IHOP

Absolutely gross state of the environment made my husband and I not want to eat here. Everything we touched was sticky and dirty. The table, floor, and chairs seemed like they hadn’t been cleaned all day. There was a straw wrapper in the seat and a kid’s cup on the floor under the table with bits of pancake.
I wiped down our son’s high chair but it didnt really help. Everything I touched left me with syrup or grime on my hands. It was gross. We will never return to this location ever again. I wouldn’t trust the kitchen is even remotely clean considering the state of the tables in a dead restaurant. Gross, gross, and GROSS.

Tasteless food served cold
I find myself in an IHOP every three or four years. That’s enough to remind me why I haven’t been there for three or four years. This time, I was with a group of people who saw it as the only choice and I went along.
I’ll say up front that the service was reasonably prompt and the servers nicely nice. The food, not so much. There were eight of us and NOBODY finished their meals. I will allow that IHOP does serve up generous portions and still, this is Amerika (imagine the «k» backwards) where we are taught to clean our plates.
And regarding the generousness, most entries come with a side order of pancakes and the ones we received needed to be sent back because they arrived at our table cold. I’m not talking about warm, tepid, or even cool… they were COLD. Interestingly, the plates they were on were hot. I would hate to imagine the kitchen process that allowed that to happen.
For me, a 2-​star rating means I will never return on my own, at least not in this decade, and recommend alternatives if others suggest it.

We went to the Gainesville IHOP around 11:00 this morning after staying away for months because of bad service; we thought we give it another try. We should have just stayed away. The waitress was bad the food from the kitchen was poorly prepared and room temperature at best. The waitress brought out the juice size glasses of water filled with ice (which meant there was little water in the glass) and the coffee was warm not hot. After waiting a few minutes the waitress came and took our order. It took the kitchen staff 30 minutes to prepare part of our order. We were seated at the booth next too the kitchen and I could see the waitress going into the kitchen multiple times. After 30 minutes she came out with two bowl of grits but not the rest of the food. The two people sitting across from us who came 20 minutes after us received there pancakes, hash browns and sausages, which was close to the same thing we ordered. I am just questioning, are the cooks bias to the nationality of the waiter and waitress??? because how could the people beside us get their food so quickly??? After the grits sit their like they were an appetizer for 5 minutes and the waitress waiting on other tables but didn’t come back to our table. I could see her going back in to the kitchen pick up area and still no food. About 7 minutes later she comes out with the rest of our food, no explanations or apologizes. The waitress seem like this was normal service (poorly prepared room temperature food). My husband ordered a side of pancakes and got one pancake. He asked the waitress were was the other pancake and she said they only give one pancake when you ask for a side of pancakes and one pancake costed $ 1.00. She had a look on her face like please don’t ask me to order you an additional pancake and never offered to put in an order for the additional pancake. Besides we didn’t have another 35+ minutes to wait. We have eaten at other IHOPs and know this is not true. She Never came back to the table until we were finished eating. The manager came by after she did, (in a rushing let me make my rounds appearance) when we were finished eating and gave us some additional water in our tiny juice glasses and rushed off before we could say anything. when she gave us the bill she had charged for two pancakes even through we only got one, so we let that be her tip. If you want poorly cooked room temperature food and bad services go to Gainesville IHOP, If not drive the extra few minutes to Manassas Mall IHOP. Want be back until they announce they have changed management or retrained the staff including the cooks!!!

I don’t recommend this place to anyone unless your looking for a place with awful I mean AWFUL service and food that will make you sick. The past two times I’ve been there I have gotten sick from the food and I know of other people who have gotten sick as well. The food comes out room temp never hot and the turkey bacon is either WAYYYY undercooked or burnt so bad it doesn’t even taste like bacon. The service is terrible especially if you go during the evening. I had to wait 15 minuets just for the waitress to ask what kind of drink I wanted… I would have left but I was starving. If I could rate zero stars I would WORST PLACE EVER.

