Waffle House (Collinsville)
505 N. Bluff RoadThere’s one thing I really love about traveling south of Michigan. Waffle House.
I’ve written several blogs over the years about my stops at Waffle House on my travels for work. Somewhere along the line, I’ve gotten my family hooked as well.
Our first family experience with Waffle House was six years ago when we took a trip to Cincinnati to go to the zoo. There was a Waffle House near our hotel in Mason, OH. J liked it but the kids were still pretty young and didn’t appreciate it yet.
A couple of years ago, J and L went to Tampa for a figure skating competition. I told them there was a Waffle House not too far from their hotel. I knew that because I had stayed in the same hotel they were staying in just a few years prior to that on a work trip and ate at the Waffle House in Wesley Chapel they went to. I think that’s where L realized how great Waffle House is
Their Waffle House love was solidified last year when J and the kids went to Nashville for a figure skating competition without me. There was a Waffle House in the parking lot of their hotel and it was one of the highlights of the trip.
When we started making plans for a trip to St. Louis, I knew we’d eat at a Waffle House at least once. I knew they were in the area because I ate at the one in Maryland Heights last spring when I was in town for a work trip.
We booked a hotel in Fairview Heights, IL. I, for whatever reason, thought we had booked a hotel in Collinsville and was super excited because there was a Waffle House just down the street from the hotel I thought we booked. Fortunately, the hotel we did book was only a ten minute drive from the Waffle House I thought we were going to be next to so we went there for breakfast anyway.
The Waffle House in Collinsville, IL is right off I-55 on Bluff Road. The iconic Waffle House building is in a shopping plaza with several other businesses and restaurants but it stands alone on the northeast side of the development. We pulled in to the parking lot around 11:30 to grab some breakfast/lunch before heading in to St. Louis for the US Figure Skating Championships at the Enterprise Center.
The thing you can say about Waffle House is that you always know exactly what you’re going to get. Every single restaurant is exactly the same. A lot of times, that’s a turn off for me but it works with Waffle House.
The restaurant is a small diner with a large lunch counter right as you walk in and booths off to either side of it. We saw an open booth so the four of us headed there, grabbed some menus, and waited for the waitress to follow us over.
I typically order the Steak and Eggs but I saw something different on the menu. It was kinda the same thing but also kinda different.
I ordered the Cheesesteak and Cheese Eggs breakfast. This plate is a classic breakfast plate with steak, eggs, potatoes and toast. The cheesesteak is something I actually really like at Waffle House and I’ve ordered it in sandwich form before. On this plate, the cheesesteak is just piled on the plate. I used the toast that came with the meal and put some of the meat and some of the cheese covered scramble eggs on to make a sandwich and it was just as delicious as I had hoped. In the future, I would probably go back to the Steak and Eggs or the Texas Cheesesteak Melt sandwich though as loose cheesesteak is kind of awkward to eat. It was super tasty though.
The hash brows at Waffle House are some of my favorite. I get them chunked (ham), covered (cheese), and peppered (jalapenos). There wasn’t really a lot of any of the toppings but hash browns themselves were perfect. Nice and golden brown on top and cooked all the way though. There was enough cheese that I could get some in almost every bite but there was a lack of jalapenos and ham so those bites were a little more sparse.
J loves a good diner grilled cheese and since it was lunch time, that’s what she ordered. The grilled cheese is a little sad looking. It looks like they just used one slice of cheese on white toast. It’s a simple diner grilled cheese. She didn’t say anything about it either way. She doesn’t do any of the fun add ons for her hash browns but she did say the top layer was nice and crispy.
B ordered a cheeseburger. That was all he wanted. No hash browns. No bacon. No waffles. Just a cheeseburger. Like J’s grilled cheese, it was a little sad looking cheeseburger. It actually had a really nice crispy edge from the flat top but that threw him off. He kept asking why it was crunchy. He hasn’t come to appreciate the diner cheeseburger yet. He ate all but one bite, which is his MO, so the crunchy stuff couldn’t have bothered him too much.
L was the only one who ordered waffles…..and for some reason, it took a really long time to come out. The rest of us got our food way before she did. The waffle is obviously the Waffle House specialty. These are kind of unique waffles because they’re not big, poofy waffles. They’re big, flat waffles with a little more crispiness to them. The waitress brought out syrup and butter for her and she used both. The waffle was gone in a matter of minutes. L is the one who really appreciates Waffle House for the waffles.
L, of course, also got a side of bacon. It was just a couple of strips but it was really crispy bacon. Just the way she likes it.
Our bill for breakfast/lunch was around $45 before tip. The waitress brings you a hand written check then you take it up to the cash register to pay.
This wasn’t the best Waffle House experience I’ve ever had but it was still good, cheap, greasy diner food and that is what I love about traveling to the south and finding an Waffle House.
SW Michigan Dining 