Lady Gaga, Party Of Four
In my humble opinion, IHOP is a glorious place, specifically when they're doling out never ending pancakes. Being a greasy chain, there are of course things that IHOP leaves to be desired.But I'm not writing this post to complain about their food. If you go to IHOP, you should pretty much understand what you're in for. As long as you temper your expectations, and choose sweet over savory (I'll get back to this in a second), you should leave satisfied and smiling.No, this post isn't about any specific food at IHOP. It's about the bizarre method one IHOP has of staying organized.Before this past weekend, I don't remember ever waiting for a table at an IHOP. But when it's a rainy Saturday morning, and you have a sink full of dirty dishes, a homemade breakfast is out of the question, no matter what the cost. So when Cait and I got to the hostess and saw about 8 people in front of us, there was no question - we were waiting.
But instead of taking our name, the waitress simply handed us a small laminated card with the word "TIGGER" on it. Ya know, the lovable tiger from Winnie The Pooh. Logical enough, right? Label each party with a fun little Disney character instead of taking the time and energy to take each parties' name. Fine.Except that's not what they do. Instead, they have seemingly decided to take the most random of all assortments of proper nouns, toss them in a hat and throw the hat up in the air.Here are a few examples:
- Lady Gaga
- Will Smith
- Harry Potter
And of course, my personal favorite, and this is not a joke: "Daddy". Seriously. Watching two grown women jump out of their chairs and cheer at the phrase "Daddy, Party of 2", is more than worth the trip.Is this exclusive to Quincy, or is this IHOP standard? If this is the norm, how have I not noticed this before?
Anyway, a quick word on best practices when ordering at IHOP. Always, always, always go sweet and skip the savory. No matter how tempting the Big Steak Omlet may look on paper, I promise you it's not going to measure up to your expectations. But the pancakes, waffles and french toast just doused in butter? They'll never disappoint. Well, unless you get disappointed in yourself when you consume 1170 calories before 10 AM. Just saying.