I had already had a bad experience with horrible customer service in the past at this IHOP. However having a pregnant wife, if she wants pancakes then you better get her some pancakes. Even if we were more than halfway home. So we park and walk into the IHOP with our 13^th month old and get a seat very quickly. Seeing as how it was close to 5:55 on a Tuesday I didn’t expect to wait long for a table. Our server Donovan came into our table quickly and took our drink orders, two waters with lemon. I noticed they were offering all you can eat pancakes again and I figured I would get a stack and call it a day. Well unfortunately our misinformed waiter wasn’t familiar with the menu and didn’t know if I had to get a combo or just the pancakes. So we said how about you get our drinks double check and we will order when you get back. In the interest of proving a point let’s say it is now 6:05, when Donovan comes back. After double checking Donovan confirms we do not need to get the combo for the all you can eat pancakes. My wife orders her pancakes, scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage. For our daughter macaroni and cheese, with French fries, and I order just a stack of pancakes. At the latest our order should of went in at 6:10/6:15, remember it is pretty empty and Donovan only has one other table besides us.
After losing track of time and talking, my wife’s food and daughters food comes out around 6:45/6:50. I notice quickly that she is NOT happy, her food is lukewarm at best. The butter on her pancakes is sitting on top very comfortably and not even thinking about melting. Our daughters French fries are medium temperature and her macaroni and cheese is cold. My wife looks around for Donovan who is busy talking to his coworkers. After a few seconds we raise our hands in hopes that he realizes that his table request his attention, still he ignores us. At this point I am starting to get annoyed it is close to 6:55/7PM my food hasn’t arrived and I have to pursue my waiter for the evening. Eventually he makes his way over to our table and my wife asks, why is our food lukewarm. I don’t know if kids today have never heard of or don’t know what lukewarm is, however he didn’t comprehend what that meant. So she phrases it differently has our food been sitting long because it is not hot? His response I brought the food up as soon as soon as the order went up on the counter. That is fine, if that is what you say so be it, however can you get us some ketchup for these fries. By this point I am not happy and I am just ready to go, my pancakes haven’t shown up and I don’t like the quality of service I am receiving. Donovan comes back with the ketchup and some more pancakes for my wife since hers were lukewarm.
Meanwhile it is around 7:10/7:15 and I am sitting at the table with a glass of water and no food. I figure this dance has gone on long enough, can we please speak to the manager about everything that has happened. The manager on duty Scott comes over, takes care of our bill and apologies at how things transpired. I decided to ask Scott, why is the service so bad at this IHOP. Last year when they offered all you can eat pancakes the same thing happened. My wife’s food came out with her pancakes 5 – 7 minutes later my pancakes came out. I also asked him how long does it take to make pancakes, his response 3 – 5 minutes. In saying that it is now about 7:20/7:25 and I still haven’t received my pancakes. Scott says please come back and I will personally make your pancakes for you, unfortunately at this point in time the more he apologies the more upset I got. I nodded with a smile on my face and politely leave with my wife and daughter. Never again, never again will I go to the Gainesville IHOP. Scott said he had recently taken over as manager and that the previous lady is no longer there. Glad to hear but you have already burned my twice no third strike in this instance.

This is the best IHOP in the area. There is always a wait for a table but never more than 10 minutes at there busiest. The staff is always kind, courteous, and precise. There is never a time that the manager doesn’t stop by to make sure everything is ok.

I like IHOP but I love this location. The older guy that (I think) owns it is the kindest. He really goes out of the way to try and make your experience special. On veterans day last year he set a beautiful table for the lost soldier and he handed out roses to known veterans. Today he was offering to top off o.j. He’s just the nicest.

Walked in around 11:45, teenager passed out on the front bench, 5 more teenagers loitering in the waiting area.
Service was fast, waitress was kind and friendly.

What happened to this IHOP in Gainesville, VA? Do they allow pets in restaurants now? Inside smelled like dog urine and wet dirty carpet. Orders did not come in correctly. And the manager’s thumbprint was imprinted on food — literally!
I was told that only managers will not be wearing the uniform apron. So now I know it was the manager who delivered our food. She brought out our food and her thumb was on my friend’s hash browns, and then on my pancakes! It is unbelievable. I told our waitress how she «dropped off» our food. The waitress apologized but the manager didn’t even come by to explain why things in that restaurant had to be nasty, dirty and smelly. The hash browns tasted like it was at least 6 hours old, the scrambled eggs were dry and tasted like plastic. The toasts were only toasted on one side, and like the hash browns, they were stale. Water tasted like it came from the toilet. And no, I have not had toilet water, but you can tell by the smell.
I have never ever given a one star on my reviews because that would indicate not even worth salvaging. This time, since I live relatively close to this IHOP, I hope management will see this review and care enough to introduce back some quality to the way they do business.
Oh, there were also mosquitoes or maybe gnats flying under the table. Maybe because of the stuffy odor. The menu is dirty, burnt grease on the inside.
This IHOP is just like Denny’s now. Where are the Dept of Health restaurant inspectors? I am sure the owner of this franchise is not happy, heck I know the staff in there is not happy. Nobody will be proud to be working on this deteriorated branch.

Best food ever! 12 yr old love CinnaStack, 10 yr old loves Funny Face, 9 yr old the Silver Five, Mom loves Nutella Crepes & Grandma loved her Steak & Cheese Stacker.
Something for everyone.

