IHOP — Restaurant in Indianapolis

I love IHOP. But this location seems to be run by people who have zero experience going to restaurants, let alone working at one. I thought it may have been a fluke, maybe I went on a day where they were understaffed, or something. But upon my second visit it was clear this was the norm.

Here's the details: I arrived at about 4pm with my 5 year old daughter, there were two tables occupied, business was slow, yet and there was nobody at the front to get us a table. I waited for about 5 minutes until I could get the attention of someone in the back who could get us a table. The young man who seated brought us to the table, gave us both menus (no kids menu for my daughter), then walked away without a word. The table had on it a coffee carafe that still had dried coffee splatter on it from who knows how long ago. The table across from us had fries and ketchup still on the table (which never got cleaned while we where there). Five minutes later he came back to take out drink orders, and before I could let him know we were ready to order food, he was gone. I thought maybe he was the only one working, but I saw an older fellow in an Ihop shirt kind of meandering around another area. Then I saw another employee go to another section to bus a table, but she didn't bring a tray or anything. She picked up the dished she could without getting her bejewelled nails dirty, and carried them to the back, and repeated this process over the next 10 minutes until the table was cleared. I didn't see her come back to wipe the table down. In the mean time the waiter came to take out order, on a tiny slip of paper and his hand as an order pad. His pen punched through the paper. I ordered a Jalapeno burger with onion rings, and my daughter ordered chocolate pancakes with strawberries, just like the picture in the menu, I emphasized that it should be whatever the kids menu equivalent was. He left the menus with us. Which was fortunate because the next guests that came were seated in the booth adjacent to us and they never got menus, so I gave them ours. Our food came out in a reasonable amount of time. My plate had a chicken sandwich (not a burger) and my daughter's plate was clearly an adult sized meal, but no strawberries. They did put a smiley face with whipped cream for her, she loved that. I didn't want to wait any longer, so I didn't complain, chicken sandwich is good enough, and my daughter didn't seem to miss the strawberries. Our drinks were empty, we were never checked on, and I had to get someone's attention to get out check. There was nobody at the counter, so I paid at the table, and we left, to...

Was there around 2 am. The restaurant bathroom was disgusting with only 1 usable toilet in the women's room thanks to the mess. We thought our waitress was on her way home because she was wearing her backpack purse across her stomach but she waited on us the whole time so I guess she was just wearing it. The place was half full. Quite a few large tables for that time of morning.

The food was sub par. I got a biscuit sandwich and buttermilk pancakes. The pancakes were okay. The sandwich wasn't so good and wasn't how I asked for my egg to be cooked. I had misspoke so I asked our waitress if I could change it. She said she could go tell the kitchen. I told her it was okay but she said she would tell them so I changed it. The egg came out as I had originally ordered it but I can't really fault them much for that. I just thought it was going to be different.

Obviously not their fault, but there was HEAVY police activity all around the Target nearby. Which was odd because it had closed hours before. There was a sheriff's deputy hanging out in the lobby of the restaurant.

When we went to leave my friend and I had our own tickets. The waitress asked if we wanted separate tickets which we did. I went up to the register and handed my ticket (which had just my meal on it) but when the guy at the register handed me a receipt to sign it was for the full table amount. He said it hadn't done anything so I wasn't worried.

But 6 days later I was looking at my bank and the full table amount was pending. I tried to call the store to ask about it but when you select customer service from the menu it sends you to some place in Tennessee. At least that's what I heard. The phone never rang, it just wanted me to leave a message. I did but no one ever called me back. So much for customer service. I guess there's no way to contact the store unless you select that you're putting in a to-go order. The charge stopped pending a couple days after I attempted to contact them. Pretty disappointing experience...

We went for breakfast and it was busy so it was understandable that the food would take awhile. There was a promotion for a new menu item going on and if you purchased one you got a $10 gift card. There was a lot of miscommunication when trying to order our food. We ended up with a higher bill bc the food was put in ala cart instead of a meal. The food was hot but not very good or correct. We didn't complain though bc it was busy. The hash browns were cooked properly but for some reason every bite tasted burnt. The crepes and "creme" , which was actually icing tasted like they were left open in a fridge for a week and so stale. There were other parts of the order that weren't right but we went with it. The biggest problem was when we were trying to pay. We had a gift card and cash. We needed change so we could give the server a bigger tip. The server took the money and receipt and said he would be back with the change. He never came back. I needed the change so I could add to it to give him a proper tip. I also needed the itemized receipt to scan in for reimbursement. After 15 mins I finally find the server and ask him for the receipt and change and he takes out his wallet, closes and says he will be back. About 6 mins goes by and he bring me the change and a cash receipt. I explained to him that I needed the itemized receipt and after some back and forth he bring me the original receipt with no payment break down. I asked for the manager so I could get the correct receipts and he stated the cash one was the correct one. I explained the whole situation to the manager and how it was uncomfortable that the server never brought our change or proper receipt showing we paid and how we paid. Manager just stated that's how they do it there and handed me a receipt that said...