IHOP — Restaurant in Torrance

PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW CAREFULLY. IT'S LONG

What a disgrace. The visit to this location was an eye-opener for my wife and I, for many reasons. This review will cover several things. Pay close attention:

Customer Service Cleanliness/Quality Pricing

Let's begin with pricing.

Prices have obviously changed and most meals are no longer affordable for many families. What used to be $10.99, is now $17.99. What used to be $12, is now $22. It's no surprise since California raised the minimum wage, sure. But are these prices worth what we're getting in return? Most likely, not. An average cost for a couple like us would've been between $44 to $50. On this visit we spent... $0. I'll explain what happened at the end of the review.

Cleanliness/Quality

First thing we saw when walking in to this location was just how disgusting the floors looked - dirty, filthy carpets.

When we were sat down, the tables were sticky and gross as if they are using dirty unwashed rags to clean it... IF they even cleaned it. Under the table I stepped on random trash that was not picked up. The quality of their cleaning is poor. The quality of their overall presentation of care no longer exists. This is pretty much the standard in most locations, unfortunately.

Customer Service

And now we come to the main problem... their customer service.

At $20 dollars an hour, it seems like everywhere you go nowadays customer service got worse rather than better. IHOP seems to be hopping on that bad-customer-service train, and they don't want to be left behind. Well, great job. You're there.

The first girl walks us in and sat us down. There, her job should've been to take our drink order and tell the waitress she sat us down and she's getting our drinks. That should've been what needed to happen. It did not.

We sat for about 5 minutes and the waitress came over to the people sitting behind us to give them their bill. She walked away as if she saw nothing but ghosts (apparently) because we were ignored. She left, and she never came back.

7 minutes later, now 13 minutes sitting, we still have no drinks, nor a "Hello" or a look from her our way. At this point, my wife and I both decided to leave the restaurant, never to return again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Though it was a terrible experience, we thank them for showing us that we can leave and save money and not pay for a terrible experience. We went to our local VONS and spent $27 dollars and had a MUCH better meal, cleaner, and even have more food for about 3 days than spending $45/$50 on people that don't even care about their jobs. Here are my suggestions for the restaurant owners and their employees.

OWNER/S

Your employees will be your downfall. They are the reason for your restaurant struggling. They are the reason why your location may close soon. Have better training. Have better management. They are obviously terrible at their jobs. Your bad employee today just let almost $50 walk out those doors, $20 to cover her pay plus some to cover expenses. Think on that for a minute.

WORKERS

I/we pay your salary. You work for all of us. Your customers are your bosses, and currently, you suck at what you do for more money. IF you don't like your job, don't do it. You obviously don't need money if you're terrible at it. Let others that need a job take it. Go and pursue other options, but don't waste our time. We were extremely hungry, and you just made us have a better meal at home. Thank you.

Owner, I am very sorry, you just lost our business and we will never come back again. It hurts me to say that because I am a small business owner myself and I pride myself on customer service. I hope you can fix this for others to NOT stop coming to your restaurant, but it seems like your people just don't care. What a shame. Take care.

PS. The photo I attached is Chicken I bought at Vons, pasta I bought from TraderJoe's.

Cost: about...

I was extremely disappointed as soon as we talked in we were informed that they only had one waitress, but that was not the worse part they gave us only one menu looks like they didn't want the extra work to clean and disinfect one more then we realized that it was extremely cold the CD must have been set in the low 60 or less to the point that we asked to switch tables but it didn't really help, when the food came my friend didnt get what she wanted I got but I ordered I had to rush to est it because I was soo cold my pancakes were i cold within 5 minutes! I did not enjoy my food all I could think was how fast I wanted to get out of there! By the way i asked the waitress if she could please increase the temperature just a little because it was so cold but she said she had no control over the AC. I Complained to her how uncomfortable we were and how couldn't even enjoy my meal, she said oh my sorry but we get hot because we are running around, so bottom line its their comfort they care about regardless of the customers complains. It was a terrible experience! What did they do? Discounted $10 of our check but I can tell you if this place does not care about me being able to enjoy my meal in a comfortable atmosphere then there a thousands of other places that will accommodate the customers needs. I'm never going back to IHOP in...

This particular location is awesome!!!

What made it special for me was the authentic reception coming into the restaurant and was seated immediately with genuine smiles. That did it for me!!!!

In my opinion that is pretty much what most people want when coming into a restaurant.

People may had a rough day or just want to come in and have a good meal.

It's just like welcome you into somebody's home. Come in. Take your shoes off. Give me a coat, have a seat. Let me get you some food. That's how I felt!!!!

I know that may sound basic or simple, but for me it was really nice to have that feeling.

I understand most service workers are frazzled and tired and dealing with crazy customers and you can see the exhaustion on their faces.

I totally understand that and I have no problems with service workers. I support them 100%.

But this was just a really different feel and I totally appreciate it.

I highly recommend this location!!! 😁👍

Oh and before I forget, the food was awesome as always. Can't go wrong with a good breakfast at and fresh pot...