Unpacking Baggage

Just going through my luggage, clearing out some things to make way for enlightenment

After a great weekend in the District of Columbia, I feel compelled to begin this series. I can't say how many parts it will have as there is always a new FGS spot popping up somewhere. I guess the previous post, Peaches! Peaches! Peaches! can act as the introduction to this series so if you need further clarification, please refer back.

I can't quite remember, but it had to be my late friend, Clayton who first took me to The Waffle Shop. Also an FGS connoiseur, Clayton would take you where a good plate would be set before you and knew the "curry out" where you could get the best styrofoam-encased MRE. He also knew where the best spirits and cocktails were being poured.

Sitting directly across the street from Ford's Theater, where Abe Lincoln saw his last show and made his next to last public appearance (I suppose the last was lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda), the Waffle Shop, at 522 10TH St NW, opened in the 1950s. It doesn't seem to have had any improvements since then, but that's part of the charm. The interior features the original horseshoe-shaped counters with stools and a ceiling that slants dramatically upwards from back to front. There are pictures on the wall that show what it looked like when the place was new. I tried to buy one, but was refused. I think the owner keeps them as a reminder of what it was he purchased.

The focus is now on Chinese food, but you can still get American-style breakfast and lunch. If you go at the right time you can have Mama as your server. For as long as I have been going, which has to be at least six years, Mama has been serving breakfast. She is the sole reason that I continue to come back year after year. The food is decent, but the service is like none other I've received. She is so warm and friendly that I really believe I am being served by someone's mama. I wanted to send her a thank you card after our first visit, but I felt strange sending something through the mail addressed to "Mama." We asked her name, but she says that we are to call her Mama and that's what we do. I over-tip her, SHAMELESSLY, but she makes the dining experience worth every penny. A few years back, I came in wearing one of my trademark straw hats and she asked me for it. I knew she didn't want the hat off my head, but was merely expressing admiration of my chapeaux. Nevertheless, I sent her one as soon as I got home. She will win your heart like that.

As for the food. Don't bother looking at the menu. Just order from the wall. I usually get the morning special with grits and scrapple, but there is a good selection on the wall. If you go on a weekend morning, you may have to stand and wait for a spot. Wait to be seated at Mama's station and tell her I sent you.