Huddle House is a chain of 24-hour diner-style restaurants with over 430 locations in over 17 states, primarily found in Southern United States. The chain was started in 1964 in Decatur, Georgia

Decatur, Georgia

Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...

 by John Sparks, with the goal of providing a 24-hour eatery. It is named after the act of huddling in football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

. The original Huddle House in Decatur was established to give fans a place to eat after "the big game" on Friday nights. Its competitors include Waffle House

Waffle House

Waffle House is a restaurant chain with over 1600 locations found in 25 states in the United States. Most of the locations are in the Southern United States, where the chain remains a regional cultural icon...

, IHOP

IHOP

IHOP may refer to:* IHOP, a restaurant chain, formerly known as The International House of Pancakes* International House of Prayer, a Christian 24/7 prayer center in Kansas City, Missouri...

, Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969 and its first store was located in Lebanon, Tennessee, where the company is now headquartered...

, Denny's

Denny's

Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...

, and Bob Evans

Bob Evans Restaurants

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a food service, processing, and retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. The company is named after its founder, Bob Evans . It operates two family dining restaurant chains in the United States, Bob Evans Restaurants and Mimi's Cafe...

.

History

Huddle House opened their first 24-hour restaurant in April 1964 in Pickens County by Jane Addams. In 1966, they began actively franchising

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

. The company now expands primarily through franchising, but also continues to operate company units. The combined organization has continued to expand and today encompasses more than 400 units throughout the traditional South and new development areas opening in the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West and the Southwestern United States.