As a northeastern US resident travelling in the south I was amused by the number of Waffle House Restaurants (a foeign entity to us yankees) that seemed to appear at every interstate exit. Thinking it would be a good laugh to actually eat at one of them I was most pleasantly surprised by how good the food was, especially the pecan waffles! I do not want to sound like a snob or anything (far from it) but I will never look down on these types of establishments again...more and more I am finding some of the best food and service is in the places you'd least expect it. And you get to soak up some local atmposphere, too! Anybody else have any experiences like this one?

Bill: I love seeing those kind of things. The Waffle Houses have crossed the Mason-Dixon line and are creeping north--we've got a couple here in the Harrisburg PA area.

That, of course, is how Howard Johnson's was built. My recollection is that they came out of New England. I remember traveling with my parents in the fifties, and it's where we generally stopped to eat when on the road. The orange roof, 32 flavors of ice cream, a great hot-dog in a square bun, the fried-clam sandwich--was it Simple Simon the Pie Man?--there's a host of memories out there.

The problem is when they lose touch with the reason their business grew. And that makes way for the newcomers like the Waffle House....

MCL Cafeterias. The food is really good. Wish they were every place we travel.

George, you bring back such memories! There was no excuse for "HoJo's" to get so bad so fast, but it did. There are always a lot of things lost when you go from childhood to adulthood to middle age and "beyond," and a lot were more important than HoJo's. But "gee whiz" wouldn't it be great to have a reliable chain of "family" restaurants, esp. along the highways, instead of all that fried crap and mystery meat at the fast food chains? Cracker Barrels aren't too far off, but they've had some problems with discrimination and who needs all that junk in their "store"?

Two years ago I found one remaining HoJos that was pretty decent outside Wilmington, Delaware -- and managed to order a clam roll (yes, that's fried, too, I know), clam chowder while my husband got decent chicken and vegetables and we both had !peppermint stick ice cream! -- the best of the 28 flavors. I think that HoJo's is gone now.

You can't find HoJos (just a chain of abysmal motels) anymore and peppermint stick ice cream is only available in New England on a seasonal basis.

Watch out for some of the Waffle Houses in the Carolinas.
They used to be great, but have in the past two years gotten really dirty and the service sometimes stinks.
There are still some good ones around, however.
Cracker Barrell is a pretty good choice, no matter how busy, the service is usually good.

I usually don't like places like Denny's but Thanksgiving night my husband and I were traveling through Raton, N.M. and Denny's was the only place open to be found. Boy was it great!!

I was so thrilled when Cracker Barrell got to Texas but I find it way too crowded and not enough wait people. I think they lost what made them so nice.

Is it "Iron Skillet" or "Copper Kettle" or am I thinking of two different "family style" chains in the midwest?