IHOP — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

Unlike my last visit months (years?) ago, my food arrived hot. Imagine!

I ordered the 2-2-2 - - 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon, 2 pancakes. No juice, waaaay too expensive. Not as fast as I'd have liked, the manager? was doing a solo.

BUT. Coffee was so-so. 2 eggs over medium were sposeta be Sunnyside up.

Bacon was OK, a bit crisp

Then there were the pancakes...

Huge, 6?-inch pancakes. They always put a ball of COLD butter on top. Not optimal.

Did an 'are they done?' check. Umm. Nup. Undercooked, the insides kinda raw. So, requested a do-over.

Ya. Well guess what? Undercooked again. Oh, sorry, how about French Toast? Sure, sure... Meanwhile I consumed the bacon and eggs. Glad they had Cholula hot sauce (but as Mr Picky I noticed the grooves on the top were umm gunky - those need to be cleaned occasionally, eh?!)

Ahh. French Toast...

Strike three. Should not not be mushy inside....Reject.

A mom and son came in, sat in the booth next to me. Felt obligated to advise them about the pancake and French toast issue, so I did.

Mr Manager said Sorry, I'll comp the dinner. Kewl.

Well, a surprise. I'm a grey-haired fellow and foolishly! thought the Senior rate was, like, automagic..? Nup. $10.99 for the 2-2-2? And the coffee was, ahem, not comped. Really.

Mr Manager (a rather young and apparently untutored guy) informed me that, oh, no, sir, you need to tell me you are a Senior.

Oh yeah?, sez I. Hey, buddy, it's Your job to Ask. (he needs a bit if education...)

Net: $2.99 + tax for a cuppa "coffee". Wow, gimme an old-fashioned Greek restaurant Any day. IF you can find one...

Sigh. Left a tip anyway, Mom was a waitress, trained me right.

Would give 'em negative stars if I could. Don't unnerstand How they stay in business, it sure ain't the Good Old Days. Sigh.

There ya go....

My dad was a short order guy. Fried or scrambled eggs. Sausage links. Bacon. What I remember most were his flapjacks. Whipped up from scratch. Buttermilk pancakes. Maple syrup. Made them Sunday mornings. Light and fluffy. Cooked just enough to have a slightly crisp edge. Those little bubbles all around. We'd have a cup of Joe to start. Now IHop is my pancake place. When I come here I think of those Sunday mornings. I get a kick out of this place. Tall pitched gabled blue roof. The kind of roof little kids draw. On a small house. Long & narrow. Yet homey. Furnishings typical I-Hop. Usually clean tables & booths. Yes some booths in need of upholstery repair. Two or four seat. Some aisle chairs. Nothing sleek trendy or chic. Comfy and cozy. Lots of light streams in the windows. Come as you are kinda place. Affordable. Not far away. Lincoln and Whipple with a decent sized lot. Easy to find. Well lit at night.Handicapped accessible parking. Usually not too busy. That pitcher of hot coffee comes in handy when you're having one of those days. Usually friendly staff. Service varies. Everyone can have an off day. No one bothers you here. So I can have a meal in relative peace. I come for the breakfasts, more like brunch. And that's the great thing about this place. Decent portions Breakfast any time. Maybe a combo plate. Scrambled eggs. Sausage. Bacon. Hash browns. Short stack of buttermilk pancakes. That ball of cold butter you had to cut carefully without tearing a hole in the top pancake. Sure there is so much more on the menu. Seasonal specials. Burgers. No its not perfect. But it's the pancakes that bring me here. Bacon. With a hot cup of Joe. Same as it ever was... Same as...

The food was great but the service should have been better. Not only did they sat us at a table that had a slant to it, they neglected our table. Once our waiter Angelica was assigned to us she not once brought us water nor any napkins for the table. She came and said I'll be right with you guys and started attending to her other two tables. After about 15 to 20 minutes she came to our table again and said I'm I'll be right there. Another 2 to 3 minutes pass by and then she arrived with no water no napkins. She took out water very well however never return back to the table any beverages until about 10 minutes before food came out. Our food set on the finishing table for about 8-10 minutes until she delivered to us. Luckily the food still warm.

The food was great, however my boyfriend steak was not completely done with some of the slices. Knowing that this meal was about $20 just to add the steak with big chucks the meal was not fullu cooked. Towards the end of our experience here we asked for a box to take the lovely pancakes in. Once again I waited 10 minutes before I really got up and started to pay and said forget the whole thing.

During checkout I talk to which I believe was the general manager at the time, and told her the exact same thing. About hesitation or speaking to me about the matter she said I'm sorry about that I'll take off something off your bill. I wasn't looking for more than an apology for her waitress neglected, but she felt like I wanted...