IHOP — Restaurant in Muncie

Although this review at times may seem negative, it is quite the opposite. This review should really speak on how proper management and customer service can take negative situations, and shape them into positive results.

To begin the review, I just want to acknowledge that eating at an IHOP on a Sunday morning entails a certain expectation of service. You should expect the restaurant to be busy, and everyone to be working hard. Without a doubt that was the case this morning. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long and our server Jada was with us in no time. (Jada was wonderful, and was certainly working her hardest in a busy environment.)

We ordered pretty simple food, I had stuffed french toast and my friend had a split decision. Things were really fine other than a pretty long wait, but again that's expected on a Sunday. What I didn't expect however, was frozen french toast on my plate. That's pretty disappointing. On top of this, it was clear to me that some sort of a shift lead dropped off my food. He was wearing a button down, and I had observed him interacting with the staff. This means someone in management dropped off frozen food.....to a table with no silverware....and couldn't be bothered to refill my water even when I asked. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and maybe he'd had a long day...Sunday's at IHOP can't be easy. However, a certain skill set is required for leaders, and he didn't show me these skills today.

The good news is, fresh food was made for me. It did take a minute, but when it arrived it was delicious. To be totally transparent, my main complaint is with the member of management who really didn't seem to care about the customer. I'm super patient, and I'm super kind. I love leaving positive reviews on here, which is why this next part is so important.

I don't often complain about my meals. I hate doing it, I've worked in restaurants in all capacities from washing dishes, to management. To be quite frank, it can often times be a pretty rough job. So again, I try to keep my complaints to a minimum. That being said, frozen food is unacceptable. This is the part of my experience that was awesome. With a little hesitation, I let a server know I needed to speak to someone in management. Who I can only assume was the general manager or at least senior manager on duty showed up at my table promptly. I'm sorry I didn't get her name, because she was wonderful. She was empathetic to the whole situation, and didn't make me feel bad for voicing a pretty legitimate complaint. She obviously cared about her job, and was upset that this happened under her watch. She gave us a discount on the meal, and encouraged me to come back.

The great news is, that I will. This experience was in the end, rather positive. I received replacement food that was delicious. My ticket was discounted. I was shown that management cares, and wants my repeat business. My friend and I try to see a movie and get food most Sundays.....at this point we are certainly willing to go to IHOP again. It obviously sucks to get frozen food, but she made it right, and it was delicious. I hope that she's able to coach the rest of her team to be as kind and understanding as herself. I'm absolutely willing to give IHOP a second chance because they...

I went here with a group of friends and although it wasn’t a busy night (confirmed by another employee), the waitress providing us service took incredibly long to do anything. She originally came over without anything to write our order down on, completely butchered repeating our orders, and then she completely forgot about an order at our table and we had to wait an extra 15 minutes when it was pretty clear she didn’t even ring it in. Multiple times I watched her stand at the register doing nothing for 10-15 minutes between each order while the other four tables in the restaurant waited on refills for drinks or for her to take their order, and I watched multiple people walk away after waiting 20-30 minutes just to be seated. She would even repeatedly ask for help from kitchen staff to run food out or sit people after she had clearly just been standing around doing nothing. One time during our evening she had even managed to make one lady frustrated enough after she waited 30 minutes for a refill on a water, that she walked up to the register where the waitress was standing and the waitress STILL DIDNT NOTICE HER. The cherry on top of the evening, however, was waiting nearly an hour for her to give us our checks (after she wrote down which items would be grouped together), only for her to ask my friends to come up to the register to individually repeat exactly what she had written down and pay (which took nearly another ten minutes). She even managed to tell some of the members of our group to sign in the wrong spot when they paid. Usually I’m understanding and patient with service workers because I get the work doesn’t pay well, but man I couldn’t tell if she was being incompetent on purpose, or if she genuinely had no clue what she was...

Since I have not posted a review on this establishment in a couple years I figured it was time that I update my review as I have recently went into this restaurant on four separate occasions and order the same item so as to be fair and impartial in my review. I ordered the buttermilk chicken sandwich and fries special that is $5 during happy hours. Drinks are only $1 during this time as well. The quality of food has been excellent on each and every occasion, and I would go as far to say after having fried chicken sandwiches at all the other establishments in Muncie, that presently this buttermilk chicken sandwich is the best chicken sandwich that you will find anywhere in Muncie Indiana! The quality of service is excellent as well as the waitresses and waiters are attentive to the customers and their experience while dining at this establishment. Today's waitress was someone by the name of Katlynn and I think the manager's name was Monica. The waitress was attentive friendly and courteous during the whole meal, making the experience very enjoyable! The manager was concerned about the experience of the customers when leaving her restaurant and greeted them all with kindness and courtesy asking them to please leave a review! If you want to have an enjoyable dining experience while in Muncie Indiana please stop by this IHOP location and see for yourself the great quality of food and service...