Pros
Compensation is in line with other restaurants. I made mid 30K. It's a great place to start if you need some managerial experience but after 3 years you should be looking for better.
Cons
Manager. The title sounds good. I imagined I'd be doing 40% administrative work and 60% assisting my restaurant staff where needed. No way. At Waffle House a STORE MANAGER is nothing but a cook with added administrative duties. As a manager trainee I worked from 6AM - 4PM cooking, washing dishes, sweeping parking lots, scrubbing toilets, taking out garbage. At first I thought it was just rookie hazing but no this is what GENERAL MANAGERS of restaurants at Waffle House do. And not just general managers, multi unit managers too. It's how Waffle House remains debt free and how it allows it to sell itself as a million dollar business. They rake in the profits by giving managers multiple job titles (cook, store cleaner, landscaper) without forking over the cash. It was a nightmare of an experience. I literally went home each day ashamed of the company I worked for, ashamed of my position and frustrated with the unprofessionalism of unit managers. I had no big expectations for the hourly staff. You almost expect the workers to be unprofessional. They're mostly high school age. You won't find many older managers at Waffle House. They target recent graduates. All the managers I knew were mid 20s. Don't let Waffle House sell you the dream you can make high 50s. The manager I trained with was making high 30s and was looking for a new job the entire time. It's not the worst job...if you don't mind getting dirty and you love manual labor you may thrive. I just don't think it's a respectable job for anyone with a Bachelor's degree or higher.
