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Huddle House Opens Diner In Brooksville

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By TONY HOLT, Hernando Today

Published: September 7, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Susan Gaddy blended in among the servers at the newly opened Huddle House in Brooksville.

She wore the uniform: red, short-sleeved shirt and black pants. She smiled often, greeted customers and joked with the employees.
Gaddy had that warm, down-home personality you would expect from someone working at a small-town diner.

Only Gaddy isn't a waitress. She is the Public Health Nutrition director for the state of Florida. She also is a fledgling entrepreneur who owns the Huddle House on Broad Street, which opened last month.

'It took us about four years to get this restaurant going,' she said, recalling the years of frustration she had with developers in Pinellas Park, her original location. 'I tried to be very patient.'

After further gridlock, the franchise director with Huddle House traveled to Florida and scanned the land in Brooksville. The property was relatively inexpensive and the surrounding area was growing. A spot along U.S. 41 seemed ideal.

One year later, Gaddy is relieved to be running her own restaurant - a job she hopes will grow tenfold in the next few years.

She is aiming to build a Huddle House in Spring Hill, then eight more throughout Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Gaddy, who lives in Clearwater, would like to retire from her state government job after she puts in 30 years (she is at 27). Her restaurant business will be her retirement job - seemingly an odd choice for someone with 30 years of government employment under her belt. Retirement usually involves playing golf, babysitting grandchildren and taking cruises.
Gaddy wants to make money.

As of now, she has a manager running the restaurant during the week. She only comes to Brooksville on the weekends.

So why Huddle House?

'I like it because it's more like a diner ... for the family,' she said. 'We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at a very low cost.'

During the weekend, the Huddle House is never closed. Monday through Thursday, it is open from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Gaddy's restaurant is the southernmost location out of the more than 500 Huddle Houses across the country, she said.

The Atlanta-based company sold more than $210 million worth of food last year. That figure is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years. Huddle House hopes to expand to more than 700 restaurants and spread into more states, Gaddy said.

The menu includes the typical breakfast items including omelets, pancakes, waffles and steak and eggs. For those eating lunch and dinner, there are appetizers, steak dinners, sandwiches and desserts available on the menu.

'We're developing new things all the time,' Gaddy said, pointing out a new breakfast entree called the Southern Smothered Breakfast Plate, which consists of biscuits, hash browns, sausage, gravy and cheddar cheese piled high.
Gaddy earned a bachelor's degree in food and nutrition at Southern University and a master's degree in the same field at the Tuskegee Institute. She is a registered dietician and runs the state's Women, Infants and Children program, which encourages good nutrition.

She said she will have a grand opening in the next few weeks.

'We tend to do better in small towns,' said Gaddy, who was asked what distinguishes Huddle House from other diner chains. 'We have sort of become the community's restaurant. We are the small community restaurant for the family.'

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