IHOP — Restaurant in Ocala

Was a 4 star review Typical IHOP. Don't expect awesomeness, but service is decent and restaurant is clean adjacent.

Ok, so the above was written several years ago. I am not sure what has happened since then, but boy howdy has this place changed, and not for the better!

The Atmosphere It was just super stressed and you could feel it the second you walked in. I was there on a random Thursday in May, mid-morning around 9-11ish. Kids were still in school, snow birds gone, not a holiday, or a weekend, not sure where all the people came from, but place was packed, and the stress levels for staff and customers was at an unpleasant level. Not something that can be helped. But if you’re like me and need to know what you are walking into so that you can mentally prepare, it was already uncomfortable. The lobby which used to always smell clean like chlorine or bleach. Now smells moldy/musty or some other dirty unpleasant odor.

The Eating My pancakes were not cooked all the way, I mean like raw and sloppy in the middle. I had finished my entire meal (4 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, full serving of potatoes) before my pancakes were remade. The second time around with the pancakes, there was no butter, no flavor, they tasted like sawdust.

The Service I asked for blueberry syrup, and Tabasco sauce and my server acted like I was an inconvenience and huffed, “is there anything else I can get you right now!?” Almost like, “if I do this, this is the last time I will be doing anything for you”. I never got my drinks refilled. I didn’t get lemon with my water (which I had asked for) and my coffee tasted like burnt beans and dirty dish water. I wasn’t the only one either, several people sitting near me sent food back, and complained about the coffee as well.

The End Not sure what happened, but the best tip I can give you is there is another IHOP in Ocala, 11100 SW 93rd Ct Rd, Ocala, FL 34481 Go here, the food is always good even if the service is usually a little stressed or surly. At least your food will taste good and the atmosphere and building are new, clean, and not quite so stressed. And…let’s face it folks, eating out is just going to come with surly and/or slightly stressed service these days. So, as long as that is something you can overlook/handle, you’re golden....

I'm used to IHOP being busy and clean. This particular location had one other couple who was already served their meal when we arrived. It was after late lunch time, before early dinner, so during a very slow time. First, a lady at the post by the door asks "2?", without looking up at us. She was working on something, which we understood. She said it'll be just a moment. After about 2 minutes, she finished what she was doing then sat us and said our server would be with us in a moment. After waiting a few minutes, she arrives and gets our drinks and our order. She was nice and helpful. Though I did mention the table was sticky and nothing was ever done about that. It took quite a while for the food to come out as she said the kitchen cooked the wrong meal for me, so there was that delay. A tea refill would've been lovely while waiting. Once we were done, I visited the restroom. That was my biggest regret of the entire visit. I have never in my life seen an IHOP with a ladies room in such a horrible state. Floor covered in trash and debris. I'm just going to leave it at that as the rest I don't want to think about. But I've seen gas station restrooms in MUCH better condition than this. Plus, you could barely open the door since the diaper station wouldn't close properly and stayed laying open blocking the door from fully opening. I don't think we'll be going back to this one. Everything else I can understand. But that? There's no excuse. It's not like it was busy or they were in the weeds & couldn't get to it...

Along with everything else, breakfast joints have even gone WAY up in price too, however, IHOP still remains affordable for both breakfast and lunch options. I will not go out and spend $50 on breakfast for 2, especially when it's the cheapest food to make and here at IHOP you can EASILY spend less than $10 per person on breakfast, less than $15-$20 per person on lunch and leave fully satisfied and possibly even with some left overs. At that price point it even gives McDonald's a run for the money and this is a sit down, full service restaurant and in the days of the ever rising prices across the board I can fully appreciate this. And even if you arrive and it looks like its crowded or there's people noticably waiting, if you have a party of 4 or less you can expect to be seated within 10 minutes, as they turn tables fast and have an ample amount of tables as well as a bar seating option for single diners or perhaps a couple who doesn't want to wait for a table. They also have a huge entry/waiting area with at least seating for 25 people to wait for their table which is always a nice touch, as there's nothing worse than 40 people huddled around a hostess stand waiting for their table, shuffling around one another etc. Also the service I have received every time at this location has been above average, far better than their more expensive counter parts in fact. A must go for an affordable, casual, yummy...