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The West Ashley Waffle House on Dec. 25, 2024. WEST ASHLEY — Wayne Kuykendall didn't spend Christmas shimmying down chimneys or delivering gifts across the globe, but his job was plenty important.
Clipboard in hand and a Santa Claus hat atop his head, the 24-year-old from Memphis, Tenn., commanded the wait list at Waffle House #411 on what many consider the holiest day of the year. Wayne Kuykendall stands for a portrait at the West Ashley Waffle House on Dec.
25, 2024. The restaurant behind the round Holiday Inn at 325 Savannah Highway emptied and filled throughout the morning. Some eaters sat with their families while others ate alone.
One man grabbed a meal after completing a 12-hour shift at a nearby hospital. Others found a reprieve from relatives or began holiday traditions. Behind the counter at the famous every hour of every day diner, about a dozen Christmas-attired hashbrown handlers clanged plates, scattered grated potatoes and belted when certain songs blasted from the speakers.
They often sent off customers with a "Thank you!" or "Merry Christmas!" Waffle House's American story began in 1955 when two neighbors opened a business in Avondale Estates, Ga. The company now has more than 1,900 locations across half the U.S.
, slinging All-Star Specials , and providing critical data for federal emergency responders surveying natural disaster zones — a metric known as the Waffle House Index. After Columbia Waffle House strike, company asks federal judge to pause proceedings Along the marsh abutting the Ashley River, the West Ashley location has created its own lore. Late night escapades often end at this nook-and-cranny emporium where Charleston locals commonly soak up evenings with buttered toast, eggs or pork chops.
In his youth, James Island resident Scott Sawyer would amble into the restaurant after an evening romp. Now 57, he sat in the corner with his wife Clarissa and daughter Abbie, who was home from Coastal Carolina University. The Sawyer parents have dined at this Waffle House for the past four or five Christmas mornings, starting their own annual routine after their kids all departed their home.
From left to right, Abbie, Scott, and Clarissa Sawyer pose after finishing their meal at the West Ashley Waffle House on Dec. 25, 2024 This site is famous for more than new traditions. Pulling from his memory of debaucherous nights, S.
C.-native Stephen Colbert and country music singer Sturgill Simpson shot a segment of "The Late Show" from here, playing a song they wrote about the restaurant through the juke box. In another now-famous scene, former Charleston culinary titan Sean Brock introduced chef and traveler Anthony Bourdain to this very Waffle House as well.
As only an award-winning chef could (and as was featured on Bourdain's television show "Parts Unknown") Brock devised what he called a "tasting menu experience" so his eating partner who take in what the restaurant was all about. Beloved goose lands at Waffle House on Highway 52 They began with a pecan waffle, then added a patty melt, green salad with Thousand Island dressing, pork chops and a T-bone. Hashbrowns were also on the table.
It was the type of order that would endanger me from hitting my deadline. Taken in by his meal, Bourdain narrated that the restaurant compelled him to stand on a counter and recite Walt Whitman and "The Star-Spangled Banner." Customers told The Post and Courier they took comfort in the restaurant's never-changing, always consistent menu.
Many never waver from their orders. Tom Battles, 55, eats at Waffle House wherever he goes. Working for a corporate coal company, he has traveled around the country.
At each stop he orders his two-egg breakfast. On Christmas morning, he sat with his wife Cristin and mother Jolene. From left to right, Jolene, Cristin, and Tom Battles smile after dining at Waffle House in West Ashley on Dec.
25, 2024. "Everyone at Waffle House is always happy," he said. Battles wasn't the only one who loved the restaurant's energy, which poured from its open kitchen.
Occasionally turning their necks to watch the cooks behind them were Malyk and David Williams. The preteen brothers carefully positioned their chins over heaping bowls of grits, perhaps not wanting to make a mess in front of their mother and grandmother, who the kids call "Naun." One had poured syrup over the savory dish, to Naun's dismay.
The siblings cooed about the food and the how the restaurant feels, but their grandmother was quick to point out that the boys don't need to pay. Queen and Sam Nese smile while they wait for a table at the West Ashley Waffle House on Dec. 25, 2024.
As the morning rush hummed into an afternoon flow, Sam Nese stood at the entrance with his wife Queen, waiting for seats. The Neses met while Queen was working as a thrift store cashier. Sam's father frequented her store.
He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and wanted to find his son a partner before he passed. "'You're a nice-looking woman,'" Queen remembers Sam's father saying. He then mentioned that he had a son.
Sam sent a letter to Queen's employer, asking her out. They have been together 14 years. "He's the nicest man.
I did well when I married him," Queen said. The Neses are Waffle House afficionados, referencing the Mount Pleasant location that features their favorite cook. LaKesha Wright, 26, has been a server at this Waffle House for six years.
She worked every Christmas but soon after this shift will hang up her apron. LaKesha Wright, 26, stands for a portrait during the Christmas shift at the West Ashley Waffle House on Dec. 25, 2024.
Initially working during the holiday was challenging because she was away from her children, but soon she saw her job as a service. "You give so much joy to so many people you don't even know," she said. Wright is expecting a child.
Eventually after giving birth, she will start a new job, driving a dump truck. But not before she finished her final Christmas shift..
