Okay, so there used to be 844 thousand something-or-other ways to prepare your Waffle House hamburger. I think they even wrote a song about it. I just went to WH again today, and they had one (probably older) sign on the wall that said over 20 million, and the menu claimed over 285 million ways it could be prepared.
So my question is, how do they figure? I counted 18 or 19 options, with the menu options and the table condiments. A straight up on-or-off calculation based on that information would provide 524288 combinations (2 to the 19th power). 285 million is between 2^28 (268,435,456) and 2^29 (536,870,912). So there must be some non-binary options (easy on the mayo?).
Does anybody have the straight dope on how Waffle House calculates it? Bonus points for knowing what changed between 800 thousand, 20 million and 285 million?
I had never heard such a claim about their hamburgers, it was always the hash browns. You can get them (smothered, stacked, scattered, etc) with various combinations of ham, cheese, peppers, onions, and then you have choices of how long they are cooked, e.g. plain, light, well done, then addition a la carte options like Tabasco, Heinz 57, bacon, ranch dressing, etc… it could go on and on if you imagine every possible ingredient that could be mixed in to a batch of fried taters.
This site has a breakdown that concludes there are 3,538,944 possible combinations.
Really? Every Waffle House I’ve been to has at least one sign that says “Waffle House hamburgers, served XXX,XXX ways.”, or something to that effect. There really is a song, “844,739 Ways to Eat a Hamburger”. Check their jukebox next to “Waffle Do Wop”. Obviously, the same could said about their hash browns, or anything else with more than a few options, I’ve just only seen their hamburgers advertized this way.
Keep in mind it has been probably over 10 years since I’ve been to a Waffle House, but back in the day it was all about the hash browns when it came to the huge number of combinations claims.
I’m not disputing that they make similar claims about the hamburgers too, maybe they always did and I just didn’t notice, but clearly they would be using the same kind of math that they did for hash browns. (this pic of an old menu shows at that time they believed there were about 1.5 million combinations of hash browns).
I wonder if they’ve ever calculated the possible combinations of burgers with hash browns on the side. They may have over a billion combinations of ways to eat a burger and hash browns.
According to their menu, there are 3 sizes of burger and 13 possible extras. I think you’d only need one extra hamburger choice (either a triple hamburger or a double steak burger) for the number of combinations to be 4[sup]14[/sup] which is 268 million.
This would include a double (1lb) steak burger with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo, grilled onions, cheese mushrooms, egg, chili, sausage gravy, jalapenos, bacon and ham.
Sure, and you could ask for the burger cooked medium-rare but the bacon extra crispy, and for pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar… the possibilities are endless. (and delicious.)
Growing up my paternal grandfather used to eat at Waffle House every day of his life. Well, really he used to go in and drink coffee for a few hours and smoke (long time ago), I remember at one point not thinking their food was that great as a young person, but if I went by while in High School and my grandfather was there (you could tell by the Lincoln Town Car parked in front) I could always go in and get him to buy me a meal.
Now, when I do go to a Waffle House a few times a year something about the simple food prepared pretty well has always brought back memories of childhood. I’ve always been surprised the chain has stayed around as long as it has, it’s anachronistic in a lot of ways, but it still seems to be going strong and it’s hard to throw a rock without hitting one in the deeper South.
Related question: Are Waffle House burgers any good? I’ve never gone to a Waffle House and not ordered, ya know, a waffle, and other breakfasty food, regardless of the time of day.
If folks recommend their burgers, maybe I’ll consider thinking about the possibility of trying one next time I’m down south…
I’ve never eaten their burgers. That said, their waffles and other breakfast items are delicious and cheap. Too bad we don’t have them out here in California.
Heard a comic named Jim Gaffigan riffing about Waffle House on the radio a while back:
That said, as an Atlanta native I LOVES me some Waffle House! I’ve eaten at Waffle Houses all over the country on hundreds of occasions, and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a hamburger there.
