IHOP — Restaurant in Cleveland

Ah, IHOP - a name that used to ring like a chorus of silver spoons clinking against porcelain plates. However, over the last few years, this humble haven of breakfast fare in Cleveland, TN seemed to have slipped away from my culinary radar. Besides the occasional whimsical reminder of the infamous "Spell IHOP and add 'ness'" joke, the thought of visiting this establishment never even crossed my mind. Yet, fate had a peculiar way of guiding my taste buds, and my wife and I found ourselves standing at the entrance of IHOP, fueled by a sudden craving for breakfast food during the lunch hour.

As we perused the menu, a rather bitter realization began to brew within me. IHOP, oh IHOP, why must you charge barista-style prices for a humble cup of black coffee? Nearly four dollars for a simple sip of joe seemed exorbitant, even by the standards of an artisanal coffee shop. I couldn't help but wonder if this was the reason for their dwindling customer base - the college students seeking refuge from early morning lectures, the nocturnal club-goers craving a post-midnight feast, the social butterflies yearning for conversation over a steaming cup of java, and the wise elders seeking a modest meal with a side of affordable coffee. Alas, it appeared that IHOP had lost touch with its core patrons. Sure, they might still attract the transient crowd, but that was a seasonal affair, hardly a reliable foundation for thriving business.

But let's not dwell on the java misfortunes for too long, my fellow gastronomes, for there is much more to uncover within these syrup-drenched walls. One cannot deny the incredible wait time that plagued our visit. Despite the restaurant appearing as deserted as a ghost town, our online pickup and delivery brethren were given the same priority as the humble souls seated within the dining room. Ah, the cruel irony! The illusion of exclusive attention shattered like a pancake flipped too vigorously.

However, amidst this waiting game of culinary roulette, a beacon of hope emerged in the form of our server, Danita. Allow me to paint a picture of culinary service perfection. Danita, dear readers, was a delightful breath of fresh air in a dining atmosphere fraught with longing stares at empty plates. She effortlessly wove captivating conversation, distracting my wife and me from the relentless passage of time. Danita's attentive nature kept our cups filled without a single plea for a refill, and lo and behold, she even had the audacity to pre-buss our dishes. Such diligence in these modern times! When our long-awaited meals finally graced our table, she discreetly disappeared into the background, granting us uninterrupted moments to savor both our food and our private discourse. It was a truly serene interlude, like a fleeting melody of maple syrup and mirth.

As our meal reached its bittersweet finale, Danita returned, gracefully reuniting with us for more delightful banter. In that moment, it dawned on me - IHOP might not have wooed me into becoming a regular patron, but Danita certainly had. My wife and I would gladly follow this paragon of service to any eatery she graced with her presence. For in a world where exceptional servers and genuine service are becoming an endangered species, it is our duty to celebrate and cherish them whenever they are discovered.

So, my dear culinary adventurers, if ever you stumble upon a dining establishment blessed with the likes of Danita, embrace it with open arms, cherish every moment, for this noble art of service may soon vanish from the restaurant world altogether. May our encounters with such extraordinary individuals serve as

a reminder of the vital role they play in transforming a mere meal into an...

UPDATE/EDIT (2ND /CHANCE/REVIEW 2021) So for starters I understand that there is a shortage in staff due to covid. UNFORTUNATELY though they have always been understaffed. When we first came in the doors are not handicap accessible (you have to manually open the door). We were greeted by a manager whom seemed to not understand that being in a wheelchair with one half foot and one half leg that your handicapped and can't move into a booth.. or would just rather not as it's tiring (I'm not the one who is handicap btw). So the manager wasn't sure where to put us and had to discuss with 2 waitresses to figure out where. We finally get brought to a table (which was dirty and the floor dirty too manager only cleaned the table) by the manager and I take my baby and go to the bathroom. The big stall didn't have the baby changer so while I went to the bathroom my baby had to sit/crawl around on the nasty floor... Meanwhile me trying to be quick sat on the toilet not realizing there was URINE all over it (DISGUSTING!!!!) So I finally got done and cleaned up and took my baby to the baby changer where I completely changed his clothes and diaper and was done and came out to find that the manager didn't even bother to bring a highchair out. So I end up going and grabbing the only available one... Which was sticking and had food in it, I wiped it up and manager came up and apologized and then went back to what he was doing. Finally our waitress comes and introduces herself. We order and get our food which was good I got french toast (but they put way too much white powder sugar... Filled the whole top up couldn't see no bread) and hash browns. We finally was finished with our food and was sitting for 5 minutes for a waitress to give us a bill and ended up going to the front to wait stood around for 5 more minutes and the bill was $24 and some change my disabled father in law paid her $25 and we started to leave she comes back and confronts us why we didn't give her a tip (which she did get a tip just less than a $1) and demanded that she knows why she got that if her services was good and was going to argue with us I'm pretty sure if my father in law didn't start to wheel himself out so I had to go help and I whispered that I was sorry and left.

(2018 or 2019) Place was empty when we showed up... I guess because everyone likes the breakfast time better. I ordered chicken and it was not fully cooked. I didn't make a big deal out of it because I was pretty much full anyways. But the waiter was very good and I liked the service. Everything was okay for me... They did use glass for the drinks instead of to-go cups. They had disposable menus also and kept to the 6ft rule for other customers that came in to sit farther away. My sisters eggs was a little too runny... But like I said everything...

Waitress placed us at a table that had cold air blowing on it. We asked to move to sunny window but it was obvious that the A/C was definitely on. Then we ordered the quick breakfast and was served pancakes. She said the pancakes came with it. Said she'd bring the toast. It took 15 minutes to get my toast and another ten minutes to get my husband's. She never offered a coffee refill at no time. Never checked on us. Needless to say we won't eat here again. A two star was generous.

06/18/2019 3 months later I wish I'd checked my Google reviews and made the big mistake of going back to this iHop. This morning my husband and I arrived at 10:05 a.m. for breakfast. Not many people were there at all. Waitress came over promptly and asked if she could get us something to drink. Husband ordered coffee and I ordered diet Coke, the first mistake of many dealing with this place.

Drinks arrived about 10:10 a.m. and the diet Coke tasted so horrible I had her take it back and substitute water.

Gave her our simple orders. Half hour later, still not many people in the restaurant and certainly no rush for the waitress who didn't come back in that half hour, not even once to see if we required anything, which we did at that point want the timely service of our breakfast.

I had to signal for her to come to our table and told her that if breakfast wasn't there in 5 minutes that we were leaving. I'm diabetic and at that point was eyeing the pancake syrups on the table.

Breakfast was there in 4 minutes. Husband's two egg breakfast must have meant that they were one egg short or that they had two very small eggs as that's what he got. My order was smothered in the tomatoes I told them NOt to add to my omelet which was swimming in grease and the bacon most of which was way underdone.

When she put the plate down on the table and I saw the small portion of eggs my husband had received and my order done wrong, I decided that I should say something to the waitress. She apologized for the slow service and asked if I wanted to send my order back to get fixed and I said no that I had to eat now and not have to wait another half hour for them to get it right next time.

It was a horrible experience and I dare say, we will NOT go back to that restaurant to give them another chance.

Horrible food, horrible service and I hope that anyone visiting the area will try somewhere else for breakfast because this iHop has some very serious problems and in 3 months, they got worse and not better.

Waste of money. Waste...