Waffle House Celebrates 71 Years Since Its Avondale Estates Debut

Waffle House, the beloved 24-hour restaurant chain synonymous with Georgia, marked its 71st anniversary this week. The first location opened Sept. 5, 1955, at 2719 East College Avenue in Avondale Estates, just outside Atlanta. Founders Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner were neighbors who saw a need for a round-the-clock restaurant in their community. Rogers had worked for the Toddle House chain, while Forkner came from the real estate world. Rogers was known for saying the company was less about food and more about people, a philosophy that shaped its culture for decades. Under the pair's leadership, Waffle House expanded to roughly 400 locations by the end of the 1970s before both men stepped back from daily operations. Rogers and Forkner both died in 2017, within a month of each other. Today, Waffle House operates more than 1,700 restaurants across 25 states, remaining a fixture of Southern road-trip culture and late-night dining. The original prices reflected a very different era — a new car averaged around $1,910 and gas cost about 23 cents a gallon in 1955. Fans of the chain's history can also visit the Waffle House Museum, located near the original Avondale Estates site.