IHOP — Restaurant in San Antonio

Well, it was an interesting experience this evening... My wife and I decided to go to IHOP for dinner as a change-up to our normal set of Friday night choices, as we had not been to one in literally years. This one is relatively new to our area and we'd never been before, so decided to give it a try. It was a complete mixed bag.

First, we recognize that Friday night dinner is NOT IHOP's prime business window, so you're typically not going to see the A-team on. Second, we also recognize that ever since COVID hiring help in general has suffered, and getting quality help is even harder. With that preface, our experience went like this:

We were greeted by a young man who 100% had to be on something. His slow, deliberate movements, limited speech, stares, and smiling to himself when he was bussing tables were all indicators. He had dark eyes, but looked like his pupils were completely dilated. You had to be there and watch him, but it was surreal.

Our initial server was actually very good. She was 100% focused, very friendly, and we could tell she'd be all over her stuff.

We had to wait a long time for our orders. There were five other tables of customers from 1-4 people each. Only two were in place before we arrived, but when food started coming out it all went to every table except ours. When ours finally came, it was a partial order because one of the other servers had grabbed half our order and given it to another table (turns out they'd ordered the exact same thing). Our server was not happy about that, but got the rest of the order out quickly.

Unfortunately, shortly after she brought our orders our server said she had to take a co-worker to help another nearby IHOP, but would be back shortly. She told us she had arranged for another employee to cover down on our service while she was gone. That never happened. Had to flag down our zombie friend to get a tea refill. Had to flag down the stand-in guy to get our bill. Initially he said he couldn't do it (because it had been entered by our first server), but he went and checked with management, who overrode it (I'm guessing) in the system and allowed him to process it. No one ever checked on us. No one asked if we needed refills. No one removed dirty plates that we were done with. We were apparently in a server DMZ while all other tables got served.

Cleanliness: Overall impression of the restaurant was that it was clean. It's relatively new, so did not appear worn. Did not use the restrooms, so cannot comment, but the dining area was just fine.

The food. Overall, the food was not bad, to the kitchen's credit, and presentation on the plate actually looked very close to the menu pictures. Nice job. The only real issue was that it was not hot, only warm/lukewarm. Seemed like it may have sat for a while with cool air on it, and breakfast food cools off very quickly. We had eggs Benedict with pancakes on the side. Besides temp, the only real disappointment was the hashbrowns, which were undercooked and cold for my wife and overcooked and cold for me. The ice tea was clear and tasted very good. Kudos to IHOP for having clear, strong tea. No Texas restaurant should ever have cloudy, unfiltered water tea, but we have recently experienced that more than once elsewhere.

To wrap up this novel, our experience tonight pretty much sums up where we are as a nation when it comes to labor and customer service. It is really difficult for businesses of all types right now to get quality employees who are willing to work hard and provide good service. The service industry is the hardest hit without a doubt, whether it's hotels, restaurants, retail stores, you name it.

I would just encourage management to keep working with your young employees on the basics. We truly understand the challenges you face and hope that at some point we can get our act together as a nation and turn this...

This is a new IHOP on the Northeast side of town. Decided to give it a shot and see how things were.

Short story: Standard IHOP food. Well prepared. Clean location. Pleasant staff. We'll eat here again.

Long story: Location is good, easy to get to with plenty of parking. We waited only about 10 minutes to be seated on a very busy afternoon. Being a new location, the inside of the restaurant itself was still in great condition and clean (to include the bathrooms). While we were there I watched the clean up process after clients left and I have to commend the staff for doing a great clean up job at each table. It wasn't just a quick wipe with a used rag. Completely sprayed down and every surface wiped with new paper towels. When I say completely, I mean COMPLETELY =)

Speaking of staff, you could see that the majority were very young and getting used to their individual duties. That they were a little more hectic and nervous was obvious. There were some old pros mixed in but I'd hazard a guess that at least 65% were newer to the business. That being said, they did well on a very busy Sunday afternoon and I can just see them becoming better and more efficient.

Everything on our order was correct, well prepared, and tasted as expected. The only issue we had was that our meals didn't come at the same time. My Wife got hers first. About 8-10 minutes later I received mine and 15 minutes later my Son finally got his. That's a huge faux pas in my book. There wasn't anything special ordered or complex that should have not gotten us our food all at the same time. So, if this is a persistent issue, timing and keeping orders together is something I'd recommend they work on.

Overall a solid 4 stars and I think that with time they'll...

If I could give 10 stars for everything, I would! Last time I went to an ihop was 3 years ago, because it was empty, server was lazy, no personality (which makes your tip in our eyes) and food was NOT good. Honestly, if my favorite place/server was working Thursdays, we would not have stopped here. Now, this ihop was clean, everyone was friendly, the food not only looked delicious, but it actually was!! The whole team came out clapping and singing for someone’s birthday, and now: our beautiful waitress!! This girl!! Her name is Shanon! I am not used to such a sweet, pleasant, caring and lovely personality in a wait person!! She takes the cake!! Very attentive to my needs, what I could/couldn’t eat with a exposed nerve/cavity, acknowledging our 25 year anniversary, just all words coming out of her mouth had to have the assistance of an angel. THEN: I met her daughter who works there. I was telling the manager how much I enjoyed Shanon, when I noticed at the table in front of us being taken care of by ANGEL. Yep, Shanon’s daughter! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!!! The manager actually came out and asked everyone how things were, I was delighted with just everything!! Even the wait staff not serving us had smiles on their faces!! THIS is the only ihop I will go to. I think the horrid one was on Walzem somewhere. This is so worth coming to for EVERY reason a couple goes out! Thank you for permission to add a picture of the TWO Angels that assisted us. Mainly Shanon needs at least a $5.00 raise ihop! This is how you keep people coming back, and her lovely daughter is just like her! Thank you Shanon and Angel and your awesome manager! We...