Photo by Kelvin Kuo

Technology Square has a new dining destination sure to entice students returning to their dorms after a night on the town and alumni seeking postgame grub this football season. A Georgia Tech-inspired Waffle House opened its doors June 9.

Sandwiched between Jazzy Nails and Tan Spa and Great Clips on Fifth Street, the restaurant has all of the old Waffle House favorites. Diners still may order waffles with or without pecans and hash browns any way they like them, but now they can do so from the comfort of a white-and-gold-striped booth modeled after the rumble seat of the Ramblin’ Wreck.

There are even some familiar faces from campus. Rows of framed photographs of notable Tech alumni, including a dozen or more astronauts, dance instructor Arthur Murray and TV personality Vern Yip, hover above a banquette in a Wi-Fi room on the east end of the diner. Waffle House received help from Marilyn Somers, director of the Alumni Association’s Living History program, and the Student Center in compiling photos and Tech memorabilia.

Although Waffle House has been around since 1955, this new location is the first to be opened on a college campus. Georgia Tech is a fitting place for the restaurant considering Waffle House’s numerous ties to the Institute. Bert’s Chili is named for Bert Thornton, IM 68, vice chairman of Waffle House. Walt Ehmer, IE 89, is the chain’s president and COO. Will Mizell, Mgt 87, is vice president. Joe Rogers Jr., IM 68, is the chairman, president and CEO of Waffle House.

The opening of the new store marks a return to campus for former Yellow Jackets kicker Travis Bell, Mgt 08. Bell is district manager for the Tech Square and Underground Atlanta Waffle Houses and shuffles his time between both.

Bell learned about Waffle House’s management program through Jane Stoner, senior manager of Clubs for the Alumni Association, in early 2009. Within a month, Bell had been interviewed by the company and was in training. The program is a boot camp of sorts for restaurant management, starting its trainees on the floor waiting tables, taking orders, cooking food and busing tables.

“It’s tough, but the good thing is it’s three months of training, no previous experience required,” Bell said. “Every store has one manager. They have people above them, but that manager is required to run a 24-hour-a-day store. So in three months, you have to be ready to take over the keys and run a small business. It’s intense, but if you’re ready for it, I think it’s the greatest job in the world.”

Bell began the program in March 2009 and by June was running his first store. Within 10 months, he was promoted to head his two current restaurants.

He said he’s confident he will continue to move up the ranks. “The harder you work, the quicker you get promoted, and that’s why I like it,” he said. “It’s all performance based. It’s not about seniority, it’s not about how long you’ve been there, it’s not who you know. It’s how hard you work.”

Early-morning diners at the Tech Square Waffle House may see Bell hard at work at the grill this summer.

“The manager and the district manager, we’re still responsible for being able to cook,” he said. “We’re the first-shift grill operator, so every day I’m in my store, I’m cooking.”

Bell said he was a fan of Waffle House long before working for the company and frequented the eatery during his college days.

“I went to the one on Pharr Road,” he recalled. “If this one was here when I was in school, the whole football team would have been in here every night.”

Asked what he usually orders at the restaurant, he said, “I have a new favorite dish that I get now that I work here. I like to get the biscuits with gravy and scrambled eggs and cheese and sausage, and I mix it all together.”