IHOP — Restaurant in Hoover

As someone who values good service and quality food, I recently visited this IHOP location with high expectations, anticipating the comforting breakfast options and friendly atmosphere that the chain is known for. Unfortunately, what I experienced was nothing short of frustrating and disappointing. From start to finish, the service at IHOP was beyond terrible, and the overall experience left me questioning why I ever bothered to visit in the first place.

It all began when we arrived and were greeted with utter indifference by the host. There was no smile, no acknowledgment of our presence, just a flat, “Two?” as if we were a mere inconvenience to him. This was the first of many signs that our visit would not be a pleasant one. Despite the restaurant being far from packed, we were made to wait an unreasonably long time to be seated. While we waited, we could see several empty tables, yet it seemed no one was in any hurry to clean them or make them available for new customers. It was perplexing, to say the least.

Once we were finally seated, we thought things might improve, but the service only continued to deteriorate. Our server, while eventually showing up to take our order, displayed an alarming lack of enthusiasm. She was inattentive and seemed like she was completely uninterested in providing even the basic level of service that any decent restaurant should strive for. We were never offered a refill on our drinks, even though our glasses were empty for a solid 15 minutes, and when we asked for more water, it took another 10 minutes for her to bring it to us.

The worst part of the whole experience came when we finally received our food. After waiting a painfully long time for our meals to arrive, the quality was absolutely subpar. My pancakes were cold, and the syrup served with them seemed like it had been sitting on the counter for far too long. Not only that, but my companion’s eggs were overcooked to the point of being rubbery, and their bacon was burnt beyond recognition. It was clear that the kitchen was either understaffed or poorly managed, as the food had all the signs of being rushed and carelessly prepared.

To make matters worse, when we expressed our dissatisfaction with the meal to the server, she showed no empathy. There was no attempt to make things right, no apology, and certainly no offer of compensation for the horrible experience. It was as if our concerns were an inconvenience to her, and that only added insult to injury. After paying the overpriced bill for a meal that was neither enjoyable nor fulfilling, we left IHOP feeling angry and cheated.

In conclusion, my visit to IHOP was a disaster in every sense of the word. The combination of poor service, unappetizing food, and a general lack of care left me thoroughly disillusioned with the chain. There are so many other restaurants that value their customers and prioritize a high standard of service and food quality, and IHOP is not one of them. I will not be returning, and I highly advise others to think twice before choosing this establishment for their dining needs. Absolutely...

On 5/9/2025 I did a curbside pickup order they said my order will be ready at 6:37 I arrived at 6:40 they never notified me that my order was ready so I called the store to let them know that I was outside waiting the lady informed me that my order was not yet ready. I said okay thanks. I sit there and sit there and sit there. There was a car parked on the side of me when I arrived. After waiting so long a male came out and brought the lady her food. Then walked over to one of his co-workers who came out for a smoke break. Then he proceeded to light up him a cigarette, and both of them look at me in the face puffing on they cancer stick in talking. So I waited five more minutes and nobody else came out. So I walked in. And told the guy that was behind the desk I had a curbside pickup order he turned right around and picked it up off the shelf. In at that time it was 7:40 so I asked to speak with a manager or supervisor the lady came out I told her what happen in all she said was would you like me to remake it. And I said no because I will have to wait even more longer so she said I can give you a refund and I told her when the man took the other lady food out he could have brought my food as well. she said yeah he sure should have. She asked me did I know who he was so I pointed him out and she said Okay. gave me a refund and still took the food after I already informed her that I came from the other side of town. So from working 12-hour shift sleepy in hungry. Driving all the way over there to get something to eat. but she thinks giving me a refund was making everything better. That didn't make anything right just sad cause what are you going to do with that food nothing but throw it away so I just proceeded to go down the street to the Waffle House in had no problems there. Y'all really need to do better and make better decisions, when it comes to making something right when y'all are 100% in the wrong. and this was the only IHOP that I would go to. But I think I am done with patronizeing y'all business...

I’ve only been to this location a couple of times but will not be returning. Our food was fine and our waiter was nice. However, there was a couple things that I noticed that I felt were rude and disrespectful and bothered me. There were five adults in our party and the hostess sat us at a booth. Two on one side and three on the other side inside this booth. I sat there for a few minutes, squeezing in between two men in my party and then asked the waiter if we could move to one of the tables. He didn’t seem to have a problem with that and was very friendly. However, as we were getting up and walking to another table, a waitress walking by looked right at me and started laughing. Then when I was sitting at this other table, I was watching another woman who was cleaning off our old booth. As she was wiping off the table, she looked over at us and shook her head. I found this behavior from these two female employees extremely rude and offensive! These women need to realize that the only reason they have a job or that this restaurant is even open for business is because of it’s customers. This was horrible customer service and completely unacceptable! Just in case a member of IHOP management reads this review, this took place at the IHOP an John Hawkins Parkway in Hoover, next to a Walmart, on January 21st just after 10 am. The woman wiping the table was middle age, Hispanic with black hair and a bun. The laughing waitress was African American, younger, with a long ponytail with individual braids. Check your schedule for that day and speak to your employees about customer service. Some improvements in customer service at this location...