IHOP — Restaurant in Virginia

I had already had a bad experience with horrible customer service in the past at this IHOP. However having a pregnant wife, if she wants pancakes then you better get her some pancakes. Even if we were more than halfway home. So we park and walk into the IHOP with our 13th month old and get a seat very quickly. Seeing as how it was close to 5:55 on a Tuesday I didn’t expect to wait long for a table. Our server Donovan came into our table quickly and took our drink orders, two waters with lemon. I noticed they were offering all you can eat pancakes again and I figured I would get a stack and call it a day. Well unfortunately our misinformed waiter wasn’t familiar with the menu and didn’t know if I had to get a combo or just the pancakes. So we said how about you get our drinks double check and we will order when you get back. In the interest of proving a point let’s say it is now 6:05, when Donovan comes back. After double checking Donovan confirms we do not need to get the combo for the all you can eat pancakes. My wife orders her pancakes, scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage. For our daughter macaroni and cheese, with French fries, and I order just a stack of pancakes. At the latest our order should of went in at 6:10/6:15, remember it is pretty empty and Donovan only has one other table besides us.

After losing track of time and talking, my wife’s food and daughters food comes out around 6:45/6:50. I notice quickly that she is NOT happy, her food is lukewarm at best. The butter on her pancakes is sitting on top very comfortably and not even thinking about melting. Our daughters French fries are medium temperature and her macaroni and cheese is cold. My wife looks around for Donovan who is busy talking to his coworkers. After a few seconds we raise our hands in hopes that he realizes that his table request his attention, still he ignores us. At this point I am starting to get annoyed it is close to 6:55/7PM my food hasn’t arrived and I have to pursue my waiter for the evening. Eventually he makes his way over to our table and my wife asks, why is our food lukewarm. I don’t know if kids today have never heard of or don’t know what lukewarm is, however he didn’t comprehend what that meant. So she phrases it differently has our food been sitting long because it is not hot? His response I brought the food up as soon as soon as the order went up on the counter. That is fine, if that is what you say so be it, however can you get us some ketchup for these fries. By this point I am not happy and I am just ready to go, my pancakes haven’t shown up and I don’t like the quality of service I am receiving. Donovan comes back with the ketchup and some more pancakes for my wife since hers were lukewarm.

Meanwhile it is around 7:10/7:15 and I am sitting at the table with a glass of water and no food. I figure this dance has gone on long enough, can we please speak to the manager about everything that has happened. The manager on duty Scott comes over, takes care of our bill and apologies at how things transpired. I decided to ask Scott, why is the service so bad at this IHOP. Last year when they offered all you can eat pancakes the same thing happened. My wife’s food came out with her pancakes 5-7 minutes later my pancakes came out. I also asked him how long does it take to make pancakes, his response 3-5 minutes. In saying that it is now about 7:20/7:25 and I still haven’t received my pancakes. Scott says please come back and I will personally make your pancakes for you, unfortunately at this point in time the more he apologies the more upset I got. I nodded with a smile on my face and politely leave with my wife and daughter. Never again, never again will I go to the Gainesville IHOP. Scott said he had recently taken over as manager and that the previous lady is no longer there. Glad to hear but you have already burned my twice no third strike in...

I have lived in prince william my whole life and have been in gainesville since 2014 and used to love this place. But the last couple visits have been poor experiences. They always seem to be understaffed and checkout system has troubles. Hardly anyone in there, yet it took forever to be seated. The food was good actually-thats the one thing that seems to still be solid here...however it took a LONG time to be seated, for the food to come out, and to pay the bill even though there were just a handfull of tables filled and multiple cooks i could see in the kitchen area... There were two servers out working the floor. Well...one really, she was a younger gal, probably high school or college and was running around all the tables. She was nice and a sweet kid and was working hard, but you could tell she was struggling since she was basically doing everything herself, felt bad for her... Then there was an older server...or maybe manager on duty? She seemed like she just didnt wanna be there...very aloof and slow to help. When it came time to check out, we were standing at the register for about 5-10min, just like when we waited to be seated. There was a family waiting to be seated as well and when the server finally came over we said to go ahead and seat them and we would wait to pay. Waited several more minutes and finally got someone to ring us up. The younger server was busy seating others and going around the tables so the one manager on duty finally came over. She thought we wanted to be seated even though she saw we had already come in earlier...then she took our gift card and tried running it. Said it wouldnt work because "internet is down". I said this seems to happen a lot and asked what was wrong...as last time I was in, this same situation came up. Not sure how they could take a credit card but not a gift card?? She said she didnt know, and I said this happened last time I came in and how was this happening yet, again? She didn't have an answer... Also if they are having issues with internet, get it fixed so we arent running into this situation over and over again! I even double checked and looked up the balance on the card and it was $50, so I know I didnt use an expired card or didnt have enough of a balance. Just dont understand how a credit card can be charged but not a gift card...are they not run through the system the same way? And if not, then again, fix the internet issue! Or at the very least, inform guests that you arent able to run gift cards when they come in, so they know in advance and arent blindsided at checkout! Incredibly frustrating to go in expecting to use a gift card and then have to pay. Thought we could enjoy a nice meal and use the gift card and now twice in a row I have had to pay out of pocket and couldnt use it. Just sad to see over the years the continued decline of this location. Other IHOPs in the region seem to be just fine, but this one is steadily going down hill... There are a couple servers there who are nice and hard working but poor leadership from...

Unfortunately, until they address their issues, I would advise everyone NOT to eat here.

We have been going to the Gainesville VA IHOP for years and never had a problem until now. Our family considered it a place to bring our boys when they did well in school or wanted a quick family night out. Over the past 8 month or so, we started to notice a decline in the service. At first we just brushed it off as a hard working person having a tough day. We let it slide because we loved going to this location until now.

1st issue: Last Saturday, I was out and decided to swing over for some breakfast for myself. Once there the employees seemed disorganized as they forgot the order of guests and sat a few guests after I had checked in, which was no big deal as it happens. When it was my turn to be seated, I was told by a female hostess to follow a male server to my table, which I did. Once I arrived at the table where the male server stopped, he turned around and looked at me and said in an irritated manner, “What..., why did you follow me?” Shocked. I turned around and walked back to the female hostess and said, “I’m confused.”, she then pointed to an open booth within another isle and said, “I meant you should have sat over there.” I then proceeded to walk myself to said booth. As I sat at the table, I noticed the employees were extremely careless and rude. I ordered my meal, ate, and still left an 18% tip.

2nd issue: This evening, my family and I decided to keep a positive outlook about this IHOP location and have a celebratory dinner for my son who passed all of his year end tests in school. We arrived and were immediately told by an employee “There’s a 20 minute wait because multiple employees didn’t show up for work today”. I found that statement to be very unprofessional but decided our family would wait the 20 minutes. Once we were seated, everything seemed to be going fine until, I took my first bite of pancake. Immediately, my gag reflex kicked in and I spit it out because there was an overwhelming taste of some kind of perfume or soap within the food. I was completely shocked and asked to see the manager. I explained what I tasted in the food and expressed my concerns. The manager took the pancakes off our bill and apologized.

It pains me to say this but we will never return. And it’s sad because my family truly loved this IHOP, but due to the recent decline in service and foreign chemicals found in my food, we will never return to this IHOP. Please take my advice and stay away from the Gainesville VA IHOP, until they resolve these clear and very evident issues.

In my view, there is clearly a management problem and it is manifesting itself through poor service and actions from the employees. We’ve had too many negative experiences over a short amount of time to blame the average worker within this location, nevertheless it’s...