A tipsy, peckish man who found waffle house workers asleep when he visited in the early hours of the morning wasted no time in getting behind the stove himself. 

Alex Bowen's series of selfies as he cooked himself a late-night meal at a South Carolina diner spread like wildfire across the internet on Friday. 

Mr Bowen said he first walked around the place but couldn't see any workers, before spotting one fast asleep in a corner booth. 

He then took matters into his own hands. 

"I got hot on the grill with a double Texas bacon cheesesteak with extra pickles," he told WIS. "When I was done I cleaned the grill, collected my ill-gotten sandwich and rolled out."

He returned later to pay for the sandwich. The snoozing employee was suspended for a week.