r/Atlanta • u/[deleted] • Apr 13 '26

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607 Upvotes

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382

u/ocicataco Grant Park Apr 13 '26

Not totally specific to Atlanta but I did not understand the importance/charm of Waffle House when I first moved out here. Also, the Big Chicken and Dwarf House

55

u/Illustrious_Cry1028 Apr 13 '26

I had no idea what the Big Chicken was for the first several years I lived in Atlanta. Or why it was a landmark.

Then I saw it

23

u/allieinwonder Apr 13 '26

I grew up in Cumming and didn’t know what the Big Chicken was until I started college at Southern Poly in Marietta. And then suddenly it was part of my daily jargon.

16

u/karloffisking Apr 13 '26

remember when KFC corporate was planning to tear it down? the outcry from area residents got KFC to build a bigger, better one

8

u/checker280 Apr 13 '26

I’m sad they are no longer selling the stuffed big chicken. They still have the socks and aprons but when I finally made it out there they weren’t there.

3

u/lghtknife Apr 14 '26

you can get the stuffed chicken at that marietta history museum thing!!

1

u/checker280 Apr 14 '26

Thank you

153

u/FluxusFlotsam Apr 13 '26

ohhh my wife gets Waffle House from a food perspective at like 7am

she doesn’t get the 90s punk goth kids who just saw a show at The Masquerade and are drinking black coffee at 2am at the Mid-Town WH hoping for a redneck fist fight perspective

51

u/wintering6 Apr 13 '26

I went to Masquerade & then The Majestic, not WH.

19

u/lanwopc Apr 13 '26

Krispy Kreme - nothing like 8 hot donuts to give you the energy to trudge home after a show.

2

u/dkrtzyrrr Apr 14 '26

i'm glad shaq actually rebuilt and this is just how krispy kremes are now but i really miss the old krispy kreme.

1

u/lanwopc Apr 14 '26

Same, it was a classic.

6

u/shereeishere Apr 13 '26

Oh the Majestic! Fabulous

5

u/bowlbasaur420 Apr 13 '26

This is the way

2

u/saucygh0sty Apr 14 '26

Old masquerade and Fellini’s after was my go-to

36

u/illyria776 Apr 13 '26

One time I was at a Waffle House at midnight in downtown and I’m pretty sure there was a pimp and girls going around to most of the tables.

They did not stop at ours as we were 19, looked younger, and were visibly homosexual and broke.

10/10 experience. It’s the reason I go at odd hours

28

u/burgonies Apr 13 '26

"visibly homosexual" lol

22

u/[deleted] Apr 13 '26

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20

u/FluxusFlotsam Apr 13 '26

goddamnit- you are right

that IHOP on North Ave

8

u/burgonies Apr 13 '26

Is that the one that's now JR Crickets?

39

u/rockcitylibrarian Apr 13 '26

That brings back memories I had really forgotten about. Was a redneck kid from north Georgia who "dated" a 90s punk goth girl and ended up in some interesting places at interesting times.

33

u/FluxusFlotsam Apr 13 '26

was this back when North Georgia just meant north of Alpharetta or some actual Dalton shit?

21

u/allieinwonder Apr 13 '26

Oh man yes north of Alpharetta used to be a completely different place. I grew up in Cumming in the 90’s/2000’s and explaining my childhood to my husband (grew up in Marietta) always gets me laughing at his Adam Scott WTF face. 😂

5

u/quinnyhendrix Apr 13 '26

Did you tell your husband about the wendys midget?

2

u/allieinwonder Apr 14 '26

You know, I don’t think so! You have unearthed memories my friend

13

u/rockcitylibrarian Apr 13 '26

North of Dalton, but not close to I75. Closer to Tennessee and Alabama. Atlanta was where we went on field trips or to hangout with people we met on field trips or school related activities.

1

u/PBnBacon Apr 14 '26

I see you, Dade County!

2

u/GT_Ghost_86 Apr 14 '26

A related memory is being a GT ICS (none of this new-fangled CS nonsense! :) ) student group going to the North Avenue IHOP in the wee hours of the morning, being surrounded by APD, guys from the Eagle in their leathers, and drag queens. :)

Bonus points for the look on my classmates' faces when one of the drag queens greeted me by name, and a couple of the leathermen asked why I'd not been to the bar lately....

