If you know, you know: Waffle House can be a place of chaos. So how much do servers at the Georgia-based diner chain take home for their troubles?
TikTok creator Lilly (@lillysellers22), who regularly posts content about working at a Florida location of Waffle House, has shared her personal experience. In late December, she posted a video titled, “How much I made at Waffle House in 7 hrs.”
The video has 1.5 million views and more than 27,000 likes.
Lilly was just coming off of a 7am to 2pm shift, she explained in the video, which she shot from her car.
“It was kind of slow for Saturday,” she said to the camera while holding her cash tips.
As Lilly counted the tips, she assured viewers: “Yes, my doors are locked and I’m watching my surroundings. Don’t worry about me.”
Lilly also explained that the pace of a Waffle House shift isn’t for the faint of heart. “Y’all know how Waffle House—constantly moving. The only time I sat down today was on the toilet,” she said.
After sorting through her tips, Lilly came out with $180 in cash.
“Do y’all know anywhere where I can make some more money?” she asked viewers.
But according to many of the commenters, that’s a pretty good haul.
One commenter wrote, “180 for 7 hrs is almost 26.00 an hour … that’s not bad at all. Good for you.”
“And you earned every bit of that money and have sense of humor,” one person wrote.
“About to quit my job and go work at Waffle House lol,” another viewer commented.
“Waitressing is hard work!!!” a commenter chimed in.
“I make $20 an hour doing accounting work for law firms in the real estate industry which required a bachelor degree,” someone else wrote in the comments.
“I found out in Florida,” another commenter offered, “if you hit up them three four five star restaurants you can clear 344-500 a night in like 5 or 6 hours.”
Another viewer wrote, “Damn I worked at Waffle House and it was a struggle to make 50 on a busy day and that was for all of us servers at that waffle house.”
@lillysellers22 This video is long, i tried to speed it up but we just talk slow in florida #wafflehousewaitress #canigetawaffle #moneycount #brokeasf #followme ♬ original sound – Lilly
A few commenters pointed out that Lilly’s income for the shift was even greater than those tips, when you consider her hourly rate. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the minimum hourly cash wage for tipped employees is $8.98. That figure is set to increase a dollar a year until 2026, a measure approved by Florida voters in 2020, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
However, that money won’t go as far in the Sunshine State as it will elsewhere in the U.S., according to the News Journal, which reported that the minimum wage hike still won’t guarantee a living wage. The news outlet also wrote in September that “the state had the highest inflation rate in the country at 9%, more than double the national average of 4%, according to the Consumer Price Index.”
Since posting her viral video, Lilly has kept followers apprised of her tips on shift, including $203 on a recent Saturday shift and $117 on a Thursday.
The Daily Dot reached out to Lilly via TikTok and Waffle House via email.
In other recent Waffle House news, one worker showed how to make the chain’s popular hashbrowns.
