IHOP — Restaurant in Rancho Cordova

Update 1/29/24 Sorry to report that this place used to be so much better. Last 2 visits were disappointing. I dine solo a lot and when I went to the restroom on my last dine-in visit, I returned to find my food had all been cleared off and table bussed. I hadn't finished eating my meal and wasn't in the restroom long. Unbelievable.

My visit today was to get an order to go. I ordered the strawberry Rooty Tooty special, whereupon the one waitress asked the other, "Are we allowed to do those to go?" and the other one said, "Yes." Why would it even be a question when anyone can order it for pickup on the app?

I ordered it with scrambled eggs and sausages, and asked for extra strawberry syrup. They gave me over easy eggs and bacon and only one container of strawberry syrup.

It wasn't a complicated order and I really don't know how it could be so badly messed up. On top of that, it seemed like I was bothering them just by asking for an order to go. And the worst thing is when I paid with cash, the waitress who had taken my order did not even attempt to give me the change, which I thought was very presumptuous and less than honest. I just wanted to get my order and go. They turned what should have been a pretty easy transaction into the bad taste it left in my mouth. It's really a shame that they didn't provide a repeat paying customer with even decent service. Service has gone way downhill. And I have been there many times.

They can certainly do better. Food was a little slow coming but delicious! They were understaffed but gave it their best. It's a good sized place with plenty of seating. Will definitely return....

This IHOP is downright weird. You'll get a highly inconsistent level of decent here. Sometimes the staff is friendly, sometimes they're just absolutely crazy. I'll write about this soon.

The food is an IHOP exclusive. It's diner stuff, usually kind of okay and filling. The staff are generally nice, if at least chatty. You don't come here for a higher class expedition, although that's well known. Actually, please check your food if you get take-out. They usually miss at least one item, although the last time they gave me a completely different item than what I ordered. Even if you're in a hurry, take 2 minutes and check.

Now for the crazy. We ordered take out once. We arrived and there was no one. We waited about 5 minutes until someone showed up. I'm not even sure that he worked there and he reeked of alcohol. We asked him about our order, he simply said "oh," then disappeared for about 5 minutes. He gave us someone else's bag, we told him that's not us. He disappeared and we heard laughing. The dude came back out with the same d@mn bag and tried to give it to us! Then he showed up with the right one and of course it was missing food, and my eggs didn't have cheese like I ordered. I told him and like a minute later he walked back out with what looked like a piece of cold Velveeta slapped on my eggs. By this time things were so stupid that I could only laugh and walk out. We reported it but seriously, c'mon.

Overall, it's a IHOP. Your mileage may vary. I don't recommend this...

The bar is already so low for an iHop and somehow we managed to have an experience that was profoundly awful.

A little before noon on a weekday, there were maybe 5 tables total in use when we arrived. Our server made a joke about having to actually work - at least, we thought it was a joke.

We ordered drinks and water. When our server delivered the hot drinks, she said she would be right back with water. Some minutes passed and while our server didn't come back, a new customer came in who was seated behind us. Our server then proceeds to chat with this customer for a good 5 or 10 minutes, talking about how she put in his order for him as soon as she saw his car - meanwhile, we haven't even received our water, much less been able to order food.

Minutes continue to pass. We wait some more while our server chats about the holidays and her personal views on women in the kitchen and his work. Having been waiting for maybe 15 minutes total without having been acknowledged and our server having a full blown conversation for an extended period of time, we leave - again, without her even saying anything to us.

But there's a Denny's 3 exits up the highway. Just... go there if you need cheap...