• fast food

    Which Restaurants Are Making Your Kids Fat?

    Unless your kid is named Hansel, he probably doesn't need to be fattened up like a juicy Christmas goose every time you go out to eat. That's not what some of the biggest restaurants think, though: Chili's has a kids' meal that comes in at 1,020 calories, while Burger King and KFC both offer meals that are over 900 calories. Your healthiest option, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is Subway. Here are what some other restaurants are offering, as well as tips on how to make the best of a bad meal when your kid is eating out. More »

    9:39 AM on Wed Aug 6 2008
    By Chris Walters
    16,609 views, 94 comments

    Latest by enderx: Yah, title should read 'Stupid parents make stupid kids stupid fat!' more »

  • disgusting breakfast

    IHOP Serves You Nasty-Tasting Blueberry Pancakes

    Reader Loren decided to get her midnight breakfast on with some pancakes at IHOP, but when she got home something tasted a bit off. She looked down and to her disgust, discovered what she thought to be a large area of mold engulfing the blueberries on the pancakes. Her letter and the not-safe-for-breakfast pictures, inside... More »

    9:36 AM on Tue May 20 2008
    By Jay Slatkin
    11,482 views, 56 comments

    Latest by Meisterjager: Dayummm, they look tasty. I love me some Blueberry. [www.dixiediner.com] more »

  • rude

    IHOP Threatens To Call The Police Because You Refuse To Show ID With Credit Card

    Reader Jered says that IHOP refused to accept his credit card without seeing ID and threatened to call the police and report him for dine-and-dashing if he didn't show it to them. Here's his story:
    I went to IHOP(INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES) on March 30th with my wife to eat. After our meal I went to the counter to pay and presented my Visa as payment. I was asked for photo ID, and kindly declined. I was then told that they were not going to be able to accept my card without photo ID.
    More »

    10:59 AM on Wed Apr 23 2008
    By Meg Marco
    20,301 views, 234 comments

    Latest by LeeJebbies: CREDIT CARD SIGNATURE IS ALL THE ID NEEDED When you pay for merchandise with a Visa card, MasterCard, or American Express more »

  • unacceptable food

    IHOP Agrees That Workers Shouldn't Scrub Ceiling Tiles Directly Over Your Food

    We get fewer gross food stories than you might imagine here at Consumerist, and this one made us cringe. Reader Richard saw a maintenance person scrubbing down some ceiling tiles while standing on a food prep counter... that was in use. Yeah. Ew. More »

    8:32 AM on Wed Mar 12 2008
    By Meg Marco
    9,114 views, 72 comments

    Latest by riverstyxxx: I used to work for IHOP when I was 18. Long story short: Run by extremely rude people from another more »

  • free stuff

    National Pancake Day! Free Pancakes Today Only At IHOP

    Hey there hungry, broke people: A free short stack of pancakes can be yours today from 7am to 10pm at IHOP.

    They're suggesting you to donate what you would have paid for the pancakes to the Children's Miracle Network, and are hoping to raise $750,000. More »

    11:44 AM on Tue Feb 12 2008
    By Meg Marco
    5,887 views, 31 comments

  • food

    IHOP To Abandon Trans-Fats By Year End

    IHOP has announced that they will be going trans-fat free by the end of the year. The chain said they've found a replacement oil that tastes the same as the old heart-killing trans-fat oil. More »

    1:37 PM on Mon Oct 1 2007
    By Meg Marco
    925 views, 12 comments

  • mergers and acquisitions

    IHOP Buys Applebee's for $2.2 Billion

    The International House of Pancakes has purchased chain restaurant leader Applebee's for $2.2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. So, what did they get for their money? And does this mean Applebee's is going to start having sticky tables?
    Applebee's, the nation's largest sit-down restaurant chain with about 2,000 locations, is trying to upgrade its menu to lure higher-income customers who are less sensitive to pressures on consumer spending. But a new menu it launched last year, with items like a bruschetta burger, have failed to reverse a slide in same-store sales. Analysts have said that Applebee's needs to remodel its dated-looking restaurants, something that could require significant spending.
    ...
    The move comes as mid-priced sit-down restaurants are trying to pull themselves out of one of the industry's worst slumps in several years. A second consecutive summer of high gasoline prices, coupled with declining home values, has eaten into the wallets of the middle-class customers on which Applebee's built its dining empire.
    IHOP is planning on selling all 500 company owned Applebee's and other real estate in the hopes of cutting costs and to offset some of the debt they had to take on in order to purchase Applebee's. More »

    3:23 PM on Mon Jul 16 2007
    By Meg Marco
    4,493 views, 51 comments

    Latest by night_sky: @nic0le_6: You may be right. I know for a fact that Chili's freezes their boats (the cheese, lettuce, salsa plate more »

  • ihop

    IHOP Diners Sprayed With Syrup, Tear Gas

    We clicked on the "Dozens Fall Ill at IHOP in Arkansas" story almost as a lark. I mean, no kidding, right? The real story at 11 might be "Dozens eat at IHOP, leave with stomachs full, throbbing with robust vigor." More »

    5:54 PM on Fri Jun 9 2006
    By consumerist.com
    194 views, 4 comments

  • starbucks

    Starbucks Soon To Equal Coffee?

    Over at Branding Post, we saw this quote about a grim dystopian future in which the word coffee no longer exists: when you pendulously breasted IHOP waitress emerges in a puff of brown cigarette smoke from the kitchens to demand your order, you won't ask for a cup of coffee. You'll ask for a Starbucks. More »

    8:01 AM on Wed May 3 2006
    By consumerist.com
    676 views, 7 comments

    Latest by Bubba Barney: 'I came across your post on consumerist.com: There's actually a technical term for when a company's name is so synonymous with more »

  • complaints

    Bite-Size Kvetches & Kudos

    We received several complaints and consumer stories in the past few days that, while heartfelt, weren't epic. Ergo, we put them all together into one package and post them after the jump. More »

    12:28 PM on Tue Apr 4 2006
    By popkin
    196 views, 2 comments