A single vote.
Elections rarely come down to just one vote. There was that one in Virginia in 2017 that did, but before that, I’m not finding one since 1910. Which makes the America’s Backbone semifinal matchup, Waffle House v. Buc-ee’s, historic in more ways than one.
Buc-ee’s did its darnedest, and Buc-ee’s nearly pulled it out. In a slightly lower turnout showing (summer Fridays, am I right), the Beaver held its own against a titan of our regional yet shared American experience. In the end, just one vote separated the two.
Waffle House moves on now to face Culver’s, the Wisconsin icon which had the audacity to say: We will put butter on this burger. And what’s more? We will serve it with not just fries, but frozen custard. Did Culver’s actually invent the butterburger? I’m not sure. But they’re the ones who made it famous, much as Waffle House showed us that you can build an empire off of simple goodness and a legion of intimidating cooks.
(Full semifinal results can be found here. Culver’s gave Steak ‘n Shake the business, and I mean that figuratively. Not literally at all. Culver’s is taking away Steak ‘n Shake business. It’s the truth.)
Championship voting begins right now. As always, there are two ways to vote.
The first is our Instagram account, where voting will be live in the stories for the next 24 hours or so.
The second is this Google Form, where votes will be accepted if they’re in prior to 11:00 AM EDT tomorrow, Tuesday July 25th.
America, you’ve given us two good ones. Now. Let’s figure out which is the greatest regional chain of them all.
