IHOP — Restaurant in Houston

We went at night, like we always do when we go to IHOP. I've always loved IHOP, but of course, being a large chain restaurant, there's always a possibility of couple of things going wrong during your visit.

My complaints were very minor though. They were just that 1. I ordered decaf coffee when I first sat down, and it didn't make it to the table until halfway through me eating my meal. The reason wasn't the waiter's fault, it's just that they hadn't brewed any decaf yet, which I honestly wouldn't blame them for. That's because I've ordered decaf coffee at night at many restaurants, and while I would like to think that many people would order decaf at night instead of getting something that'll keep you awake at night, the reality is no, people usually only order caffeine filled coffee at night, so every restaurant I've ordered it at always needed to brew some for me beforehand, while other people at my table ordering caffeine coffee had it right away. So this isn't specific to IHOP at all. The waiter very nicely brought me ice water to try to make up for the lack of a drink until the coffee came.

The 2nd small issue was just that when I received my "Wrap of Monte Cristo" they forgot to give me the lingonberry jam that came with it. I told the waiter it was missing, and i could hear the chef say "Oh I didn't know it came with that" when the waiter told him in the kitchen. So this was probably just because it was a brand new menu item.

The food was delicious. It was my first time having the Wrap of Monte Cristo, and while it sounds weird to have the classic Monte Cristo sandwich in wrap form, wow, i can tell you they really pulled it off well. It really does have that Monte Cristo flavor. When i found it on the menu and read the words "wrapped in a French toasted crepe" or whatever they called the wrap material, i was baffled at the idea that they could French toast a wrap. But wow, they really did. And it was amazing. I had the grilled onion potatoes on the side, and while they were certainly good, they're nothing to rave about like the wrap was. They would have been if there was more than just tiny tidbits of...

Saw a pic shared on Instagram from Denny's and had a sudden craving. My husband chose IHOP instead, which I usually prefer. We've dined in this location before and it was great, but it was a later times and weekdays. Ordered out before and everything was fine as well, probably around noonish on a weekday. This was the first time ordering out on a weekend in the a.m. between 8am-9am. My husband ordered 4 Breakfast samplers: two eggs, two hickory-smoked bacon strips, two pork sausage links, two pieces of ham, two buttermilk pancakes and hash browns. This goes for all 4 platters. Yes. They f*d up all 4. The pancakes were falling apart. The top was literally peeled back from the bottom without me even touching it, and pretty gross tasting. Syrup and butter did not save them at all. The sausage links as well as the bacon were undercooked. The ham was nothing special but probably the only thing they got right, but I don't really like ham. He got Fried eggs I could have done better at home. The hash browns were pretty gross tasting and soggy. With 4 platters the inconsistencies were very apparent. The only thing consistent was the poor execution. It was a total waste of money. I wish he had listened and just came home like I said when I changed my mind on eating out, or went to Denny's. It's been a long while since I've been there so I would have only remembered why I haven't been in so long, or had a pleasant surprise. It doesn't take much to turn me off a place. I felt ungrateful complaining to my husband, which is something I'd never do with the server in any eatery, so I may just not return to this establishment ever to save for further disappointment. They ruined pancakes. Unforgivable. Thank goodness my husband will eat anything because I hate to...

DON'T ORDER THE ORANGE JUICE. IT'S WATERED DOWN.

The food was fine -- standard IHOP stuff. The server was attentive and courteous. No complaints there.

And then there was the orange juice. It's $4 for a 16 oz glass, and I was dissatisfied from the first sip. I drank about half before deciding it was too watered down for as expensive as it was, and I knew what the issue was as I'm a refrigeration mechanic who's familiar with restaurant juice dispensers (thankfully I moved up from that kind of work decades ago). There's something called Brix -- it's essentially the ratio of water to juice concentrate, and the ratio can be easily increased to water down the product, or it can just get out of calibration over time. An unscrupulous restaurant owner may increase the ratio to cut down on costs. So I told the server to take it off my bill, but the manager refused until I got up and made my presence known to said manager who still kept whining about refunding my money as he was taking it off the bill.

Don't lecture someone, especially your customer, on when they need to decide that they're dissatisfied with your product. What could have been an experience where I felt my complaint was heard was instead turned into a confrontation where I found myself controlling my temper as I humored the rantings of a manager who has failed to assimilate into American culture.

I will not be returning to this...