IHOP — Restaurant in Duluth

Spoiler: I don't like to write negative reviews. The following is my iHop experience on Pleasant Hill Road.

I was heading to work and called to place an order 15 minutes before arriving at this location, timing it just right. I heard the usual automated greeting: "Press so-and-so to get connected to so-and-so." I pressed the number that corresponded to the Place An Order option.

I've ordered over the phone from iHop before and expected the same simple, straightforward process. Instead, I got the total opposite.

Right after the automated message, I was told to get my credit card ready to pay over the phone. That threw me off. I’ve placed to-go orders and paid inside plenty of times, why the sudden need to pay by phone?

Then it got more confusing. The person who answered wasn’t even an employee at the location. It was a “customer service agent” (CSA) from a third-party call center in India.

Why am I talking to someone halfway across the world just to order breakfast? If this were Amazon or Microsoft, fine. But it’s iHop.

Before I could place my order, the CSA told me I had to pay over the phone with a credit card. I was driving and not about to pull over, dig through my wallet, and read off numbers. That’s wildly inconvenient. I understand that some restaurants are now card-only, but iHop isn’t one of them.

I told him how impractical that was since I was on the road and couldn’t stop. He apologized and said I could give him the card info later. Whatever. All I needed was a simple egg and mushroom omelet with gluten-friendly pancakes. Not a party platter — just a basic breakfast.

But when I mentioned the gluten-friendly pancakes, the CSA panicked. He said he wasn’t sure if that location could do it and offered to transfer me to the restaurant directly! Wasn’t that the number I already called though!?

I thanked him, got transferred, and waited... and waited... and waited. I was driving and nearing the Critical Turn onto Pleasant Hill Road. I gave myself one minute. If no one picked up by then, I would go to Kroger for breakfast instead. The experience had already become frustrating, and I didn’t expect ordering food to turn into a chore.

After about twenty rings, someone at the restaurant finally answered. I told them I wanted to place an order. “Hold on,” the employee said and then immediately put me on hold. Cue the damn waiting music again. I hoped she wouldn’t transfer me back overseas. I’d already been through that.

I was approaching the light right before the Critical Turn. If it turned green before I got helped, I was done.

Luckily, she came back. I placed the order, and it was easy. She asked if I’d be paying at the store. Yes I would be.

When I walked in, the food was just coming out of the kitchen hot and fresh. I paid and left. When I got to the car, something told me to check the bag before driving off. Good thing I listened to my intuition because they’d forgotten the side of fruit. I went back in and politely mentioned it was missing. They brought it out TWO MINUTES later with no apology or no acknowledgment of the mistake. Timing is critical here, folks.

Customer service was iffy at best. I've had much better experiences at other iHop locations. This one made ordering a basic breakfast feel like a chore. I’m...

We typically frequently this IHOP once a month to hang out and spend time with my young cousins. We missed a few months due to our busy schedules, so it was our first visit since maybe September. We noticed some distinct differences. The wait staff appeared different as we did not see a lot of familiar faces that we used to see regularly. It could have been because it was the holiday season, and people were off or out of town. 🤷🏾‍♀️ But the size/shape of the actual plates changed (smaller), and the preparation of my Turkey Bacon was horrible!! I don't know if they changed to a different brand of Turkey Bacon, but it looked like wet cardboard in some places and like dried jerky in other places. The waitress did offer to replace it with the Turkey sausage, which was fine and appeared to be the same. The French Toast was dry in the middle but did not send it back or complain. It was edible. My eggs were delicious and well cooked, soft as I like them and the pancakes were good as well.

Typically, I only eat four different meals at IHOP, and one I only get to go, that's the cheesteak. The dine in meals I fluctuate between as my go-to are: T-Bone Steak and eggs or the Split decision. I have also come to like the steak tips. However, they only come with 1 eggs so when I want steak, I typically get the T-Bone. My husband loves the steak tips, and I tasted it, and it was delicious. I had been eating a lot of beef, and that's why I opted for the Turkey and the split decision.

My cousin had the country fried steak for the first time and said it was really good. My other cousin stuck with the Colorado Omelet that he loves. My mom enjoyed her omelet as well. We had great company and fellowship.

So overall, my experience, while not as great as I come to expect at that location, wasn't bad either; it was just regular, which is ok since it's not fine dining.

We should be back in...

This Ihop was down right disgusting. For starters we asked the waiter to seat me, my mother, my grandmother, and my sister. He said sure I will be right with you. He does not come for 20 minutes. Another waiter comes by and she ask if we have been seated yet. We say no and she seats us next to this person who is just ordering coffee and tea and trying to sing recording himself (he was horrible). Anyways we ask for our waters and they were not even ice cold it was lukewarm. We ask for it to be ice cold and it finally was cold with ice this time! So my sister orders the red velvet pancakes they are to sweet, my mother and I order the breakfast platter with a side of french toast. The pancakes, , ham, and hash browns were all cold and the eggs and bacon were horrible but the sausages were OK. My grandmother order the 2x2x2 it was horrible and sloppy. And they gave us cold syrup yet we asked for hot. The french toast sucked it tasted cold and way to salty for some reason. They warmed it up and it was and still cold. Then the waiters are so rude as they count their tips in front of us trying to figure out who gets how much tip money. They also start talking to the guy with the horrible singing and one of them talked to him for the whole time we were there. Pathetic! I'm in my wheel chair from a broken leg and as I'm wheeling I ask if they can move so I can get through and they say you need to learn to go around we are talking. I'm like really! So they end up moving out of the way and they don't even open the door for me. Some other people open it so i can get through and leave the restaurant. I leave them a penny for their tip. Hope they can split that! If i could give them no stars I wouldn't. NEVER EVER COME HERE TO THESE RUDE PATHETIC PEOPLE WHO ARE LAZY AND NEED TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. But if you want a horrible experience at IHOP...