Alright, I'm giving the staff of Idaho Falls IHOP the benefit of the doubt; note the 3 stars. I'd give 2.5 if possible. After reading all of the unfavorable reviews, and then noticing that most of them were over a year old, I decided to give it a whirl and see if I could refresh the reviews. My experience was far less than favorable. I came here at 5:50pm, prior to catching a 7pm showing of Skull-Poop-L. (Highly recommend).
I was seated promptly by a young lady, who was playing as both the hostess and the waitress. After a few minutes, my drink order was taken, followed by my food order. That's when I realized that IHOP was severely understaffed.
My waitress was the only one there taking of care of half a dozen tables. After a while, 2 gentlemen helped join in the fray as the crowd grew larger. One man was pulling the waiter/host combo as well, while the 3rd gentleman seemed to be involved in a triple threat combo, moving between a host, a waiter, and a kitchen staff. The whole ordeal was chaotically unorganized, with the 3 employees rushing around, clearly stressed and overwhelmed. I had plenty of time to observe all of this because I did not receive my food until 6:45pm...15 minutes before my movie started...color me annoyed.
So after waiting nearly an hour for my food, and realizing how close I was to my movie, I had to scarf down my food. While doing so, I was able to actually taste some of it, which was surprising because of how quickly I was eating. The bacon was a sad texture; not cooked very well, not crunchy, and it had a strange aftertaste. The toast was dry and unbuttered, and my chocolate chip pancakes were burned around the edges. They didn't even have any maple syrup at any of the tables, and I didn't have the time to ask for any, so that attraits to my pancakes being dry. I finished my food in a record 7 minutes, and soon after had my check and was out the door.
While the overall experience was severely disappointing, the reason why I'm leaving this review with 3 stars is because of the staff. Previous reviews have described the staff to be rude or unfriendly. This was not the case tonight. They were all very friendly, kind, and helpful. The triple threat even offered me a free soda, which I politely declined. They were all just clearly not provided with the means or staff to run the night smoothly; I honestly felt sorry for them. I've visited many IHOPs before, but this was certainly my least enjoyable escapade. While I may return here, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. read more