The Secret Language Only Waffle House Superfans And Staff Know

Ahh, Waffle House. Open 24/7/365. Always ready to satisfy your cravings for waffles (naturally), jukebox tunes, and T-bone dinners, alongside unlimited supplies of coffee and nostalgia. Sure, Olive Garden might deem you family when you’re there, but here, everyone feels like an all-star.

Frequenting one of the 1,900+ locations across 25 states — nearly all of which are in the South—Waffle House diners are so loyal, they write children’s books about the restaurant’s staff, start GoFundMe fundraisers for their favorite servers, leave generous $1,000 tips, and collectively consume more than 124 million waffles and 153 million orders of hash browns each year, according to Waffle House data.

Waffle House regulars and staff also share a secret language. Some hints are found on the menu, but other plate-coding details are usually only memorized by servers and cooks, and are only visible to diners who sneak a peek at the diagrams near the flat top.

How does your Waffle House savvy stack up against your friends and family? We’ve listed "translations" below so you can take your all-star status to new heights.

Know The Hash Brown Vocabulary

• Scattered: The cook will spread the hash browns across the grill to get them ultra-crispy (otherwise they’re grilled in a steel ring and served more patty-style).
• Smothered: If you’re interested in aromatics, you’ll ask for onions to be sautéed alongside your hash browns.
• Topped: If you're craving something with a hint of Tex-Mex flair, you’ll flip for these hash browns covered in chili.
• Covered: Not to be confused with hash browns smothered in melted American cheese.
• Chunked: Hash browns peppered with pieces of diced ham.
• Diced: On the flip side, this order refers to hash browns with diced tomatoes.
• Peppered: Here’s a fairly intuitive one; these hash browns come spiked with jalapeños.
• Capped: Grilled button mushrooms crown this hash brown order.
• Country: A generous dose of sausage gravy coats these hash browns.
• All the way: Make a meal out of the hash browns by opting for what the menu describes as "world famous golden delicious hash browns with grilled onions, melted American cheese, hickory smoked ham, diced tomatoes, jalapeño peppers and grilled mushrooms, then topped with Bert's Chili,™ and sausage gravy."

Recognize The Special Request Signals

The world behind the counter at a Waffle House is fast-paced and flying, so the restaurant staff needs to come up with ways to keep track of orders and communicate when they've got so many requests coming in at once, especially anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks to a handy Waffle House employee guide on TikTok and a few employee photo sneak peeks shared on other social media sites, we’ve rounded up a list of the special request signals.

By mastering the art of plate marking, the servers and cooks are able to silently communicate about what items should be added to each plate. This is not an exhaustive list, but covers some of the most common asks. Test your knowledge below:

• Jelly packet near the bottom of the plate: Scrambled eggs with white toast
• Upside-down mayo packet next to a vertical jelly packet on the bottom of the plate: Soft scrambled eggs
• Face-up mayo packet next to a vertical jelly packet on the bottom of the plate: Well done scrambled eggs
• Jelly packet on top of mustard packet: Extra egg
• Jelly packet placed horizontally near the top of a plate: Omelet with ham
• Packet of butter underneath a jelly packet: Dry toast
• Upside-down jelly packet: Wheat toast
• Apple butter packet instead of jelly: Raisin toast
• Packet of butter next to a jelly packet: Biscuit
• Butter knife on the plate: Hold the toast
• Two pieces of cheese next to the jelly packet: Scramble with cheese
• A few hash brown pieces scattered at the top of a plate: Plate includes hash browns
• Napkin topped with a packet of brown sugar: Grits instead of oatmeal
• Napkin at the top of a plate: Grits in a bowl instead of on the plate
• Two pickles placed at the bottom of a plate: Breakfast sandwich with bacon
• Two pickles placed at the top of a plate: Breakfast sandwich with ham
• Two pickles placed on the left side of a plate: Breakfast sandwich with no meat
• Two pickles placed at the right side of a plate: Breakfast sandwich with sausage
• Horizontal ketchup packet in the middle of a plate: Sirloin steak
• Horizontal mustard packet upside-down in the middle of a plate: Country ham
• Horizontal mustard packet face-up in the middle of a plate: Pork chop
• Butter packet with the lid on in the middle of a plate: T-Bone
• Butter packet with the lid off in the middle of a plate: Porterhouse