On Monday (May 21), Paul and I ran to town (well okay we drove) to run some errands and go to the chiropractor. We decided since it was still too early for the mall to be open (we needed to go to the Gallilean) that we would kill some time and have breakfast at IHOP instead of grabbing some fast food. We killed some time all right!
We arrived at the restaurant at 9:45 AM. After waiting a few minutes for someone to come to the hostess stand, we were seated and told that our waiter, "David", would come to take our order. Now I really don't care if they switch servers around, I just thought it was funny that our waitRESS was very obviously not named David :). She asked if we wanted something to drink, and we both ordered water. She brought that, and returned right around 10 AM to take our order. Right after we ordered, we noticed the people next to us talking about their food and wondering when their order would be up. We were paying attention to them, because the guy sitting behind my husband could not sit still and kept shoving the booth back. Paul finally just switched sides and sat next to me (can't say I'm complaining about that).
We talked, and about 10:30 we started checking the time every few seconds. Another family with two small children had come in not long after us, and their children were starting to get restless. There was a larger party at the end of our section that had been there before we walked in, and had not yet received their food. A woman who had just been seated next to us noticed our fidgeting and asked how long we'd been there. By then it had been 45 minutes since we'd been seated.
At 10:38, Paul went to the counter to inquire about our food. We were told that it would be out soon. He asked to speak with a manager, and was told that she was on the line cooking because they were shorthanded. Shortly after that, the large party began receiving their food bit by bit. You could tell they were not very happy as it trickled out of the kitchen, and the manager came out to talk with them. Our food eventually made its way to us at 10:52 AM, and the manager herself delivered it.
The food itself was wonderful. Generous portions, we both had the big steak omelette with pancakes, and I tucked away half a box of leftovers for later (the meat mysteriously disappeared from my omelette at home in our fridge, but that's a whole 'nother story).
The service definitely left something to be desired. Not only were we left sitting for over 45 minutes while waiting for our food, we were literally left sitting for over 45 minutes while waiting for our food. No one came by and asked how we were doing, no one explained why there was a delay, our water was not refilled, and no compensation or apology was offered, though the manager did apologize for the time delay when we went to pay at the end. Knowing no one would come to our table, I just picked up my plate and we walked to the counter and waited. I know it garnered attention when I carried my plate to the checkout counter, but that way I was able to actually get a box without jumping up and down and waving my arms or waiting another hour.
We were told that there were usually four cooks and for some reason there were only two working, which would be an acceptable excuse if this were the first time it had happened, but this is a regular occurence. Anytime you go into this particular IHOP, you are liable to have something like this happen.
Though the food is good, I would not recommend visiting this restaurant unless you have a lot of time to spare, and definitely not with fidgety little ones (the last few times we've been there with the kids they've also been out of kids' menus).
I will say that IHOP in general is a good place to eat. There was one just down from our hotel in Anaheim that was really nice. The food was good, fast, and the server was so attentive that we had to tell him to stop refilling the kids' drinks! They are not all slow, it just seems to be this one.
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