Waffle House closes 365 locations amid coronavirus pandemic
By Chauncey Alcorn CNN Business
(CNN) -- Waffle House just became the latest restaurant chain to shutter some locations amid the nation's novel coronavirus outbreak.
In a Monday morning tweet, the Georgia-based dine-in business said it's closing 365 locations across the US. An additional 1,627 locations will remain open, the company said.
A Waffle House spokesperson said Tuesday morning that the company will release a more detailed statement on the matter soon, declining to comment further.
Waffle House is a restaurant chain known for staying open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in spite of most environmental conditions. Most of its 1,900+ restaurants are located in the nation's southeast. In the past, federal officials have been known to use them as a gauge to determine the severity of a hurricane, tornado or other hazards on a local area.
Government officials in several states, including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California and Ohio, have ordered bars and dine-in restaurants to temporarily close or limit their business to delivery and carryout orders to comply with social distancing recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The mandates have decimated foot traffic and overall business for many local restaurants across the country.
Waffle House's website homepage now emphasizes its restaurants offer carryout orders.
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