Stef R
★★★★★2 months ago
On April 8, 2026, I took my 10-year-old son and 14-month-old daughter to IHOP. We live nearby but hadn’t visited this location—or any IHOP—in years, so we decided to try something different.<br><br>We arrived around 4:08 PM and waited at the entrance, as instructed by the “Please wait to be seated” sign. After about 5-7 minutes, a staff member who was serving another table acknowledged us and asked us to sit at the last booth.<br><br>A few minutes later, our server, Kiana (I may have the spelling wrong), brought menus. About 10 minutes after that, she took our drink and food order. I noticed she didn’t write anything down or use a device at that time but she did repeat everything back correctly.<br><br>While waiting, I realized the table was very sticky, so I cleaned it myself with wet wipes I had on hand. The windows near our table were also quite dusty, and overall the restaurant felt unclean—everything seemed like it needed a thorough wipe-down and dusting.<br><br>After about 20 minutes I noticed that another group who arrived after us had already received their food. Shortly after, Kiana informed us that our order hadn’t made it to the kitchen due to a system glitch and asked to retake it, this time entering it into a device in front of us. While I understand that technical issues can happen, it did feel more likely that the order may have been forgotten, especially since it wasn’t written down initially.<br><br>That said, I want to acknowledge that Kiana appeared to be the only server handling the entire dining area for the duration of our 90-minute visit. She was seating guests, taking orders, and delivering food. In addition to her, I only saw a manager and one other staff member in the kitchen. Given that, it’s understandable that mistakes can happen when one person is covering multiple roles. She was clearly doing her best under pressure.<br><br>We finally received our food about 20 minutes after reordering—nearly an hour after being seated. By that point, my toddler was very upset from hunger, and my son was understandably frustrated.<br><br>While we were eating, another customer had an issue while trying to pay and mentioned that it wasn’t Kiana’s fault, but rather a management issue. After that customer left, the manager came out and spoke negatively about them within earshot of us and other diners, which I found unprofessional.<br><br>Overall, while the food was fine, the experience was disappointing. Due to the significant delay caused by the order issue, I believe a discount or some form of acknowledgment would have been appropriate. However, I chose not to raise the concern at the time.<br><br>This location appears to be understaffed, and no one should be expected to handle the workload of multiple employees at once. Kiana deserves recognition for her effort in a difficult situation. That said, management should address staffing levels, cleanliness, and professionalism to improve the overall customer experience.
Response from the owner
We're sorry Stef for the disappointment with your experience. If you would like to share any additional feedback and receive follow up from our franchise, please copy and paste this link into your web browser so we can get just a little more info and we will have the Bronx IHOP franchisee follow up with you: https://empli.fi/cs/ih115113674