IHOP — Restaurant in Bellingham

Today was the 2nd time I've come in recently and it has been an overall great experience each time. I gave 4 stars because the hostess stand is often empty and we've had to wait more than just a minute or two to be greeted and even to pay at the end. Despite that, though, the wait for a table has been short even though they were really busy, especially today on New Year's Day. We waited about 15 minutes and there were several groups ahead of us.

What made the experience totally awesome was our server, Rachel B. She served us both times and she is so friendly, genuine, perky, and funny with a contagious smile. She doesn't just get the job done, she really tries to connect with people and enjoy herself even when the restaurant is slammed and probably understaffed ❤️. That is uniquely pleasant, especially in these still-stressful post-COVID times in retail and F&B industries.

The food has always been good and they are able to do small customizations like one bacon + one sausage instead of just one or the other, and of course the "gluten-friendly" pancakes are great. My partner enjoyed both the Wonka burger and the jalapeño burger. My scrambled eggs were a bit bland and dry, but I can't say I've ever really had perfect scrambled eggs at a diner, or any restaurant really. I just add salt!

One thing I find a bit ridiculous is that they now advertise that their syrup is "Free from high-fructose corn syrup", and after an extensive bit of research I found out that the formula now just uses regular corn syrup instead 🤦‍♀️. I steer clear of that stuff, so whenever we go, I bring my own maple syrup. I understand the real stuff is expensive and hard to get, it's just the sneaky advertising that gets me. Luckily I am skeptical enough about food to check before just eating it.

Overall, I am really happy with the experience at this IHOP and will definitely keep...

I stopped in at 10:30 am after getting lab wok done and had been fasting since 9pm. I ordered a simple meal with no extra instructions. I waited 30 minutes only for my waitress to come and tell me they were making her go on break but another waitress was on the way with my food. I waited another 15 minutes. Finally, I was so hungry I was becoming nauseated. I went to the restroom and splashed some water on my face to settle my nerves. When I went back to my table there was still no food and no sign of my waitress. I went to the hostess' desk up front to inquire about my food, but she had a line of people waiting to be seated. By the time she got to me, she had already gave my table away so I asked to just pay for my coffee. She rang me up for the full meal and after I explained that I never received my food she went to get the manager. I overheard in her down the hall saying that I was very upset and trying to get out of paying. What?! I was waiting at the register when I could have walked right out. She made me even more upset which made me more nauseated. The manager came out with my food in a bag and said he would knock $10 off because of my wait. I was disgusted, but I did the right thing and paid for it. Then he said hold on, I forgot your pancakes. Unbelievable! I was being made to wait even more. While he was gone I checked my food and it was cold. It obviously had been sitting somewhere while no one bothered to see who it was for and bring it out to me. That was the last straw. I had already paid for this garbage and I was still waiting. I left and as I was walking to my car the manager chased me down and asked if I had received my food! WHAT?! They still had no idea that I was never served?! I told him to just forget it and that I was too nauseous to eat. I left and don't plan...

Where should I start?

Our waitress – Allayna – was anything but professional. She took our table's order in an agitated manner. Despite being at this location before and having substitution requests seamlessly fulfilled, she rolled her eyes and stated "they can't do that" and when we asked her to kindly check with the chef, she came back with a positive response from the chef.

We waited about 35 minutes for the food and it was brought to us with no cutlery or napkins so we had to wait another 10 minutes before we could start eating (you guessed it, the food was now cold). Neither was the cutlery on the table or the waters that we had requested. We asked to substitute out the meat for extra egg and they simply just removed the meat without adding any additional egg.

Here is where it gets worst... Allayna brought us only spoons and we had ordered breakfast combos with pancakes and omelettes. After we asked her for knives, she shrugged it off with "We don't have knives right now they are all in the wash but I can get you steak knives." So, we asked for those and then she came back and disrespectfully tossed them all over the table.

After the meal, we talked to her and she mentioned "I was really stressed because of two tables I was working with, so I guess I was projecting that anger on to you guys." I WAS SHOCKED. This is anything but good service. She should not be working at iHop. Never...