IHOP Shops Posted

@sestrahelena wrote:

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

I would like to do this shop again next time smiling smiley

There seems to be a pretty long rotation on these. I am not able to see available shops at locations I've done in maybe 6 months.

This was the first time that I have done an IHOP shop

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It might be a one and done situation where they don't continuously shop a location once it's been shopped.

Especially if it was a decent experience and not a bad one. If it was a bad experience, then perhaps they might want to re-shop the location to see if things got better. Just my opinion.

An example would be the IHOP ghost kitchens near me where they were shopped for about 3 months, got feedback, fixed the errors and now have been gone for a month or two.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2023 02:55AM by wrosie.
@cooldude581 wrote:

we got some serious market saturation in erie. ihop lasted maybe 3 years.

There is still the relatively new one on Peach St open. Not sure if its being shopped.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
@wrosie wrote:

It might be a one and done situation where they don't continuously shop a location once it's been shopped.

Especially if it was a decent experience and not a bad one. If it was a bad experience, then perhaps they might want to re-shop the location to see if things got better. Just my opinion.

An example would be the IHOP ghost kitchens near me where they were shopped for about 3 months, got feedback, fixed the errors and now have been gone for a month or two.
The ghost shops were up this week. I am one and done. There were so many errors it was laughable~ You couldn't pay me to do another one..LOL.
The dine in shops seemed to be more promotion oriented rather than food and service. There are still a few deadline shops left. But no bonuses. Guess it's not that important to them.
Got an email from the MSC today for an IHOP that was supposed to be "bonused," which got my attention because these are usually reimbursement only. Opened the email and what was the "bonus"? A ticket to an "Ant Man" movie.

Say what?

Note to MSC: "Bonus" means money. Not admission to the 683rd millionth crappy CGI-dependent superhero movie.
@wrosie wrote:

It might be a one and done situation where they don't continuously shop a location once it's been shopped.

Especially if it was a decent experience and not a bad one. If it was a bad experience, then perhaps they might want to re-shop the location to see if things got better. Just my opinion.

An example would be the IHOP ghost kitchens near me where they were shopped for about 3 months, got feedback, fixed the errors and now have been gone for a month or two.

The ghost kitchen shops are back but with a new MSC.
@sestrahelena wrote:

The dine in shops seemed to be more promotion oriented rather than food and service. There are still a few deadline shops left. But no bonuses. Guess it's not that important to them.

I wrote too soon! A second email showed a bonus which would make it worth doing but not for me.
@foodluvr wrote:


The ghost kitchen shops are back but with a new MSC.

Any hints as to who that MSC might be?
Looks like they posted a second batch of crepe shops. I picked one up for next weekend.
CAVEAT: Not all crepes are available on the deal. You have a choice of THREE only! And if they're out of ingredients for one or two types, you'll end up with whatever they've got and waste your time. Why do I even keep trying to get a meal here????? This bites.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2023 08:10PM by sestrahelena.
@sestrahelena wrote:

CAVEAT: Not all crepes are available on the deal. You have a choice of THREE only! And if they're out of ingredients for one or two types, you'll end up with whatever they've got and waste your time. Why do I even keep trying to get a meal here????? This bites.

Which crepe is left out? I see two fruity and two savory (breakfast & chicken) crepes on the online menu.
Edited to add: If I had only read the guidelines before posting or sending my e-mail to the scheduler. My mistake.

So I get an e-mail from IHOP stating they have BOGO on the crepes. So I sent an e-mail to the scheduler asking if we can use the BOGO during the shop.

The reply was that we were actually testing to see if we got the BOGO pricing. Order two and see if we're only charged for one. That way it leaves room for another item to be ordered within the reimbursement.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2023 02:18PM by wrosie.
@wrosie wrote:

@sestrahelena wrote:

CAVEAT: Not all crepes are available on the deal. You have a choice of THREE only! And if they're out of ingredients for one or two types, you'll end up with whatever they've got and waste your time. Why do I even keep trying to get a meal here????? This bites.

Which crepe is left out? I see two fruity and two savory (breakfast & chicken) crepes on the online menu.

