It was supposed to be a simple Sunday brunch. I had just finished an early morning shift and was craving something sweet, so I convinced my friend Jake to hit up IHOP with me. Pancakes, bacon, and bottomless coffee—it sounded like the perfect way to start the day.
The moment we walked in, I should have known we were in for a rough experience. The hostess, a teenage girl who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, barely acknowledged us before mumbling, “Just sit wherever.” The place wasn’t packed, but every open table was covered in crumbs, syrup drips, and half-empty glasses.
We picked the cleanest-looking booth and waited. And waited. Ten minutes passed before a server finally appeared, a guy named Kyle, judging by his stained name tag. He looked exhausted.
“Drinks?” he asked flatly.
“Uh, coffee for me,” I said.
“Same,” Jake added.
Kyle shuffled off, and we resumed our conversation, assuming our drinks would be out quickly. Another ten minutes went by. No coffee. No Kyle. I glanced around and saw him chatting with another server near the kitchen, both laughing about something on a phone.
“Should we just go?” Jake whispered.
“Nah, we’re already here,” I said. “Let’s give it a few more minutes.”
Right as I was about to wave someone down, Kyle returned with two mugs and a coffee pot. Without a word, he poured the coffee—except he overshot Jake’s mug, spilling scalding liquid all over the table and onto Jake’s lap.
“Dude!” Jake yelped, jumping up.
Kyle blinked. “Oh. My bad.” Then he walked away.
Jake wiped at his jeans with a napkin, muttering curses under his breath. I was about to call someone else over when a different server appeared, setting down plates of food.
“Uh… we didn’t order yet,” I said, staring at the sad-looking stack of pancakes in front of me.
The server frowned, checked her notepad, then shrugged. “Guess these are for you now.” And she walked off.
At this point, we were just stunned. The pancakes were cold, the eggs looked like rubber, and Jake’s bacon was burnt to a crisp.
“You still wanna stay?” Jake asked.
I sighed. “Let’s just eat and get out of here.”
Halfway through choking down the food, I noticed something moving near the syrup caddy. A cockroach. Casually crawling along the table, like it was just another customer enjoying breakfast.
That was it. We were done. We threw some cash on the table and left, still hungry and deeply traumatized.
“Next time, we’re going to Perkins” Jake muttered as we got into the car.
I nodded. “Agreed.”
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Maria Francisco
I called for a to go order at around 10:15am, we were told it would take 10-15 minutes for the order to be ready for pick up. We arrived around 10:40 expecting our order to be ready, the host told us our order wasn't ready yet so we waited roughly another 20 minutes just for the workers to realize our food was ready the entire time we were just sitting there. Extremely frustrating experience and the lack of communication between the host and the other workers showed during this experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Marra
Great customer service but I suggest you guys wear hairnets because I have hair in my food and I did not like that a lot not a lot that was very trifling
Not sure how long Kaden has been there, but may want to retrain. 0 accountability, combative towards customers, and more than forgetful. Eat anywhere else
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Anibal Ramirez
Please take a little more care in cleaning the toilets.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
Jo Bond
Pancakes cold when Ankeny they let me replace eggs for extra bacon
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Jason Walkup
They were a little short staffed but the staff is hardworking
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
jesus rosales
Awesome.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak and Eggs
Mike
Michael as a server was absolutely terrific. Respectful and fast and knowledgeable. food was hot, bacon was crispy. Had 6 seperate taps to keep track of at our table alone and he remember everyone and their order without double guessing or us telling him. 10/10 would come back just for him to be our server again. Give this guy a raise and I mean it.
I walk in and get accused of not having money with a guy once but i assured it was not me. Then server rudely says its $4 when i ordered coffee. And when i ordered doughnut holes she didn't put the order in after already being rude. I called the store manager Jose and I explained that I had worked this three times and I have been there in a year he said when I told him 2006 to 2008 any wanted argue USA store was open and then and only been open for 15 years online showing open September 2002 this door is poorly managed and a very very bad reputation for IHOP definitely worse than I've ever seen when I work there
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Renae
My son and I were seated at a table (in the center of the room, with lots of traffic walking around constantly). The restaurant was busy, so we had no issue waiting a few minutes on a server. We eventually waited 30 minutes, and not one person said a word to us, made eye contact or really even acted like they knew we existed. The young male hostess who sat us even walked by seating others, I thought maybe he would notice if nobody had our table taken care of. Other people that came in after us were seated and drinks brought, even served. We finally decided we would leave and go where our business was wanted.
I politely asked for a manager on our way out so I could communicate to them what happened. I was told they were busy on the cooler doing something and could not speak to me. I wasn't even suprised at that point, but thought maybe they would like to know so they could address the issue.
🤷♀️
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Brenda
They were only filling the to go orders, and it took us an hour and a half to get our food, and when we did, it was cold as ice.
