IHOP — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

Solo the other night(around 1:30a.m. , I was delivering food, and I got a request to go pick up from IHOP. I accepted the request against my better judgment and off I went into the unknown, aka citadel mall/ chelton/ Platte and ect area 😅 I deliver on my electric scooter and was already at half battery charge, which is approximately 10 to 15 miles left on it, assuming the road is perfectly paved with no hills or stops. I had about 5 miles to go just to get to this Ihop and didn't really want to run out of charge at 2a.m. so unconsciously I became biased, and when I pulled up I was already regretting my decision. I went inside and instantly I was greeted with a smile of aroma that instantly knotted my stomach as my senses imagined the oil popping at a controlled rhythm as the bacon strips were delicately positioned in their boiling bath. My stomach unknotted and growled with a yearning and slight impatience as the host rounded the corner with a friendly and warm energy that was welcoming and comforting. I could hear a faint chatter and the random scratch and light clatter from the dinnerware and utensils in the dining area as I explained why I was there. She smiled and proceeded to hand me the order and asked if I needed anything else as she handed me the pen and pad that records my name and time for for pickup orders. I declined and smiled back, while scribbling my signature and time a bit more legibly. I handed the clipboard back and checked the order to confirm all the contents and slowly turned towards the door to exit. I paused ever so briefly as I was struck with a sudden longing to stay and embrace the warm atmosphere. I grinned and did a quick appreciative glance around the restaurant while pushing the door open and walking out. I was instantly engulfed in the smell of warm asphalt mixed with a hint of exhaust and fast food from nearby. Sirens blared as a few police cruisers raced through the intersection and almost in unison a noticeable but distant barrage of gunfire echoed briefly. I reflected back to my original assumption and how unconsciously I had formed a bias. I felt a little ping of guilt as I mentally took note of the lesson I had just gathered from, ⁷

Excellent service, atmosphere, food, The crew was communicating well and just in general, stopping at this Ihop lifted my spirits making the rest of the delivery quite smooth!

Keep it up Ihop Team l, was impressed and grateful for your guys refusal to not be a product of the environment. Hats off to you 😁💯💪🤘🫡

P.s. wheelchair accessible, kid friendly in the daytime and loads of menu items and entrees on the menu including a vegetarian and gluten free options and ect. Prices weren't bad either. The only thing is the parking lot is small and kinda rough with the building itself separating the lots from side to side making it a...

This IHOP reminds me of a North Dallas IHOP. Clean, Comfortable, Active, Ready Service, and Quality IHOP Food.

I have visited many IHOPs across 10 or more states. Does this qualify my review? NO, it qualifies a comparison.

The Citadel Mall IHOP is smaller and thusly, more personal. The Kitchen and Server Stations are centrally located, integrated into the dining area/lobby. If waitresses (and cooks) want to get away from customers; they'll have to go outside. The roof is north-western style, high pitch, peak to ground. This is the quintessential (my word of the day) IHOP style before they started building high-occupancy restaurants.

Breakfast is an intimate event. It requires more service than some meals. Coffee, creamer, sugar, syrup, honey, toast, butter, breads, muffins, more coffee, water, etc. Waiters and waitresses need to be close or there needs to be more of them. Breakfast is paced to move and a smaller footprint means better service can be provided. The price point at IHOP suggests that staff is not abundant, smaller locations are were to find improved IHOP experiences.

That's why I prefer smaller locations in high traffic areas. This IHOP is close to Academy by a bus exchange terminal at Citadel Mall. When I return to this location, I will add photos.

The lunchtime customer base appears to be mother's with babies, young children and their mothers, mother-in-laws, families, couples, etc.

The dusty crowd that you might want to avoid gathers at a different...

Started off slow when we got to this Ihop. Not very many people, we were seated quickly and then service stopped. After about 20mins of sitting without a check in, the restaurant started filling with customers. Few tables seated after us got asked about drinks and then our waitress saw us sitting and asked us for our drinks which we ordered our food at the same time. We got our drinks pretty quickly. We sat for maybe 30mins waiting while the restaurant was filling up. We watched others seated after us get their food and drinks in timely manners. We watched people get up and go, and others get sat right after. When we finally got our food, which was brought by 3 people indicating they forgot about our little party of 3, it was cooked but cold. I took a few bites of my food and my husband ate some of his. Our daughter finished her overly sweet pancakes because she's a kid. We sat patiently waiting for our waitress to just check on us, again she checked on everyone but us, we got up from the table to go pay. We really wanted to walk to see if they'd even notice us. We were asked about our visit and told the gentleman checking us out that we weren't even checked on, Noone gave us a check and that the food was terrible. He was the same one who sat us but forgot where we were sitting and had to ask us where we sat in the restaurant. Next time our integrity may match the energy of...