Wow I do believe someone has turned this place around since the last time we were here! The restaurant was busy and yet of drinks and food order came out very fast and nice and hot. Our server Andrew was the best! I would recommend everyone to come back and enjoy!

Fast seating, prompt service, reliable food. It IS IHOP, so if that is what you want, you will not be disappointed. Always very clean, special orders always correct and well prepared.

Seated from 0 – 100 REAL QUICK!!! Hostess was polite and friendly. The server was here within 2 minutes of being seated. CHOWTIME!!!

It gets 4 for breakfast food and service. But don’t waste your money on anything else no matter how good the pictures are. If you go to IHOP expect them to do one thing well at a low cost.
I prefer local breakfast places or diners but have not found one in this area yet. I would recommend this if you want IHOP or are in a holiday pinch… Kind of like we were.

I came on a Sunday during the brunch run with a friend. We waited for about 15 – 20 minutes before we were seated, which wasn’t too bad considering they were packed. We had really good service and our waiter was very attentive despite the crowd. The food was good, but the coffee was not. I don’t expect amazing quality coffee from IHOP, but this was exceptionally lousy. Overall I had a good experience, and I’ll probably be back next time I’m in the area.

The food here is good, but I absolutely can not stand the way they clean tables here. The rags they use smell and it leaves this stench behind that makes eating your meal difficult. I have had this happen on several occasions.

This place was hilariously bad. A friend and I went in at 10:00 one night. The friendly waitress mangled our order (e.g., providing 3 orders of hash browns for 2 people; I ordered one serving). My friend ordered 5 pancakes. After 3 requests and 30 minutes, he got 3, with the waitress saying that she couldn’t convince the cook to make any more. I don’t even. We never got our sausages. My omelette was just a roll of scrambled eggs with still-​cold shredded cheese sprinkled on top.
I mean, it was clean, and the waitress was nice, but, man, it was terrible.

I will start off this review by saying I realize we were going at a odd time, and that I really can’t expect too much from an IHOP… But still… That being said…
We arrived at 11 pm, since they were one of the few places open in the area.
We were quickly seated. Our waitress asked what we wanted to drink as we looked over the menu, brought our drinks then went to talk with four other employees chatting outside the kitchen.
We had to wait awhile as she chatted before she came to take our order. She finally noticed our menus sitting closed on the table and came by, took our menus but left without taking our orders.
She came back a little after and asked «Did I take your order?» Nope, so she finally took our order.
The food came out in reasonable time and was fine, your usual IHOP meal, not bad, not great.
But as we began eating, Just three booths from us a male and female employee sat down and loudly debated over penis hygiene. Yes, penis hygiene. Loudly. As we ate our meal.
Our waitress came back and asked if I wanted more water. She brought me another glass but didn’t check back in with us to refill my husbands glass or get me more water later but continued chatting with other fellow employees.
As we finished our meal my husband went to the bathroom and I stood at the front desk waiting to pay for the check. A male waiter flagged another female waitress down telling her to take care of me. She flagged yet another waitress down and told her to take care of me. She finally made her way over to me, took care of a check in her hand, and then finally took care of mine.
I gave a 10% tip to our waitress. I debated not giving one at all, honestly but I figured I would leave a little.
Since my husband was still in the bathroom I sat in the front waiting area. Our waitress came and talked to the girl at the front desk, and not noticing I was there complained about the low tip I had just given her. Oh heavens.
Needless to say it was an entertaining evening but we will not be returning to that IHOP again. Just make pancakes at home!

Atrocious service, sullen serving staff and food guaranteed to arrive cold. Went for an early dinner on New Year’s Day and found the store half full. Long story short — it took 3 servers and the manager 40 minutes to fill a simple order for a family of four and they still managed to goon the orders while delivering ice cold waffles. People all around us were waiting for food service (some just have up and left) while a large group of servers were eating, texting and generally ignoring their customers in the same dining area. Manager was also with them. We left bowing not to come back unless there is a major change on staff and management — and passed those sentiments on to Corporate along with our experience. Given the earlier comments I wouldn’t hold my breath for change. Oh and the experience was so bad it doesn’t even merit a half-​star, much less a full one.

Just as others have said: service is not good. We arrived at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, it was not real busy, no wait and we were seated promptly. That’s when the experience went downhill. We waited 10 –15 minutes without being approached by a server. When the hostess walked by we ask for a server and she said she would get him. Well another 10 minutes goes by and we decided its time to leave. Asked for the manager, and still had to wait. So we left. This is not the first time this has happened at this iHop. It’s sad enough that the food is just above McDonalds take out but to have poorer service is to much. We won’t be back.
Went to Mimi’s Café in the same shopping center and was warmly greeted, seated and served with a smile.