Waffle House is cooking up a third Jonesboro location on East Johnson Avenue in the Hilltop corridor, just east of the NEA Baptist medical campus. Construction appears to be well underway, though officials have not announced an opening date. The 24-hour diner is being positioned as a practical late-night option for hospital staff, patients’ families, and nearby residents who previously had to drive across town for round-the-clock dining.
Developer announces Hilltop site
Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate announced that Waffle House will land on East Johnson Avenue just east of NEA Baptist’s Hilltop campus, according to KAIT. The station notes the developer framed the restaurant as a 24-hour amenity for the medical community and said the project is nearing completion.
Local restaurant tracker WhatNow also picked up the announcement and reported that signage is already up at the Hilltop site, a pretty strong hint that the finish line is not far off, even if the exact opening date is still under wraps.
Announcement frames a hospital-friendly diner
In the developer’s social post, the line “A 24-hour restaurant here isn’t just another breakfast spot” was highlighted by local outlets, per NEA Report. NEA Report notes the post credited Zac Qualls with helping bring the chain to Hilltop and added that a neighboring lot is now pending, suggesting more retail could follow if the waffle traffic is as strong as developers seem to expect.
A third Jonesboro outpost and the bigger picture
The Hilltop location will be the third Waffle House in Jonesboro; the other two sit on Parker Road and Phillips Drive, KAIT reports. The chain, founded in 1955, now operates more than 1,900 restaurants nationwide, a figure noted in recent coverage by the Houston Chronicle. For Jonesboro diners, that means the familiar mix of waffles and hashbrowns at all hours will soon be closer to the Hilltop corridor than ever.
Site context: a busy, growing corridor
Nearby commercial listings help explain why developers are betting on the area. A LoopNet listing for a parcel on East Johnson notes the site sits “just east of the $400 million NEA Baptist Healthcare System campus” and enjoys heavy daily vehicle exposure, LoopNet reports. That mix of hospital traffic and new housing has already lured national brands to the Hilltop corridor, and Haag Brown has said the Waffle House announcement has sparked interest in neighboring lots.
No official opening date has been released; local outlets say the developer did not provide a timeline and that more announcements are expected, per WhatNow. We will be keeping an eye on permitting records and local listings for a clearer timetable as work continues in the Hilltop corridor.
