Intro

Waffle House is synonymous across the South and Midwest with delicious, greasy diner food…
Fantastic hashbrowns…
Sticky syrup (and lots of it)…
And, of course – waffles!
But there’s only one problem:
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It’s only in 25 states!

A full half the country (and more if you count by population) doesn’t have access to a Waffle House in their state!
If you live anywhere north of New Jersey, or on the West Coast, or in any of the northern Great Plains (to say nothing of Alaska and Hawaii)…
Crickets, nothing.
And even if you live in a state with Waffle Houses, they may still be pretty far away!
As just one example…
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Let’s take Pennsylvania

If you live in Philadelphia, good luck getting to a Waffle House – the nearest instate options are out in Allentown and Lancaster.
You might be better off crossing the state lines into Newark, Delaware, or even out into Elkton, Maryland – they’re closer and may be more convenient, depending on traffic.
Seeing where Waffle House does and doesn’t choose to build tells us a lot about where they probably never WILL build.
Because if they’re avoiding certain areas already within the territory they’ve already expanded to…
Well, that may be indicative of where they may avoid in the future, right?
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Where Waffle House won’t build

So with that in mind, I’ve put together a list of places I’m confident Waffle House won’t be building ever.
A list of states that, I’m afraid, will likely just have to do without.
It’s sad – if you’ve never had a Waffle House pecan waffle smothered in blueberry syrup, you have no idea what you’re missing – but I don’t make the rules!
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#1: Rhode Island

Rhode Island is too small and too expensive.
I mean, the average home is worth almost half a million bucks!
Could you imagine what it would cost to place a Waffle House? And since all the major highways bypass Rhode Island, you don’t even get tons of tourist traffic off the highway.
No, I’m sorry, it’s just never going to happen.
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#2: Vermont

Vermont is in many ways similar to Rhode Island…but even more so.
(Ok, it’s not more expensive – real estate is actually quite cheap, but…)
It’s much more rural than Rhode Island, which you’d normally expect to be a benefit, but unlike Rhode Island, there’s a big underlying hostility to chains.
Vermonters (and I lived there for some time) tend to really like their small towns and distinct breakfasts, and there are lots of French Canadian influences.
It’s just not culturally the kind of place where a Waffle House would fit.
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Unlike…New Hampshire

I could very much see a Waffle House working out in New Hampshire – it’s adopted a lot more “southern” culture than the rest of New England (just consider the fact that it has a NASCAR raceway).
Plus, given all the tourists and transplants, especially around Manchester and Nashua, you could see lots of opportunities for a Waffle House.
Just highlighting this as a contrast to Vermont!
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#3: Washington State

Heading all the way over to the Pacific Northwest – Washington State is just so culturally different from the American South that it’s hard to imagine a Waffle House doing well over there.
Especially given how expensive real estate has gotten – while the highway traffic is certainly there, the parts of Washington State that would be most likely to do well with a Waffle House are generally so close to Idaho that you might as well just put a Waffle House across the state line and suck up some of the traffic from the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.
Sorry Washington, you’ll have to keep traveling for your Waffle House fix!
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#4: Alaska

Alaska’s problem isn’t a lack of tourism – obviously!
The problem with Alaska is most of the tourists come by boat.
Who’s going to see a Waffle House unless it’s down by the shorefront?
And let’s face it – when Alaska’s offering fried fish and all kinds of local food, who’s going to prioritize going out of their way to find a Waffle House?
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#5: Hawaii

Hawaii has plenty of people – and of course, plenty of tourists – but it has two issues which I think are prohibitive for a Waffle House:
1) Real estate is extremely expensive. The typical single-family home is nearly a million dollars. Can you imagine what a parcel of commercial land would cost?
2) Most of Waffle House’s food would need to be shipped in – and I mean shipped, on a ship. That’s an expensive and tedious process.
Why bother, when there are still so many unconquered states to go after?
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#6: Connecticut

Like many of the other states I’ve highlighted, Connecticut’s primary issue is that it’s just so expensive.
The average house is almost $500,000 – which is cheap when you compare to Hawaii, but still so much more than across the American South. Where single-family real estate is expensive, you’ll also find expensive commercial parcels.
At Waffle House’s rock-bottom prices, that’s just going to be a harder sell!
And let’s face it – in Pennsylvania, Waffle House has avoided the big city thus far – I think the same thing will probably be true with NYC, which is obviously even bigger…
And Connecticut is essentially one big suburb of NYC.
I just don’t see it.
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Summary

So there you have it – six states I’m convinced will never get a Waffle House.
And again, it all comes down to a combination of:
– Expensive real estate
– Cultural differences
– And sometimes, just not enough people!
But two big questions:
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Big questions

#1: What do you think of the list? States you’d add or subtract?
#2: Where SHOULD Waffle House build next?
Let us know in the comments!
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