Breakfast can be had twenty-four hours a day at new IHOP on Fourteenth St. (photo by twi-ny/ees)
International House of Pancakes
235-237 East 14th St. between Second & Third Aves.
212-388-1499
www.ihop.com
We’ve been actively avoiding chain restaurants for the past five years, keeping our distance from McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Subway, Domino’s, and other eateries and coffee shops that are part of national and multinational conglomerates. But alas, our streak came to a quick end when we set our eyes on the new IHOP on East Fourteenth St. There might be some 1,500 International House of Pancakes restaurants around the country (and in Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala), but until recently the only one in Manhattan was in West Harlem. Well, about a month ago a twenty-four-hour IHOP suddenly appeared on Fourteenth between Second & Third and another on Flushing Ave. in Bushwick (7:00 am – 12 midnight), with more to follow in Queens and Brooklyn, so we’re doomed. When we were kids, every once in a while on a Sunday morning our father would announce that we were going to IHOP, and we would get all excited, jumping into the car, rushing over to the blue-and-orange temple, and waiting for the man with the big head and the weirdly deep voice to call our name, all the while dreaming of the Young People’s Plate, pancakes with a face on it made out of cherries, butter, and a pineapple slice, soon to be slathered in boysenberry syrup.
New IHOP is packing them in on East Fourteenth St. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
We felt like kids again when we went to the new IHOP on Fourteenth last month, this time getting escorted right to a small table because the long line was filled with large parties and families ready to partake of the many breakfast delights that are available twenty-four hours. We went for the Pick-a-Pancake Combo, with chocolate-chip pancakes, two eggs, bacon, and hash browns along with the Swedish crepes with lingonberries and the classic bottomless cup of coffee, still served in those same brown-and-black pots left on your table. And yes, every bite filled us with immense joy and took us back to our giddy childhood. By the time we cleaned our plates we were already thinking about what we would order on our next visit: Stuffed French toast with sausage links? Country fried steak & eggs? Biscuits & gravy? The corned beef hash and cheese omelette? Or maybe the new Bacon ’N Beef Bacon & Egg Cheeseburger, with hickory smoked bacon blended right into the beef? It’ll probably be the Split Decision Breakfast, with a little bit of just about everything. But then the next time? And the time after that?