I have been to IHOP in the United States and I know what to expect. You don't go for the decor or ambiance. Heck, even the service can leave a lot to be desired at times. But they make darn good pancakes, which is why I was quite excited when I learned that not only an IHOP was open in Calgary, it was open in my neck of the woods!
I came here the first time with my mother for our traditional brunch meetup. There was a wait, but it went by pretty quickly. We were seated and our waitress came by almost immediately to take our drink orders. That was a good start. But slowly the service began to drop off, and we didn't see our waitress as much over the course of our visit. If the food was good, I could possibly let the downhill service slide. But it was subpar at best. I got the blueberry pancakes with whip cream on top and they were just ok. I love pancakes and though I try to eat healthy, I can never say no to a good short stack. But these had barely any blueberries, were undercooked in some parts and the whip cream on top had melted by the time it arrived at the table. My mother's pancakes weren't much better. My mother told me she had no interest in returning, and at the time I agreed with her.
A while later though, my friends convinced me to give it a second chance. Hey, when I went last time they had only been open a month, so they had to have some improvement right? Well I can sadly report that things were even worse than last time. Our waitress this time kept disappearing for long periods of time and would come back reeking of cigarettes. I don't care if someone smokes, but when it's all I can smell when you are at our table, it's not pleasant. This time, I tried the chocolate pancakes with eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. The eggs, bacon and hashbrowns were fine. The chocolate pancakes, for being described by the waitress as 'so amazing and really chocolatey' were a letdown. They just tasted like flour, and the chocolate was not pronounced in them at all.
Overall, I gave this IHOP two chances. I may give a third chance for the sake of 'three strikes, you're out', but certainly not anytime soon.