Georgia Waffle House cook hopes viral rap lands on restaurant jukeboxes

An Atlanta Waffle House grill operator is going viral for his original rap song, "Waffy Options."

"Rockstar Riley," as coworkers and customers know him, gained attention after a customer posted a video of him performing at the Waffle House on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.

"We're not in the food business, we're in the people business," Riley said. "Our focus is to make sure the customers are happy when they come through. And I do that every day, all day."

Riley has worked at Waffle House on and off since he was 15 years old.

"I tried calling everyone. I couldn't get a ride, but I knew no matter what, I wanted that job," Riley said. "I'd been trying for eight months. So I got my mom's bike, put on some shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed my little sister's pink iPod Nano, loaded it with music and rode five miles. I've been rocking out at Waffle House ever since."

Twenty years later, Riley has lived up to the "Rockstar Riley" name on his name tag.

"I wrote the first song last September. I recorded it in January and released it around February or March," he said.

His song "Waffy Options" has amassed more than 1 million views on TikTok and hundreds of thousands of views and shares on Instagram. Riley has also written several other Waffle House-inspired songs, including "Power Hour" and "Love Under the Yellow Sign."

Waffle House says music has long been part of the customer experience.

Now, Riley hopes his songs will make it onto the restaurant chain's iconic jukeboxes so customers at more than 2,000 Waffle House locations can hear them.

"Please, everyone, keep going to Waffle House and tell them how much you love the music and the food," Riley said. "Tell them you want to hear 'Waffy Options' and all the other great Waffle House songs on the jukebox."