The Old-School Breakfast Chain That Rivals IHOP, Denny's, And Waffle House
Everyone knows the big breakfast chains like IHOP, Denny's, and Waffle House. The way they make familiar breakfast food favorites with their own spins as well as each chain's own feel and features inspire devoted fans. Late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, for instance, once called Waffle House "better than the French Laundry," a prestigious California restaurant, and IHOP and Denny's are among the chain restaurants with the best senior discounts. But there are also largely unknown regional breakfast chains that can rival the big dogs, such as old-school restaurant Huddle House.
Georgia-based Huddle House has well over 200 locations in 21 mostly Southern and Midwestern U.S. states. Denny's, IHOP, and Waffle House are all much bigger, with Waffle House having close to 10 times as many locations, despite also being concentrated in the South and Midwest. But Huddle House's homestyle, cooked-to-order food with Southern flavors at affordable prices draws customers to what it calls its neighborhood diners. Like the other chains, it serves breakfast all day and also has lunch and dinner options, with an "Any Meal. Any Time." motto.
The breakfast menu includes eggs with bacon, sausage, or ribeye steak, stuffed omelets, biscuits with country sausage gravy, pancakes, round waffles with an "HH" in the center, breakfast bowls, and sides like hash browns and grits, one of the under-the-radar dishes that define American cuisine. Among the non-breakfast choices are burgers, chicken sandwiches, BLTs, and country fried steak, chicken tenders, and fried shrimp dinners with sides including cheesy bacon fries, fried pickles, and jalapeño poppers.
Huddle House's history and future
The first Huddle House opened in 1964 in Decatur, Georgia, via restaurant owner John Sparks. He called his new endeavor Huddle House because he wanted his restaurants to be places where people could "huddle" with friends and family — and he was particularly inspired by the imagery of small-town meetups after high school football games.
Sparks began franchising just two years later in 1966. His wife Pauline took over after his 1978 death, until she sold to a private company in 1994. Huddle House had some 400 locations by 2017, but their number has fallen since, to more than 300 restaurants in 2021, and more than 200 now.
Huddle House announced an overhaul of the chain in 2025, which will include new types of locations. It will be opening quick-serve restaurants in suburban and urban areas with drive-thrus and optional seating, as well as even smaller walk-up outlets in places like airports, colleges, and malls. As a consequence, they're creating more food options that are easy to carry away for those locations. The restaurants themselves are getting a redesign that keeps their same traditional feeling, updated with modern elements, and they've also been working on making the food they serve even better.