Charge My Waffles

Waffle House, which for more than half a century prided itself on serving the 'poor ol' cash customer,' now is looking to help diners who use credit cards.
By the end of March, Visa and Mastercard will be accepted in all of Waffle House's 713 company-owned restaurants in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.
"Cash-only" signs will disappear from the distinctly down-home, blue-collar eateries famous for offering inexpensive eggs, grits and hash browns "smothered and covered" in cheese and onions.
"For the longest, we've been cash based, looking out for the 'poor ol' cash customer,' but customers expressed interest in use of credit cards," said Charnae Knight, spokeswoman for Norcross, Ga.-based Waffle House.
Customers have been able to use credit cards in Waffle House's 300 metro Atlanta restaurants since the end of January and another 800 franchise restaurants likely will follow suit soon, Knight said. In the past, some franchise owners installed ATM machines in their restaurants so customers would have access to cash, she said.
Waffle House restaurants allowed only cash since the opening of the company's first restaurant in 1955 in the Atlanta suburb of Avondale Estates. Knight said the decision to heed customer demand for credit cards will not affect prices and will not change the atmosphere of the restaurants.
"It'll still be the same, we're just taking plastic now," she said.
There are more than 1,500 Waffle Houses spread across 25 states, as far west as Arizona and as far north as Illinois.