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IHOP shops

April 18, 2025 03:57PM
If you've been banking your pancoins and are lucky enough to still have an open IHOP, I suggest cashing in before it's too late. After passing three closed IHOPs in a different area, I decided I would cash in during or after today's scheduled shop. Too late. This one was closed, too. It must have been recent, as the shop was not canceled.
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April 18, 2025 04:09PM
@sestrahelena wrote:

If you've been banking your pancoins and are lucky enough to still have an open IHOP, I suggest cashing in before it's too late. After passing three closed IHOPs in a different area, I decided I would cash in during or after today's scheduled shop. Too late. This one was closed, too. It must have been recent, as the shop was not canceled.

Everytime I go to IHOP...and I’m not even halfway kidding...its because my friend likes going there and we’re just getting off work at 0700. Anyway, everytime I go, I have in the back of my mind, “What is going to be weird about this visit?”. In almost every case, I am not disappointed by something happening that is along the lines of, “WTF????”. One day the waitress waiting on our tables was weaing her purse. It wasn’t hanging off her shoulder and down by her waist...that would have been weird enough. It was one of those with very short loops so it was up under her armpit. She couldn’t carry the tray even so she had to put one plate on the tray...come to us...go back and bring the other plate.

I’ve been leaked on by air conditioners..bathrooms without a sink--not fooling. Only once has anyone ever been able to tell me about pan coins.

Still...all that being said...if they go away...I’ll miss having them as an option.
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April 18, 2025 04:31PM
I went to one that was actually good during my last visit. And the food was still good, the service was not. I think they may have suspected they were being shopped about 80% through because the server suddenly became more attentive but that didn't make up for them seating us at a dirty table or the weird thing they were doing to avoid having to refill coffee.
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April 18, 2025 06:17PM
For most of the ones I've been to on these shops, shutting down has been a long time coming. I think that whole ghost kitchen project was their last ditch attempt to jump the shark. Apparently the shark fought back.

I was in a town today that had three Dollar Generals. Two were permanently closed already. This is getting scary!
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April 18, 2025 06:38PM
I can't remember the last time I even went to IHOP. I felt like they overcharged for what they provide. It's a thing of the past. I think more people consider Denny's before they consider IHOP. I do not consider either one.

There is a Waffle House near me. My wife and kid love it. I don't think highly of that place either. Hard to get excited for crap ambiance and just okay food. I mean you can't really screw up breakfast, but these places are on the depressing side.
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April 18, 2025 10:22PM
My Mom loved IHOP. I used to take her there every time she finished a treatment or doctor's appointment. We were lucky it was a really good one. Some days there was a wait to get in.

Waffle House? Never! Too many shootings inside the restaurants or the parking lots. Didn't matter what side of town, if you went there you took your chances with a stray bullet, kitchen fights, shouting matches, customer food fights, the works.
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April 18, 2025 11:06PM
When we were traveling across country from CA to here we ate at Waffle House at least once per day.
We NEVER saw anyone fight or shoot anyone, not customers or employees or anyone else. I never even heard that such things happen regularly until well after we were settled down here.
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April 19, 2025 08:00AM
@Morledzep wrote:

When we were traveling across country from CA to here we ate at Waffle House at least once per day.
We NEVER saw anyone fight or shoot anyone, not customers or employees or anyone else. I never even heard that such things happen regularly until well after we were settled down here.

It could be a regional thing. The violence at Waffle House became so common that it now has meme status. Videos are all over TikTok and YouTube, just Google "Waffle House fights."
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April 19, 2025 11:20AM
If I go to any of these breakfast places, it's Cracker Barrel for the breakfast sampler. The rest are just in terrible condition and service is poor. And here is where I'll get the comments...

In summary, service is poor because entry level service employees are too lazy to perform such tasks. It used to be that such customer facing service jobs were held by students and retirees. It was supplemental income for college kids and retirees who wanted additional income. It was never intended to be an income you could use to go and get a mortgage for a house or use to start a business yourself.

Kids are funded by the bank of mom and dad today. Then the pandemic happened and checks were mailed out to employees to stay at home. "Work at home" took off. The incentive to work diligently at these service jobs declined.

Is anyone surprised? I'm not.

[www.youtube.com]
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April 19, 2025 05:40PM
Cracker Barrel is a much better option than IHOP. Problem is, they don't have much of presence (like Denny's/Ihop) at least on the west coast. For greater Los Angeles area, there really are none. 3 locations that are all way on the outskirts of the Los Angeles basin.

Heck, there are 2 in Vegas (south and north)

There are 11 in the greater Phoenix valley.
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April 21, 2025 07:39AM
I noticed a new location just opened in my area. So, at least here, they are not going out of business.
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