IHOP — Restaurant in Sioux City

Eating breakfast at IHOP was one of my worst experiences so far eating at a restaurant. Both the service and food was at its lowest point in quality, never had this happened at IHOP.

My server, Tracey K looked like she hated her job or did not care about us at all. Came to our table, asked for our drinks and left to pick up dishes at a table next to us without saying anything else. Some feedback should be given such as "Ill have those drinks working and I will give you some time to look at the menu, I will be right back". Made us felt we were not valued at all.

When it was time to order, I asked if I can do a slide of French toast instead of hash browns. The few times I've came here I had always done it this way, I wouldn't mind paying extra but I just dont want any hash browns. Her answer was a straight "No". Nothing like: "I apologize but the system does not let me remove the hash browns" or something among those lines. So I agreed to get hashbrowns cause I did not want to argue. I also asked for a side of T-Bone steak which she was kind enough to ask the manager how to send it to the kitchen since the system did not let her either, however I told her if you manage to get the T-Bone steak as a side, that I would want it medium rare.

When our food arrived, pretty much everything we ordered was there but here is the issues we faced:

Food was cold, like it was sitting in the window for hours just waiting for the last dish to come out. Terrible time control from the cooks if that's the case. Otherwise the waiter just didn't take them on time to our table. There should be a food runner or some extra communication to avoid that. Either way, just terrible. Hashbrowns were brown from one side but not from the other side, meaning they cooked the hashbrowns solely from one side hoping it would cook the rest of the thick piece of hashbrowns (?). Being a thick piece of hashbrowns, it was raw in the middle or just didn't taste cooked at all. Hashbrowns should be scattered around the flattop to crisp one side, then flip them and crisp the other side. After than mix everything in the flattop and make it into a square looking piece and crisp both sides again. That's how you achieve a perfectly cooked hashbrown. It becomes real crispy everywhere that way. How can you get that wrong? You are serving me a piece of raw - semi-cooked shredded potatoes with one side being cooked. I regretted arguing for subbing hashbrowns for a french toast piece. My T-Bone steak was not medium rare but rather medium well to well. Did not complain, I was hungry and we needed to get going. The steak on both my Poblano eggs Benedict and my fiancee's Philly steak Stacker was dry and not even juicy. Like if the meat was overly cooked or simply old. And my Poblano eggs Benedict were not even spicy if they were meant to be spicy, not a single drop of spiciness at all from the poblano peppers, quite a disappointment there as well.

Other than that, we took all the leftovers home but I did not want to pay for the hashbrowns. Did not even eat them. I asked for a discount on the Benedicts since I did not want to pay for the hashbrowns. She said she could not discount it full price, I said I just want a discount for not eating the hashbrowns not the whole thing (I thought I made myself clear but either way) Then the waiter said she would talk with the manager, took her 10-15 minutes to be back. I should've asked to talk with the manager personally, such a terrible experience.

The waiter really needs some more training and caring about her job. Her tip reflects on the service she offers and we did not give her much due to those reason. I would understand if you are busy to not be at our table everytime, but at least have the courtesy to treat your table the best way possible. Once she got our drinks, the way she left us was already a given that her service was going to be bad. I wished we were seated in the other tables with one waiter that spoke Spanish, she seemed so wonderful at her job and someone that would have had taken...

