IHOP — Restaurant in San Angelo

I initially gave a 5 star review & indeed, the service was great & the food good the first 5 times we went. I noticed the same man, who I assume is a manager, was there each time, greeted us & was constantly in motion & busy.

However, we returned 7/18/2017 at 8:05pm, with visiting family. We waited more than 10 minutes to be seated. During that time, no waitperson so much as looked in our direction. I noticed the usual guy was not there, but a lady in a floral dress seemed to be in charge, though she wore no uniform. She looked in our direction, but never came over to us or said anything. We all noticed & commented on the fact that there were quite a few waitstaff, but very few customers & many tables that needed to be cleared. Finally a young lady came & sat us & in a few minutes another lady took our drink orders. Our drinks came timely, but it was another 20 minutes before she took our food orders, though we notice she did seem to be busy herself. The manager lady was casually drying glasses & chit-chatting, while tables still sat uncleared & the foyer filled with those waiting to be seated. We waited nearly two hours & our meal had not come, when a buoyant young lady came out of the back, looked around & went to clear the table behind us, which had sat for over an hour uncleared. She saw us all looking toward the kitchen & asked if we needed anything. There were seven of us & I think we all said at once, "We're waiting for our food". She rushed to the kitchen & three waitstaff came out within minutes with our meals. Some with food we hadn't ordered, which we tried to send back, but were told to just keep. We were told that the cooks that night were "slackers". In my opinion, so was the manager. She hardly moved from her spot & did not manage anything, but the dishes, as far as I could tell. Once we went to pay, the cost seemed exorbitant. Our girl ad to call the manager to help unlock the register & we asked what the cost involved. I was not impressed. She still did not make eye contact & read out that our gravy was "comped" & the potatoes were "comped". We had been told they had no gravy when we initially ordered, so we never actually received it & therefore, it was not "comped" & the potatoes were not even part of our order. At any rate, she did not explain how two breakfast samplers, two waters, two drinks & 4 coffees came to nearly $50, when we calculated $28 The children's meals were supposed to be comped as we ordered between 5pm-10pm, though we didn't get our meal until after 10pm. After the manager told us these things & punched buttons, she walked off &, being frustrated, we paid, but the receipt showed no itemization, just a total. We asked for one & the girls tried to get it, but couldn't & the manager didn't come back, though she could clearly see we were still there & the foyer was full of unseated people behind us. She continued to stand in the same place she'd been all night. In the end, we felt for those waiting & left without a full receipt, beyond upset. I might mention that we noted an older couple upset midway through our wait & asking to speak with the manager. After they spoke with her & departed, she took up her post & was seen laughing & talking happily. I'd like to go back when the man is managing. He is efficient & a hard worker himself...no one "slacks" when he is in charge, from what I could see the previous 5 times we went. He also takes the time to speak with customers & never stops walking the place, working all the while. This guy...

Bad service. Ordered grits and they were placed in a styrofoam cup with a fork in it and when we were leaving she asked me how do you make grits... very unprofessional. She forgot my nieces order and instead of mayonnaise they put mustard with green chili's and she asked for hashbrowns and was given fries. It took 35 minutes for my niece to get her order. She also bought me overcooked eggs instead of over easy eggs and took 20 minutes to bring me my eggs. Everything was cold. She bought cold coffee in the carafe. There were 6 people besides me, my niece, my son, and my daughter- in-law. My son and daughter in law finished their food before we got ours and they left before we started eating cause we still didn't get our order. My daughter in law ordered a T-bone steak with eggs and my son a chicken fried steak meal and pancakes and they got their order first. My niece and I ordered something easier to make and it took almost 1 hour and a half to get ours. At the end of our meal I asked her for a to go container for my 6 pancakes and she gave us 2 styrofoam small boxes. She said that's all they had. Even though the other table got a big container for a half burger. I asked their waiter for 2 containers like he gave them and he bought me 2. Then when we went to pay she said she didn't charge us extra for the refill of Dr. Pepper. She also said we didn't have to tip her a large amount of anything at all....very bad service. She also kept telling us she was a Yankee and she use to live in New York and telling us about hookers and drug addicts that live there and that she 50 and her birthday was September 12 something we don't care about. Very very bad service. We've eaten there before when the place was packed and had gotten better service than that. We went at 4:00 am. and there was hardly anyone there. Hopefully there can better better service next time. I don't think it should get any stars but I need to post and have to...

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4-Star Review – Great Service Made All the Difference!

My party of four and I visited IHOP on College Hills this past Saturday morning, and while the overall dining experience had its ups and downs, our waitress Destiny absolutely saved the day and made it a visit worth remembering.

We arrived just after the usual breakfast/lunch rush, yet it still took longer than expected to be seated. It was a bit puzzling given the slower crowd at the time. That said, the host was very kind and sincerely apologetic about the delay, which we appreciated.

Once we were seated, Destiny promptly came over to greet us with a warm smile, took our drink orders, and returned shortly after to take our food orders. Her timing and attention were spot-on throughout the meal. The food itself didn’t take too long to arrive, but unfortunately, a few items for members of our party came out delayed, and some of the food arrived a bit cold. For example, my kids’ cheese eggs had a slice of cold cheese placed on top rather than melted in—not the most appealing presentation. While everything was edible and some items were enjoyed by the group, the food was not the highlight.

What truly elevated our experience was Destiny. She was incredibly patient, kind, and attentive, ensuring our drinks stayed filled and regularly checking to make sure we were satisfied. She handled everything with grace and professionalism, which made us feel valued as guests. Her outstanding service is the reason I’m giving this location four stars instead of fewer.

In short: the food was okay, the wait was longer than it should have been—but Destiny made us feel like VIPs. We’ll be back again, and we’ll definitely be...