Waffle House is a southern icon. When did the first one open on the Mississippi coast?

Waffle House, the beloved diner known for serving up hearty, breakfast-centric meals at any hour, holds a special place in the hearts of Mississippi Coast residents.

In 1955, Joe Rogers Sr. and Tom Forkner founded the first restaurant in Avondale Estates, Georgia. Their innovative business model offered fast food, table service and round-the-clock availability. With waffles quickly becoming the star of the menu, the restaurant later became known as Waffle House.

By 1960, four highly successful Waffle Houses had already popped up in Georgia, prompting Rogers and Forkner to seek further franchise expansions. Within a decade, more than 20 new locations had sprung up across Georgia and neighboring states.

The 1970s saw a massive surge in Waffle House franchises, spreading the restaurant’s footprint across the South. Mississippi welcomed its first Waffle House, Unit #93, in 1971 in Hinds County.

The Coast’s Introduction to Waffle House

Although facing a challenging national economy and a slowdown in Biloxi’s seafood industry, the Coast experienced a large influx of new businesses in the 1970s, including Waffle House.

Unit #200 made history by opening its doors at 811 Denny Ave. in Pascagoula on April 8, 1974, becoming the first Waffle House on the Mississippi Coast. The restaurant became an instant success and drew customers day and night from all over.

Over the next four decades, 29 more Waffle House locations emerged on the Coast, with 27 still in operation today. The oldest among the ones still open is at 612 Beach Dr. in Gulfport, welcoming patrons since May 13, 1974. Gulfport eventually added four more locations in the following years, and all four remain open.

Biloxi’s first Waffle House opened on June 1, 1981, at 111 Reynoir St. The success of this particular location would set the scene for even more of the chain restaurants to pop up in downtown Biloxi near the casinos.

Moss Point became the next coastal city to join the Waffle House family on Jan. 17, 1983, followed closely by Ocean Springs on May 5 of the same year.

Bay St. Louis’ first Waffle House was established on March 1, 1995, at 1002 U.S. Hwy 90, while Diamondhead’s sole Waffle House opened its doors on July 10 of that same year.

Waveland was next in line, inaugurating its own Waffle House at 1759 Beach Blvd. on Jan. 18, 1996. Gautier followed suit, opening its first one at 3099 US 90 on Oct. 27, 1997.

D’Iberville welcomed a Waffle House at 10081 Third Ave. on May 7, 1998. While Pascagoula’s original Waffle House closed down in June 1999, another had already emerged at 1423 Denny Ave. in January of that year.

Long Beach finally gained a Waffle House at 106 Beach Blvd. E. on May 28, 2003. Several more would open up across the Mississippi Coast up until 2019. The most recent addition, at 618 Beach Blvd in Biloxi, quickly became famous for its state-of-the-art design and amazing beach views.

Surviving Storms and Adversity

Despite becoming a cultural icon of the South, Waffle House faced its share of challenges over the years, especially on the Mississippi Coast.

The franchises along the coast have endured a number of major hurricanes and storms, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sally in 2020. Katrina was particularly devastating and completely leveled several Waffle House locations, with only the iconic yellow sign left where the restaurant once stood.

Interestingly, the unofficial Waffle House Index, often used to gauge the severity of natural disasters, reached the red zone during Hurricane Katrina, signifying the seriousness of the situation. Several restaurants remained closed in its aftermath.

However, Waffle House, FEMA and numerous local organizations and volunteers got to work rebuilding almost immediately. Within weeks, most of the Waffle House locations on the Mississippi Coast were up and running again.

Today, all 27 Waffle Houses in Coastal Mississippi continue to serve customers through rain, shine, day and night.