The International part of IHOP’s names has always interested me.
Being English, I had never even heard of them before I moved to the US.
All I want to know is, if you live outside the US, whether or not there is a branch of this franchise near you.
I guess there really only has to be one for them to merit the name.
According to their website they have locations in Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala as well as all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. I wonder what the story behind their Guatemala location(s) is.
Their history shows that they started with one restaurant in Toluca Lake, California so obviously they weren’t truly international until some time later, but it fails to say when their first franchise outside the US opened.
I don’t believe there are any IHOPs here in Melbourne, Australia. We do have a chain of Pancake Parlours. I’m sure if the IHOP stores opened here it would be good for competition. Do people here like the food at the IHOP stores?
It’s not spectacular food, but it’s decent enough. Mostly people visit them because they’re usually open 24 hours and there’s not too much competition when the bars close, though there is some. Personally I preferred Pannekoeken as they had excellent waffles, but there aren’t any around here.
People go to them because they’re like Denny’s: cheap and open all hours. You may not get quality, but you’ll be able to feed a family of four on a budget.
Oddly enough, the local IHOP is NOT open 24 hours.. They got annoyed by the students who would come in and study for hours on end. Granted, they got annoyed by a lot of things - they’ve a reputation for lousy customer service. The food is worse than most IHOPs, too.. how bad do you have to be to screw up pancakes for Pete’s sake! They aren’t cheap, either.
Short version: there’s really no reason to go there other than sheer ignorance of other dining options or perhaps laziness.
