Waffle House
Waffle House's Florida stores average +0.21 high-priority violations per routine inspection relative to their county baseline (95% interval +0.10 to +0.31), above the county baseline. Rank 4 of 9 breakfast and family brands, counted from furthest below the baseline.
The food: where these dishes come from
Waffle House is known for waffles, hash browns and grits. The stories are about the dishes, not the brand, and live on PlateTales.
By fiscal year
Relative to the county baseline, first visits of routine inspections. Open circle and * = fiscal year in progress (data as of 2026-11-09). Hover a point for n.
Most-cited violation codes
| Code | DBPR description | Waffle House | Florida | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Food contact surfaces of equipment and utensils clean | 50.1 | 43.6 | 1.15x |
| 03 | Food Out of Temperature | 40.9 | 35.0 | 1.17x |
| 12 | Hands washed and clean, good hygienic practices, eating/drinking/smoking | 35.5 | 23.0 | 1.54x |
| 23 | Non-food contact surfaces clean | 33.1 | 23.6 | 1.40x |
| 08 | Food protection, cross-contamination | 27.4 | 48.1 | 0.57x |
Outcomes
Emergency closures
No Waffle House store appears in DBPR's weekly closure extracts (2025-12-29 to 2026-11-06).
Other breakfast and family brands
| Rank | Brand | vs county | 95% interval | Stores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Watch | -0.27 | -0.36 to -0.17 | 143 |
| 2 | Cracker Barrel | +0.14 | -0.05 to +0.34 | 60 |
| 3 | Bob Evans | +0.17 | -0.01 to +0.37 | 38 |
| 4 | Waffle House | +0.21 | +0.10 to +0.31 | 191 |
| 5 | Denny's | +0.25 | +0.12 to +0.39 | 123 |
| 6 | Golden Corral | +0.29 | -0.04 to +0.63 | 32 |
| 7 | IHOP | +0.31 | +0.15 to +0.48 | 84 |
| 8 | Perkins | +0.79 | +0.48 to +1.11 | 30 |
| 9 | Keke's Breakfast Cafe | +0.79 | +0.53 to +1.06 | 68 |
Store-level matching: a store counts for Waffle House when its DBPR business name matches the reviewed aliases in InspectLens's brand list. Co-branded units (for example KFC with Taco Bell) are not counted for either brand.