered, covered and smothered" hash browns at Waffle House. The iconic roadside grill's biggest franchisee has filed for bankruptcy protection.
That sucks. My girls and I loved to go there for a treat every here and there (the Mrs. hates their food because each time she's eaten there, she's gotten really sick). However, we started going less and less because their prices went up. Eggs, grits, waffles, and toast for the girls and my conglomeration shouldn't run $15+. That was part of the thing I liked about Waffle House. It was cheap as hell.
So, imagine my complete and utter lack of surprise when I read this nugget
Northlake has other problems, too, according to the filing. The company is short of cash, has suffered from declining sales and has seen its costs rise because of increases in the minimum wage.
Emphasis mine. Places like WH worked on razor thin margins and made their money due to volume. When the prices went up, I found myself eating there less. Now the people who would have gladly worked for less than the Minimum Wage are now not working at all.
Northlake has about 3,000 employees, the bankruptcy filing says.
3,000 people out of a job because the populace gives the government power to regulate the amount that two parties agree on.
Maybe they should ask Congress for a bail out package.
I was taking a Helmke this morning