I am not one to usually complain but this place made us sick and felt people should be warned. Read on: This place my girlfriend and I thought would be great. We got inside and we're warned about the place by a diner that was leaving but we shrugged it off and stayed. The place was overwhelmed and even with at least 7 servers they were only seating half the dining room. We waiting approximately 5 minutes to be seated and we're taken to a corner booth. A server showed up shortly after that to take our drink order and we also ordered the appetizer sampler. A couple of minutes after she left another server arrived and wanted to again take our drink order. They use tablets to take the orders so he should have know our order was taken. When the appetizer arrived it was sloppily placed on the plate and and had marinara sauce smeared on the one edge of the plate. Again we just let it go because we were hungry and wanted to give this place a chance. A little while later our main courses arrived. She order the French toast platter with regular french toast and a side of white toast. I ordered the split decision platter. They arrived in adequate time but shortly after she started eating her over easy eggs she encountered a spot that when she cut into it had clear yolk still. We just assumed that it was just that little spot and she cut it out and pushed it aside but looking back we should had stopped at this point. Also once I started eating my scrambled eggs I discovered a couple pink sprinkles in it from the children's meal or whatever else they use them for. So obviously the do not keep a very clean work space in the kitchen. When I started eating my French toast it was still very soft and undercooked. I again reluctantly ate my French toast thinking it was just me but once I found out hers was like that I knew otherwise. Not to mention I ordered the strawberry banana french toast and it had neither on it i realized later. It was at this point that we mentioned something to our server. We even told her that we were not wanting new food or anything like that but our server who I believe her name was Diana this complaint seemed to go in one ear and out the other. She made no attempt on her own to remedy this or to get someone else too. After this we paid and left. But this is not where the story ends. Starting at about 5:30 in the morning we both felt sick to our stomachs and over the next couple of hours would spend multiple times in the bathroom. Hence the reason I decided to write this review. I really would have given them zero stars but it won't let you and I really wish that I would have thought to take pictures. In hindsight we should have listened to the diner that was leaving and just gone somewhere else. I would not and do not and will not ever recommend this restaurant to anyone. In fact unless something drastically changes I will actually warn anyone I know to NOT eat at this restaurant. Like I started out saying I hate to complain but I feel people should be warned and hopefully no one else gets sick...

A Sticky Situation at IHOP

It was supposed to be a simple Sunday brunch. I had just finished an early morning shift and was craving something sweet, so I convinced my friend Jake to hit up IHOP with me. Pancakes, bacon, and bottomless coffee—it sounded like the perfect way to start the day.

The moment we walked in, I should have known we were in for a rough experience. The hostess, a teenage girl who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, barely acknowledged us before mumbling, “Just sit wherever.” The place wasn’t packed, but every open table was covered in crumbs, syrup drips, and half-empty glasses.

We picked the cleanest-looking booth and waited. And waited. Ten minutes passed before a server finally appeared, a guy named Kyle, judging by his stained name tag. He looked exhausted.

“Drinks?” he asked flatly.

“Uh, coffee for me,” I said.

“Same,” Jake added.

Kyle shuffled off, and we resumed our conversation, assuming our drinks would be out quickly. Another ten minutes went by. No coffee. No Kyle. I glanced around and saw him chatting with another server near the kitchen, both laughing about something on a phone.

“Should we just go?” Jake whispered.

“Nah, we’re already here,” I said. “Let’s give it a few more minutes.”

Right as I was about to wave someone down, Kyle returned with two mugs and a coffee pot. Without a word, he poured the coffee—except he overshot Jake’s mug, spilling scalding liquid all over the table and onto Jake’s lap.

“Dude!” Jake yelped, jumping up.

Kyle blinked. “Oh. My bad.” Then he walked away.

Jake wiped at his jeans with a napkin, muttering curses under his breath. I was about to call someone else over when a different server appeared, setting down plates of food.

“Uh… we didn’t order yet,” I said, staring at the sad-looking stack of pancakes in front of me.

The server frowned, checked her notepad, then shrugged. “Guess these are for you now.” And she walked off.

At this point, we were just stunned. The pancakes were cold, the eggs looked like rubber, and Jake’s bacon was burnt to a crisp.

“You still wanna stay?” Jake asked.

I sighed. “Let’s just eat and get out of here.”

Halfway through choking down the food, I noticed something moving near the syrup caddy. A cockroach. Casually crawling along the table, like it was just another customer enjoying breakfast.

That was it. We were done. We threw some cash on the table and left, still hungry and deeply traumatized.

“Next time, we’re going to Perkins” Jake muttered as we got into the car.

I...