Gulf Breeze is getting a new Waffle House. But the regulars will always remember it this way.

Breakfast at the Waffle House on 831 Gulf Breeze Parkway just tastes better than it does at home.

After nearly 50 years of cultivating die-hard Waffle House fans, Gulf Breeze’s 24-hour diner is getting itself a makeover this year, which will temporarily close the local hot spot for several months of construction.

The Gulf Breeze City Council unanimously approved the plan to tear down and rebuild the Gulf Breeze Waffle House at its January meeting. Construction on the new and improved building will begin in the spring, but Duane Wentworth, senior vice president of Waffle House’s Gulf Coast market, said he expects the construction team will turn it around quickly.

The Waffle House 2.0 will carry an “upscaled architectural façade,” according to the construction plans submitted to the city.

Even though the brand-new building will have all the frills, memories of late-night hashbrowns with friends, morning waffles with the family and solo breakfasts with coffee and the newspaper will remain cemented in history on the original WaHo’s sacred grounds.

“The new project will provide better landscaping, more adequate 90-degree parking and removes the current circular traffic pattern around the building,” according to the proposal.

Though there is an excitement that comes with the new and improved version, there is still something to be said of the stories shared in that space over the half-century.

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Fame by Hot Wheels

Waffle House regular Amelio White Jr. has eaten thousands of meals in his favorite corner booth. Sometimes starting his day working at the flower shop with a plate-sized waffle and a side of sizzling bacon, other times just popping in for the “coffee and chit chat.”

When the 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. window rolls around each morning, staff routinely begin the trek from behind the counter to pour piping hot coffee in his cup like clockwork.

Some mornings, the restaurant will house just him and a few others he can list by name, with voices ricocheting across the small restaurant’s walls in conversation. But when busy season hits, somewhere between Labor Day and Memorial Day, beachgoers from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi line the unofficially reserved barstools, bringing with them a fresh energy.

“When tourism season comes — it’s rock and roll,” White Jr. said.

The well-seasoned staff dictate the flow of the dining room, White Jr. explained, which Gulf Breeze’s core team has every detail accounted for. Not even a syrup container will be handed to a table with a leaky drip when veteran server Annette Walker is around.

While he can share a personal archive of background knowledge on each staff member — when they started, what degrees they have earned and what their family situation at home looks like — he also maintains a reputation of his own.

With the help of his girlfriend Martha Gardner, the two have been purchasing a two-month supply of Hot Wheels cars by the case and distributing the collectibles to children inside of the Gulf Breeze restaurant since 2021 with no plans to stop until death forces them to. Those frequent trips to Pensacola’s Coins, Sportscards and Racing Collectibles store to stock up on inventory have sealed them a place as Gulf Breeze living legends.

“That’s our claim to fame,” White Jr. teased.

After winning his battle with colon cancer, little things, such as spending his pastime in the restaurant putting a smile on children’s faces, is nothing to take for granted.

Hashbrowns as the hangover cure

With over 2,000 Waffle Houses across the country, each have their own ecosystem of regulars like White Jr. who make the social space more than a restaurant. Many customers first found their way in the doors out of necessity, but years later, have continued coming purely out of preference.

Some customers, like Chris Shearman, made the spot a stop after a long night of drinking to get the best hangover remedy he knew of: double hashbrowns prepared “all the way,” which is Waffle House speak for all the toppings. Now over a decade later, he finds himself stopping in for a quick morning breakfast with his girlfriend. Everything from the floor tiles and patterns have become a place he could count on with an order ready before his feet walk through the door.

“I was kind of sad when I saw the news they were closing this place down,” he said.

For others, like Doug Baker, it was the place that gave his children a first job and he spent many dinners supporting them. While they eventually went on to other careers, their time at the Waffle House taught them life skills − even their son, who at the time had a lot to learn.

“We figured he would die in a house full of food because he didn’t know how to cook,” he joked.

Now, since graduating from Waffle House line cook, he has made cooking his career.

Lifetime of loyalty

Gulf Breeze regular Rick Hollar said his Waffle House loyalty began about 10 years ago on a chilly Christmas drive from Birmingham, Alabama to Charlotte, North Carolina.

He was surprised by the satisfying food and genuine service, even on a holiday, that he left swearing lifelong loyalty to Waffle House.

After that, he made himself familiar with his local Gulf Breeze location.

Wentworth said because of Gulf Breeze’s high number of regulars, the new store should receive a warm welcome.

“We are big fans of Gulf Breeze, they have been great supporters of us for a long time,” Wentworth said. “It’s a small town with a large local customer base.”

He credits the restaurant’s success to the team of Waffle House staff and the relationships they have forged with their customers.

“It’s a different experience because of the relationships the associates have with the customers,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gulf Breeze Waffle House to be razed for new and improved restaurant