On site I was only allowed Breakfast crepe, cinnamon bun or mixed berry. Of course I had planned on chicken (told It's not included in promo) and blueberry/ricotta (all out of ricotta that day). P.S. depending on your store, cinnamon bun may not have cinnamon. Mine didn't. Nor whatever chocolate looking drizzle was in the picture. What a mess that place is!
@wrosie wrote:

Edited to add: If I had only read the guidelines before posting or sending my e-mail to the scheduler. My mistake.

So I get an e-mail from IHOP stating they have BOGO on the crepes. So I sent an e-mail to the scheduler asking if we can use the BOGO during the shop.

The reply was that we were actually testing to see if we got the BOGO pricing. Order two and see if we're only charged for one. That way it leaves room for another item to be ordered within the reimbursement.

I did the same exact thing! I had to embarrassingly write the scheduler and say please disregard my message!
@sestrahelena wrote:

@wrosie wrote:

@sestrahelena wrote:

CAVEAT: Not all crepes are available on the deal. You have a choice of THREE only! And if they're out of ingredients for one or two types, you'll end up with whatever they've got and waste your time. Why do I even keep trying to get a meal here????? This bites.

Which crepe is left out? I see two fruity and two savory (breakfast & chicken) crepes on the online menu.

On site I was only allowed Breakfast crepe, cinnamon bun or mixed berry. Of course I had planned on chicken (told It's not included in promo) and blueberry/ricotta (all out of ricotta that day). P.S. depending on your store, cinnamon bun may not have cinnamon. Mine didn't. Nor whatever chocolate looking drizzle was in the picture. What a mess that place is!

I was allowed to choose from any of them and did get the breakfast one. My experience was pretty bad. I think I'm done doing any IHOP shops or ghost shops.

The drizzle is cinnamon like a cinnamon bun. The interior is a weird heavy cream cheese filling.
i have some in my area but not strictly IHOp but delivery co that shares address with them

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
@gene wrote:

i have some in my area but not strictly IHOp but delivery co that shares address with them

The ghost kitchen for the 'dillos and grilled cheese company?
@wrosie wrote:

@gene wrote:

i have some in my area but not strictly IHOp but delivery co that shares address with them

The ghost kitchen for the 'dillos and grilled cheese company?
Ghost kitchen but a new one.... not the grilled cheese or 'dillos
Okay I played. Oh boy was that a mistake. The sandwich sounded good on paper, crispy toasted seed bread avocados tomatoes cheese bacon and a fried egg. What I got was all of the above only the fried egg was mostly Raw. So raw that there was a puddle of raw egg in the bottom of the tray that the sandwich was in, and most of it was soaked into my toast. They're $5 order of french fries, I think they called it classic fries?, was about the same amount of fries you would get in a small order of fries at McDonald's. This is supposedly high end food right?

Do these ghost kitchen companies have regular restaurants? I might consider going to their restaurant if they can cook the food the way it shows that in the pictures and the way it says in the description. Never buy it from an IHOP again.
@Morledzep wrote:

Okay I played. Oh boy was that a mistake. The sandwich sounded good on paper, crispy toasted seed bread avocados tomatoes cheese bacon and a fried egg. What I got was all of the above only the fried egg was mostly Raw. So raw that there was a puddle of raw egg in the bottom of the tray that the sandwich was in, and most of it was soaked into my toast. They're $5 order of french fries, I think they called it classic fries?, was about the same amount of fries you would get in a small order of fries at McDonald's. This is supposedly high end food right?

Do these ghost kitchen companies have regular restaurants? I might consider going to their restaurant if they can cook the food the way it shows that in the pictures and the way it says in the description. Never buy it from an IHOP again.


No, that's the business concept of a ghost kitchen. They 'train' the IHop staff on how to prepare their food and that's it. No high overhead costs associated with a brick/ motar restaurant
I saw a recent video on this industry, and it mostly seems like it's a way to game delivery apps by listing multiple types of restaurants all in the same location. I guess it's more appealing to someone scrolling on an app to see full "new" specialty restaurants advertised, as opposed to all the food being offered at one existing establishment. In California, one person counted 44 ghost kitchens all operating at the same location, and sharing several of the exact same menu items. That's an extreme example, but multiple kitchens in the same building seems like an effective strategy to improve your chances on the delivery apps.
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