IHOP — Restaurant in Allen

I visit this location mostly late dinner time during the week so that is my perspective. It's sad to see a business in decline. 2020 wasn't easy on restaurants either we know but this location has been in gradual decline for years now. I've been going to this IHOP since it opened here in Allen. The level of service and the atmosphere (especially in the evenings) has definitely gone down. 4 stars is for the good tasting food and food value because the menu is redesigned and the prices are very competitive and very reasonable. The limited-time happy hour $5-meal options available Mon-Fri until 10pm are a tremendous deal and more food for your money than fast food! That's a good thing. There are still some great servers there that make you feel at home and welcome like Mr. Ali but sadly most are not well trained as servers and don't have much experience or outgoing friendly personality. Experiencing the iconic IHOP from years ago with great servers and actual restaurant managers on site paying attention to details is something I miss. This creates atmosphere and atmosphere is part of what's missing, not just in this place but many others as well. I hope to see this location be cleaned more in detail and maybe they could play some soft background music to help the vibe. When Ali is working, he makes you feel like family and does an amazing job serving you with a smile and is very attentive even with a pep in his step. Other than that, recently it feels like a lot of adolescent unsupervised servers who may or may not realize they are coming across as if they don't want to be working at all and purposefully or unintentionally make you feel they don't want you there. "Welcome to IHOP" used to be the greeting upon arriving in years past, now they just look at you and grab a menu and start walking to a table. What a difference it makes to have an experienced manager or GM on duty, I could be wrong but during my visits I haven't seen a manager on the floor at this location in years.

IHOP food is still way better than waffle house but it's getting to the point where waffle house is better service experience than IHOP. Brands/Corporate want consistency of experience, customers want that as well. To know what to expect beforehand and not wonder what the experience will be like this go round. Think of Chick-fil-A, they give you the same experience nearly 99.99% of the time. (Which is a high quality food and service experience with warm inviting polite attentiveness that makes you feel appreciated and makes you want to come back soon and often.)

I imagine this IHOP location is owned by a franchise group that owns 1000s of restaurants and has tens of 1,000s of employees to deal with but it's just sad to see what used to be a vibrant IHOP location be in such decline.

No hard feelings, I take the bitter with the sweet. I will still gladly eat at this location and tip well. I believe in being a good tiper no matter what. I'm not the type of person looking for an excuse to complain and be negative. I just wanted to share my perspective because I care and I miss seeing this place at its best. Some people may not be bothered by mediocrity but I am passionate about excellence so I may be expecting too much from the new 2021 "new normal" for restaurants but don't misunderstand, I am also greatfull for the countless good experiences I have had at this location in the past. That is also taken into consideration as to why I put 4 stars instead of 3 stars. I will update this review...

Manager and Server need refresher course in Customer Service/Waiting on Tables: I was at this IHOP from 9-10:45 a.m. My sister and I had to meet a couple of clients this morning so we decided to go to breakfast at IHOP. We arrived and got seated fairly quick. There were not but a couple of people in the whole restaurant. My sister had to talk with her clients privately so I sat at a table by myself across and diagonal from her with my laptop so I could do some work while she conferred with them. The server brought our coffee and took our orders very promptly and our food arrived in a timely manner and mine was great! Hence the 2 stars. I had hash browns, crispy, with onions, mushrooms and cheese added and they were awesome! Afterwards, RIGHT AFTER the food came out, she checked once to see how everything was, I was still good on coffee. (half full). Halfway thru my hash browns, I needed a refill. I put my coffee mug at the edge of the table and waited...and waited...and waited for the server to come by. I tried to catch her attention while she was at her computer/wait station behind me, but she had her back turned to me the entire time. When she went back to another table, I still could not catch her attention (tunnel vision, maybe 🙄😒). Finally, I got the Manager's attention and he refilled my mug. After I finished that, I was there for the next 45-50 minutes and never could get a refill...therefore, I went and got my YETI out of the car (which was about half full of coffee still) and just drank my own ($2.59 for coffee and you only get ONE REFILL, IHOP is banking some serious money on coffee...off dummies like me that pay $2.59 for what, an 8, maybe 10 oz mug of coffee!?!?!?). Now, not that servers should judge (I spent the majority of my working life in the service/retail business), but we, my sister and I, DO tip for taking up a server's table, although there were plenty of tables available this morning. So, I thought, if I paid, she would come refill my coffee. She came by and snatched up my card real quick and moved on her way. I tried to tell her the that I needed coffee. My sister stopped her and told her she was paying for mine and she dropped off my card and never came back to check on me. She did come back to check on my sister (maybe because she handed the server the card and paid🤷‍♀️, IDK) and she brought my sister and her clients some ice water. She just totally ignored me for rest of the time, didn't ask if I needed anymore coffee, didn't check to see if I was ok, etc. Guess I didn't want any dessert to go with that coffee I didn't get 🙄😥😒 The Manager wasn't even checking on his guests. When I was a restaurant Manager, I always walked the floors to see if my customers were alright, making sure they didn't need anything. Very disappointed IHOP. Very...

IHOP HAS A CALL CENTER???? This was news to me. I came in here about noon on a Saturday. I'm sure the people there are doing the best they can in this post covid world but the service is just terrible. So sad so many people don't want these jobs these days because C showed how quickly your life can end so they're choosing life instead of low pay hard labor jobs and or the companies don't want to pay you anything. Some are even trying to do the most with the least amount of staff possible. I waited entirely too long to get a table. After several minutes of watching workers walk back and forth; looking at us standng there I decided i didn't want to flag anyone over because I already knew they see me. I actually decided to call the store and then ask for the manager to come to the front. So I pressed the option to place an order. I asked the person if they were in the store of this particular location and he said no. .. that he was in a special place, WHAT??? 0_o I said. Oh so you work in the call center? Because i happen to have a family member that takes orders for another restaurant and even though they work from home, they are told to say that they're in the call center. So the guy basically answered, yes. I told him the situation and he said I'm gonna try to transfer you to the store if you get disconnected call back in. And wouldnt ya know yes, of course, I got disconnected! NOW I'M READY TO WALK OUT. I had already watched 5 people walk out that came after me and got tired of waiting. So my friend that I was in the store with had a little more patience than i because they were set on feeding their craving for ihop and decided that they were gonna go ahead and flag (force) someone to come see us. The guy started to keep going but reluctantly turned and headed our way. I couldn't help it at that point. I immediately said OH YALL NOT TAKING ANYMORE CUSTOMERS TODAY??? The guy was like, well, we don't have a hostess so we just have to see people on our own when we can. So we had to wait even longer for them to go clear a table and that took an additional 10 minutes. Finally, the waiter of the section that we set in came and got and seated us. His service was fine, no complaints. The food was fine as usual but yea the area we sat in was messy. It did have a foul odor as another reviewer mentioned. kind of a sewage scent. This place needs help ihop. Where is corporate management???? What is going on ???? The only thing I can think of is just another restaurant affected by C. Forever changed,...