As for how Waffle House will afford to pay its employees at its 2,100 locations… it’s leaving that up to the customers.

Diners will be forced to pay a higher price to offset employees’ raises.

“Our menu prices in a rural town are relative to competitors’ menu prices in that rural town,” Rogers said. “So we may not have as much room to increase prices as we have in a large city.”

Rogers also alerted his employees that customers “are going to expect more when they pay more.”