{"57939":{"#nid":"57939","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Open \u0027House\u0027: 24-hour Restaurant Chain Opens June 9 on Fifth Street","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGame day dining will come with a new side order. Actually, it\u2019ll come with quite a few of them. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPerennial southern restaurant stalwart Waffle House will start making eggs, bacon, hash browns, Bert\u2019s chili, burgers and\u2014of course\u2014waffles, starting June 9 at 9 a.m. Located on Fifth Street, the restaurant will bring true 24-hour dining to Tech\u2019s campus. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuilding a storefront restaurant is something of a departure for the 50-year-old restaurant, as only one other similar location exists in Underground Atlanta. District Manager Travis Bell\u2014a College of Management alumnus and former Tech football player\u2014will oversee both locations. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI tell people I\u2019m the only district manager who doesn\u2019t have a parking lot,\u201d Bell joked. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be here finally. This was supposed to open a year ago, and then it was delayed. It\u2019s like coming back to the high school or college where you played football, and being on the staff.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Waffle House business model is preserved within the location, as the restaurant has a small number of booths and counter space for people to sit and eat. But several aesthetic changes have been made to accommodate Tech\u2019s students, faculty and staff, as well as the Institute\u2019s heritage. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWaffle House took a totally different approach with this location,\u201d said Rich Steele, acting executive director of Auxiliary Services. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhile they didn\u2019t change their very successful model, the focus in this location is on the history and tradition of Georgia Tech. The accent tile is gold, not red, and the white-and-gold bench in the waiting area is modeled after seats in the Ramblin\u2019 Wreck.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteele also points out that the mural above the booth seating area not only showcases significant events in Waffle House history, but also significant Georgia Tech events. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome other changes have been made, as well. This particular restaurant will have a Wi-Fi \u201clounge\u201d and an outdoor patio area. Patrons can order their food to go and then sit in one of these areas to use their laptops, phones or other devices. There will be no \u201cfood service\u201d in these areas, however. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis isn\u2019t a big change for us,\u201d said Pat Warner, vice president of marketing and communication with the Norcross-based Waffle House. \u201cOur second restaurant in 1957 on 10th and Peachtree streets was set up the same way. We\u2019re not doing anything that changes up the concept we\u2019ve been doing since 1955.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen people come in, it\u2019s going to be clear it\u2019s a Waffle House. Our biggest change will probably be for students to take advantage of the Wi-Fi area.\u201d Another location is planned for Georgia State University, Warner says, but it will not have a Wi-Fi area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a great relationship,\u201d Steele said. \u201cWaffle House has been a strong supporter of Georgia Tech for a long time. There is a long tradition and history between Tech and the restaurant.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd Steele said the success of this venture will be looked at by a much larger audience than just the Atlanta area. \u201cCollege campuses around the country are watching to see how successful this is.\u201d Steele said that many universities do not have 24-hour dining on campus, so this could lead to new business partnerships for auxiliary services across higher education. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first Waffle House restaurant opened in Avondale Estates in 1955, the collaboration between Atlantan Joe Rogers Sr. and real estate agent Tom Forkner. By 2006, the chain had grown to 1,500 locations.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWaffle House officially opens June 9 at 9 a.m. in Technology Square.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Restaurant opens at 9 a.m. in Technology Square."}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-06-08 08:58:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:06:43","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"57940":{"id":"57940","type":"image","title":"Waffle House 1","body":null,"created":"1449176194","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:56:34","changed":"1475894510","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:50","alt":"Waffle House 1","file":{"fid":"190734","name":"Travis-Bell.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Travis-Bell_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Travis-Bell_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":73685,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Travis-Bell_0.jpg?itok=8FIYoVzC"}},"57941":{"id":"57941","type":"image","title":"Waffle House 2","body":null,"created":"1449176194","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:56:34","changed":"1475894510","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:50","alt":"Waffle House 2","file":{"fid":"190735","name":"waffle-irons.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/waffle-irons_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/waffle-irons_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":100746,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/waffle-irons_0.jpg?itok=YvChrJBt"}},"57942":{"id":"57942","type":"image","title":"Waffle House 3","body":null,"created":"1449176194","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:56:34","changed":"1475894510","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:50","alt":"Waffle House 3","file":{"fid":"190736","name":"alumni-wall.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alumni-wall_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alumni-wall_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":96593,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alumni-wall_0.jpg?itok=fbtYrWau"}},"57943":{"id":"57943","type":"image","title":"Waffle House 4","body":null,"created":"1449176194","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:56:34","changed":"1475894510","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:50","alt":"Waffle House 4","file":{"fid":"190737","name":"GT-Mural.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GT-Mural_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GT-Mural_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":100520,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GT-Mural_0.jpg?itok=SDECDvdt"}}},"media_ids":["57940","57941","57942","57943"],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1643","name":"auxiliary services"},{"id":"3263","name":"technology square"},{"id":"9809","name":"Waffle House"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E, Director of Public Relations, Georgia Tech Communications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}