Kid-friendliness: The waiters were cussing in the kitchen
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sandy Leuenhagen
The omelet was cold and the orange juice tasted terrible
Good service food 😋
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A Sticky Situation at IHOP
It was supposed to be a simple Sunday brunch. I had just finished an early morning shift and was craving something sweet, so I convinced my friend Jake to hit up IHOP with me. Pancakes, bacon, and bottomless coffee—it sounded like the perfect way to start the day.
The moment we walked in, I should have known we were in for a rough experience. The hostess, a teenage girl who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, barely acknowledged us before mumbling, “Just sit wherever.” The place wasn’t packed, but every open table was covered in crumbs, syrup drips, and half-empty glasses.
We picked the cleanest-looking booth and waited. And waited. Ten minutes passed before a server finally appeared, a guy named Kyle, judging by his stained name tag. He looked exhausted.
“Drinks?” he asked flatly.
“Uh, coffee for me,” I said.
“Same,” Jake added.
Kyle shuffled off, and we resumed our conversation, assuming our drinks would be out quickly. Another ten minutes went by. No coffee. No Kyle. I glanced around and saw him chatting with another server near the kitchen, both laughing about something on a phone.
“Should we just go?” Jake whispered.
“Nah, we’re already here,” I said. “Let’s give it a few more minutes.”
Right as I was about to wave someone down, Kyle returned with two mugs and a coffee pot. Without a word, he poured the coffee—except he overshot Jake’s mug, spilling scalding liquid all over the table and onto Jake’s lap.
“Dude!” Jake yelped, jumping up.
Kyle blinked. “Oh. My bad.” Then he walked away.
Jake wiped at his jeans with a napkin, muttering curses under his breath. I was about to call someone else over when a different server appeared, setting down plates of food.
“Uh… we didn’t order yet,” I said, staring at the sad-looking stack of pancakes in front of me.
The server frowned, checked her notepad, then shrugged. “Guess these are for you now.” And she walked off.
At this point, we were just stunned. The pancakes were cold, the eggs looked like rubber, and Jake’s bacon was burnt to a crisp.
“You still wanna stay?” Jake asked.
I sighed. “Let’s just eat and get out of here.”
Halfway through choking down the food, I noticed something moving near the syrup caddy. A cockroach. Casually crawling along the table, like it was just another customer enjoying breakfast.
That was it. We were done. We threw some cash on the table and left, still hungry and deeply traumatized.
“Next time, we’re going to Perkins” Jake muttered as we got into the car.
I nodded. “Agreed.”
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I called for a to go order at around 10:15am, we were told it would take 10-15 minutes for the order to be ready for pick up. We arrived around 10:40 expecting our order to be ready, the host told us our order wasn't ready yet so we waited roughly another 20 minutes just for the workers to realize our food was ready the entire time we were just sitting there. Extremely frustrating experience and the lack of communication between the host and the other workers showed during this experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great customer service but I suggest you guys wear hairnets because I have hair in my food and I did not like that a lot not a lot that was very trifling
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken & Waffles, Hash Browns
Not sure how long Kaden has been there, but may want to retrain. 0 accountability, combative towards customers, and more than forgetful. Eat anywhere else
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Please take a little more care in cleaning the toilets.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
Pancakes cold when Ankeny they let me replace eggs for extra bacon
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
They were a little short staffed but the staff is hardworking
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Awesome.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak and Eggs
Michael as a server was absolutely terrific. Respectful and fast and knowledgeable. food was hot, bacon was crispy. Had 6 seperate taps to keep track of at our table alone and he remember everyone and their order without double guessing or us telling him. 10/10 would come back just for him to be our server again. Give this guy a raise and I mean it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I walk in and get accused of not having money with a guy once but i assured it was not me. Then server rudely says its $4 when i ordered coffee. And when i ordered doughnut holes she didn't put the order in after already being rude. I called the store manager Jose and I explained that I had worked this three times and I have been there in a year he said when I told him 2006 to 2008 any wanted argue USA store was open and then and only been open for 15 years online showing open September 2002 this door is poorly managed and a very very bad reputation for IHOP definitely worse than I've ever seen when I work there
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
My son and I were seated at a table (in the center of the room, with lots of traffic walking around constantly). The restaurant was busy, so we had no issue waiting a few minutes on a server. We eventually waited 30 minutes, and not one person said a word to us, made eye contact or really even acted like they knew we existed. The young male hostess who sat us even walked by seating others, I thought maybe he would notice if nobody had our table taken care of. Other people that came in after us were seated and drinks brought, even served. We finally decided we would leave and go where our business was wanted.
I politely asked for a manager on our way out so I could communicate to them what happened. I was told they were busy on the cooler doing something and could not speak to me. I wasn't even suprised at that point, but thought maybe they would like to know so they could address the issue.
🤷♀️
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
They were only filling the to go orders, and it took us an hour and a half to get our food, and when we did, it was cold as ice.
Kid-friendliness: The waiters were cussing in the kitchen
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The omelet was cold and the orange juice tasted terrible
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
My eggs were raw and food was gross
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Hash Browns, 2 Eggs
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