IHOP — Restaurant in Murray

I recently had an unpleasant dining experience at the IHOP located at 5277 S State St in Murray, Utah. My visit was a stark reminder that even well-known establishments can fail to meet basic expectations. The experience was plagued by poor customer service, inflexible policies, significant delays, and inattentive staff.

Delayed Service

Upon arrival, I was seated promptly, which initially gave me hope for a smooth experience. However, things quickly went downhill. It took an unreasonable amount of time—at least 20 minutes or more—before anyone came to take my order. This delay was particularly frustrating because the restaurant was not busy at the time.

In today’s fast-paced world, where efficiency is expected, such delays are unacceptable. Waiting this long just to place an order set a negative tone for the rest of my visit and made me question the management’s ability to run the restaurant effectively.

Issue with Drink Options

When my order was finally taken, I encountered another issue. I requested to change my drink from Pepsi to another soft drink—a simple request that most restaurants would accommodate without hesitation. However, I was told this was not allowed due to their policies. The staff seemed unwilling to make even minor adjustments to ensure customer satisfaction.

This lack of flexibility was both surprising and disappointing. In an industry where customer satisfaction should be a priority, refusing such a basic request felt unnecessary and unprofessional.

Rude and Inattentive Service

The waitress who served me added to the unpleasant experience. While I didn’t catch her name, she had a noticeable red rose tattoo on her left finger area. Unfortunately, her behavior was far from welcoming or professional. She seemed disinterested in providing good service and came across as indifferent when I expressed my concerns about the long wait and inflexible policies.

Her attitude left me feeling like my presence as a customer was more of an inconvenience than a priority. To make matters worse, after taking my order, she barely checked on my table again throughout the meal.

Overall Experience

Between the delayed service, rigid policies, and rude staff, this visit to IHOP was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory. The food—usually a highlight at IHOP—was overshadowed by these issues. What should have been a simple and enjoyable meal turned into a frustrating ordeal.

For a restaurant that markets itself as family-friendly and welcoming, this location failed on all fronts. It’s disappointing when such an established brand cannot deliver even basic customer service.

Recommendation

Until this IHOP location improves its service standards and trains its staff to prioritize customer satisfaction, I cannot recommend it to anyone. There are plenty of other dining options in Murray where you can expect better treatment and a more enjoyable experience.

If management takes feedback seriously and addresses these issues—including delays, inflexibility, and rude staff—they may be able to turn things around. However, based on my visit, I would advise others to look elsewhere for...

Absolutely horrendous service. Went to their eating establishment on a Wednesday at 10pm (so not on a weekend or during any busy hours), and was hands down the worst service I've experienced. We were waiting over 10-15 mins to be seated - there were people seating at maybe 2 or 3 tables, so definitely not busy. I kept getting snarky looked from a girl busting the tables - I was like what is up with her. After 10 mins we checked on the door to make sure that this was a 24 hour service and not closing - 24 hours. The server saw us at least several times before my friend just said to him "Are we supposed to just seat ourselves"? He said no and that he would. Another few mins go by until he finally come back and seats us in one of the several empty booths, and his attitude toward us was less than welcoming. He comes back almost right away asking us for our order - didnt really have time to look at the menu, so we said we need another minute. Yeah he gave us another minute, along with several more. He even walked by us three times seeing we were ready to order, but continued doing what he was doing. Finally we got our food ordered and luckily it didnt take as long, was a little cold but at this point not too surprised. Had to asked more then 2 times for a box to go for my food. We had to wait 15 mins for the guy to give us our ticket to even pay. Heard another couple at a table getting ready to leave and walked to a couple up front (who had been patiently waiting for 25 mins) and told them they should go somewhere else because of how "F** horrible" the service was here. She even told them how rude the server was and everything. Sounds about right with what me and my friend experienced as well. I gave the rating 1 star only because of the food, and cause you can't do zero stars. I do like IHOP food, but I will never go to that establishment's...

I hate so much to do this. I don’t like doing negative reviews but we had terrible service from our waiter. As soon as he greeted us he was a little cold. Okay that fine and all. So I was ordering my daughter cupcake pancake and was ordering my food trying to switch out the fruit for hash browns and he kept cutting me off. Finally telling me you can have whatever you wants it okay. So I said okay thank you and he left. Again I’m thinking this is strange but he is giving me an attitude but maybe he’s stressed from the tables. Until my 6 year old daughter says “That man kept cutting you off and that was kinda rude” and immediately I knew I was not imagining some anger coming from him. There was a table in the next booth in front of me & Another table came in after me and they sat in the booth behind me. He was so polite and nice to them. I’m not sure what the issue was, but he was so rude. I’ve worked 15 years in customer service so if anyone is going to be respectful back it’s me. And I was very respectful even when he got the order wrong and I asked to switch out for the right item, he immediately went to blaming me. Not only do I say what I want but I point to the menu for this reason. Anyways, I was trying to spend time with my daughter before she goes back to school and this grown man ruined the mood for sure. Not to mention it was breakfast so it was annoying to keep thinking about how he treated us all day since the very start of the day. The other staff around seem very nice but I’m just unlucky I guess.

Update: iHop replies but they do not follow up via email...