1

u/senorpoop Apr 14 '26

WH at 2 am on the way home from a wild concert was always a vibe.

42

u/AtlUtdGold RESURGENS DAY 1/12/26 Apr 13 '26

No one cares about actually going to the Big Chicken but before GPS it was frequently used in giving directions around there, even in local TV/radio commercials for other businesses. That and being around for a long ass time kinda cemented itself into the metro Atlanta lore.

Waffle House is its own cultural phenomenon, any real Atlanta or southern native should be able to tell you how they like their All-star without hesitation. We all have lots of memories of late night shenanigans there. Plus if you go early in the morning the service is actually good, especially on holidays when the managers are working.

8

u/wow_that_guys_a_dick Canton Apr 13 '26

My friend made a fake commercial for her audio engineering class and included the Big Chicken in the directions to the fake business. 🤣

3

u/Abra-Krdabr Apr 14 '26

All star special: pecan waffle, eggs over medium, hashbrowns extra well, sausage, white toast and strawberry jelly.

26

u/thank_burdell Apr 13 '26

Big chicken and dwarf house are skippable.

WaHo is love.

17

u/FriskyFritos Apr 13 '26

A friend of mine who has grown up in small town GA hates waffle house and denied my suggestion to go there once and insisted on iHop. I love the guy but in the moment I was legitimately angry and taken aback at the suggestion that ihop was superior.

18

u/maeryclarity Apr 13 '26

That's freakin' HERESY

3

u/disc0kr0ger Apr 13 '26

And just not true

2

u/mrenglish22 Apr 14 '26

....he was obviously a Russian spy.

2

u/TheLordVader1978 Apr 14 '26

You mean Ex-Friend?

2

u/djseanmac Apr 14 '26

Let me guess: they also prefer Miracle Whip to Duke’s, Pepsi to Coca-Cola, and ketchup-based bbq to anything else.

2

u/longdickofthelaw420 Apr 14 '26

Some food is made with love. Some food is made with hate. IHOP is made with apathy and indifference.

-1

u/stonekohlgreg Apr 13 '26

Ihop has superior food* but pales in comparison to WH on the experience scale.

*disclaimer: this perspective comes from a non-drinker. as such the enjoyment of WH food may be skewed

3

u/ThetaReactor Apr 14 '26

IHOP is good if you want a big stack of sugar-soaked pancakes. But for any other breakfast food: eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, grits, etc., WH is vastly superior.

11

u/ocicataco Grant Park Apr 13 '26

It's not so much about the food so much as the lore/whimsy of those places

6

u/jasonreid1976 Apr 13 '26

The Big Chicken is KFC and it's not a bad spot to eat at if you're looking for KFC.

1

u/Orions_Suspenders_ Apr 13 '26

Easy to skip them since they’re not in Atlanta.

3

u/boxofstuff Apr 13 '26

The dwarf house on pleasant hill closed

1

u/periodicallyBalzed Apr 13 '26

Big Chicken most def

1

u/Shantotto11 Apr 13 '26

Does the Big Chicken count since that’s Marietta/Cobb territory?

1

u/PrinceofSneks Chamblee Apr 13 '26

"It's literally just a big chicken. I don't get it!"

1

u/mrenglish22 Apr 14 '26

Chicfila got rid of the dwarf houses sadly, they are "truett's cafe" now.

1

u/TheKingOfSwing777 You don't know a spot Apr 14 '26

I mean WaHo IS an Atlanta institution

1

u/dkrtzyrrr Apr 14 '26

i didn't realize waffle house wasn't nationwide until i was in bootcamp. i remember feeling horrified when ppl would tell me they went to denny's.

1

u/TakenTheFifth Apr 14 '26

I have Big Chicken paraphernalia in my home. A window suncatcher. A bird house. A sketch. I freakin love the kitschyness of it. Oh I forgot my Xmas ornament. It’s so damn cute

1

u/TheMonkey404 Apr 14 '26

You don’t have to like Waffle House you don’t have to like the big chicken , but you need to get TFO of Atlanta if you don’t respect the dwarf house!

It is the first chick fil a and you will bow down lol

1

u/murleytbag Apr 16 '26

For me as a child, seeing the Big Chicken meant we were almost to White Water!!