Features Editor

When dirt starts to be moved from one location to another and there is a flurry of activity around the site of the dirt pile, people began to ask, "What’s going on?"

That question has been asked many times as dump trucks and bulldozers are fast at work along Highway 231 in front of the old Wal-Mart shopping center.

"A Waffle House," said Charles Green, field manager for PaceSetter Construction of Bostwick, Ga. "Waffle House has about 1,400 locations, many of them in the South, but also as far north as Ohio and as far west as Arizona. I’m not sure if the Troy Waffle House will be 1,401, but it will be open soon."

"Soon," Green said will be mid-September.

He said the volume of traffic along Highway 231 was the reason for locating the Waffle House in Troy.

"The traffic count is the primary reason for locating a Waffle House in a specific location," he said. "That fact that Troy is a college town might have figured into the decision a little, but the main reason is this highway right out here."

The Waffle House is a round the clock "diner" kind of restaurant.

"The idea is that the first two shifts pay the bills and the third is for profit," Green said. "The traffic along 231 should bring in a good third shift business."

There is something nostalgic about a Waffle House. It has the friendly atmosphere of a diner with its picture menus and hot-off-the-grill items.

"Waffle House offers breakfast anytime and, they are one of the number one sellers of T-bone steaks," Green said. "They have a good menu and the food is good and the service is top notch."

Green said the Waffle House hasn’t changed that much over the years.

"The kitchen set-up is just about the same as it was in 1955," he said. "Of course, they have modernized their equipment, but there have been no major changes."

"The building is about 1,600 square feet and this is a normal building for Waffle House," he said. "Most of the buildings are set on from .4 to .6 of an acre. What they have been doing for almost 50 years is still working for them and they are staying with it."

Green said a hometown grill with a friendly atmosphere that is open 24-7 is tailor made for busy Highway 231 and the folks in Pike County will find it to their liking, too.