Georgia is known as the Peach State, but its nickname could just as easily be the Waffle House State. As of May 2025, it has the most Waffle Houses out of any state in America, with a hefty 446 locations. According to ScrapeHero, Georgia also claims the title of the most Waffle Houses per capita, housing nearly 22% of the 2,028 restaurants in the U.S. With 162 locations across its metropolitan area, Atlanta takes the cake (or, more accurately, waffle) for the city with the most Waffle Houses.

The reason Georgia has such a high concentration of restaurant locations is likely because it's intrinsically linked to the chain's history. The first Waffle House was founded by Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia, and that location still stands all these years later. While it did close for a time and was replaced by a Chinese restaurant, Waffle House restored the location in 2008 and converted it into a museum, offering free, appointment-only tours every Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The history behind a Southern icon

Waffle House sign and restaurant exterior

Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

Waffle House's founders were neighbors and army veterans who met when Rogers Sr. moved to Avondale Estates. The two men opened the first location because they wanted to create a family-oriented restaurant that was open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Forkner chose the name Waffle House because waffles were the most profitable item on the menu, and as far as dollars and cents were concerned, the decision was a savvy one. In the restaurant's first year, it made a sales volume of $50,000 — the equivalent of more than $600,000 today (via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Due to the first Waffle House's success, the duo franchised the business five years after it opened and eventually built an empire across the American South.

Though Waffle House never expanded to western states like California, it remains an iconic Southern franchise, with a menu that leans into local staples like grits, country ham, Texas melts, and biscuits. Longtime patrons know that its strong Southern heritage is part of its charm.

"There is something that appeals to everybody at Waffle House," said customer Pam Tyson on the Waffle House website. "Whether you're a Southerner and you love grits, or whether you have to have the hash browns. It's a Southern sort of atmosphere. It's a Southern menu. It's Southern."