The International House of Pancakes, or IHoP as it's probably better known, is probably one of my favorite places to get breakfast in Ohio. Indeed, this specific location has been a regular haunt of mine for a few years now, to the extent that I can walk in at about 7am and know the servers and the other regular customers. I rarely need a menu, and when the server says "your usual?" you know it's a good spot.
Not all IHoPs are created equal, of course, and this one is a cut above the rest - at least at this time in the morning, and with the servers and cooks it's currently blessed with. I sometimes pop in a lunch, and the place is incredibly busy, and the same level of service is impossible to get compared to the morning situation, but I'm a regular here for a reason.
So, I like it. I usually get buttermilk pancakes, eggs and some kind of meat, either bacon, ham or sausage, and at the minute they have a weekday special where you get 2 pancakes, 2 eggs and 2 small links or bacon strips and a carafe of coffee (and a paper) for $4.99.
That's a very good deal. It's a 30 minute period of peace and quiet before work starts where I can read the paper or a magazine, and chill out. I catch up with email on my iPhone and chat with the servers (hello, Kim!) or one of the regulars and generally feel like I'm in an old diner somewhere. I like the coffee, and when I get there I know they are already brewing me a fresh carafe.
It's a hell of an experience, and you'd not get it everywhere. This place is a cut above, and when the staff I like eventually move on, and if the same high quality of people aren't quite there after that, I might move on too. It's just the way things go, but that's alright. So far, so good.
Atmosphere: 4/5 (at 7am - quiet and peaceful) Service: 5/5 (Kim and one or two others) 3/5 (the rest of the time) Food: 4/5 (Consistent and good)
