Every plate at Waffle House is marked in code. Read the plate, guess the order, four tries.
Next plate in 00:00:00
To view this information in video format, click here to view the original Waffle House training video from 2015.
Waffle House cooks mark plates instead of reading tickets. Eggs are signalled with a jelly packet turned vertical, placed at one of seven spots on the plate:
Omelets: a horizontal jelly (or apple butter) packet means omelet instead of egg order. 12 o'clock = Ham, 3 o'clock = Sausage, 6 o'clock = Bacon, 9 o'clock = Plain. Omelets come with 2, 3, or 4 eggs, marked the same way as egg orders (jelly alone, on a mustard packet, or two stacked), just horizontal.
Quantity: jelly on a ketchup packet = single egg, jelly alone = double, jelly on a mustard packet = triple, two stacked jellies = four eggs.
Cheese: only scrambled eggs and omelets can be ordered with cheese, one square per egg, stacked at 9 o'clock on the plate (or 12 o'clock instead, when the marker itself is sitting at 9 o'clock for a Plain Omelet).
Mayo: a mayo packet sits on top of the jelly for scrambled eggs. Upside down and blank means Scrambled Light. Right-side up means Scrambled Well.
Toast: that same egg jelly packet doubles up to mark the toast, grape jelly right-side up means white, upside down means wheat, apple butter means raisin. An actual slice of Texas toast sitting on the plate means Texas toast. An actual biscuit sitting on the plate means biscuit. A knife on the plate means hold the toast. A butter cup underneath the egg marker means "dry" toast.
Grits: the regular platter comes with grits; a round plate instead of the platter means "hold the grits"; the platter with a napkin on it means "grits on the side." A tomato slice where the cheese would go means "sub tomato"; a napkin with a brown sugar packet on top means "sub oatmeal"; a hash brown on the plate means "sub hashbrowns."
Waffle: A butter cup on the countertop means the customer has ordered a waffle. If it is right-side-up, the customer has ordered a plain waffle, and if it is upside-down, the customer has ordered a pecan waffle. Like scrambled eggs, customized waffle doneness is indicated with a mayo packet. An upside-down (light side up) mayo packet denotes a light waffle, while a right-side-up (writing visible) mayo packet signifies a dark waffle.
Deluxe mode can put several independent orders on the same counter at once - an egg plate, a waffle, a sandwich, and a side of hash browns can all show up together. Everything above still applies to each egg plate and waffle; here's what's added on top:
Double toast: a second toast marker sitting right next to the first (jelly packet, Texas toast slice, or biscuit, whichever the toast type uses) means double toast, instead of one.
Omelet toppings: a piece of tomato on top of the egg marker means a tomato topping. A ketchup packet underneath the egg marker (on top of the cheese) means a cheesesteak omelet.
Waffle extras: a second butter cup stacked on top of the first means a double waffle. Chocolate chips sitting on top of the butter cup mean a chocolate chip waffle.
Sandwiches: always on a round plate, with a slice of Texas toast or a biscuit sitting on the plate for the bread. A mayo packet placed like an egg marker (the same seven spots as an egg order) shows how the egg is cooked. Two pickles at 12 o'clock mean ham, 3 o'clock mean sausage, 6 o'clock mean bacon. A grilled cheese sandwich is bread and cheese on the plate with two pickles at 9 o'clock (no mayo packet, since there's no egg) - adding ham, sausage, or bacon moves the pickles to that meat's spot instead.
Hash browns: a side on its own round plate. One, two, or three piles of hash browns mean single, double, or triple. A butter cup next to the pile(s) means steamed.
Source: The Waffle House Way cook training manual, "The Markers" (Waffle House Inc., 2015).
Insane mode hides which parts of each guess are right or wrong, you'll only be told how many you got correct. In Deluxe mode this also applies per item: no red/yellow/green indicators and correct dropdowns don't lock in, so you have to get everything right in one shot to win.
Deluxe mode puts multiple orders on the counter at once (eggs, waffles, sandwiches, hash browns) with every combination in play. Guess with one dropdown per item on the counter, each with a red/yellow/green indicator showing how close that guess is. Four wrong guesses ends the round. Daily Deluxe and Endless Deluxe (via the Endless toggle) each keep their own streak and stats, separate from plain Daily and Endless.