Trey and Alonda Bailey shared a Belgian waffle for Valentine’s at Waffle House Monday night and were even coaxed into feeding each other a bite or two, because, well, “Waffles are for lovers.”

For the second straight year, the Covington Waffle House on U.S. Highway 278 at Ga. Highway 142 took reservations for candlelight dinners on Valentine’s Day. Alonda heard about the promotion through a brochure, and the slogan caught her eye. It didn’t hurt that Trey is quite fond of Waffle House.

“I think that’s a slogan that all of America knows: ‘Waffles are for lovers,’” Trey said and then laughed. “Valentine’s Day is special, because it’s her birthday, so we’ve always had the two-for-one.”

Waffle House isn’t a traditional stop for Valentine’s Day, but that’s the idea. It’s silly, quirky and fun.

“We’ve never been to the Waffle House with candlelight before,” Alonda said.

For the Baileys, it was also nice to skip the hour-long wait at other eateries that evening. Few local restaurants offer reservations.

Scioscia Starks, human resource specialist for area Waffle Houses, said the idea for candlelit Valentine’s Day dinners started a couple of years ago in a different state. The phenomenon has since spread, and the Covington location had 13 reservations this year, up from about 10 last year. In addition to the candles, rose petals were strewn across the floor, tables had white tablecloths, servers were dressed in black and white and there were red glow globes casting the light of love. The staff also gave couples free Valentine’s Day cookies.

“This definitely takes it up a notch,” Trey said.