"Everyman" Gus Malzahn laments Waffle House, wife making him fix his own sandwiches

quote:

---

The back booth of the Waffle House on Glenn Avenue hasn’t seen its usual Saturday night occupants this fall.

The only sign of its typical patrons is tucked around the corner of the back wall that’s adorned with a framed photo of “Bo Over the Top” from the 1982 Iron Bowl. There sits an orange-and-blue Waffle House hat signed by the restaurant’s entire staff and featuring the score of Auburn’s season-opener against Kentucky on Sept. 26.

The hat was intended as a gift to Gus Malzahn and his wife Kristi to commemorate the 29-13 win against the Wildcats, which kicked off their eighth season at Auburn. Deb McGrew, a server at the Waffle House on Glenn, was going to present it to the Malzahns when they came in for their customary post-win meal that night, but she never got the opportunity.

“I’ll tell you what, I’m real disappointed I can’t go to my Waffle House after the game,” Malzahn said. “So, it’s a weird year, like we’ve talked about, in a lot of different ways.”

Everyone has had to buy in and make various sacrifices this season. For the Malzahns, their Saturday night visits to Waffle House store No. 1882 have been among them.

“It’s kind of an everyman’s place,” Kristi said. “You know, everybody’s always welcome at Waffle House. You can walk in in your dressiest of dresses that you’d see during prom season and formal season; you see people in there in their prom and formal looks, but you also see those that are down on their luck and those that have had a little too much fun and those that have been trying to drown some sorrows maybe."

They tried curbside to-go from Waffle House a couple times this summer, but it just wasn’t the same as the in-booth experience.

“He’s truly — he’s hitting reality that he’s having to have the basic, normal life,” Kristi said. “He’s eating leftovers because that’s what’s in the fridge and it’s late, so fix yourself a sandwich.”

---