Ihop - Carlsbad

We visited for breakfast on a Sunday morning while on a National Park tour between Carlsbad and White Sands. When we arrived, the waiting area was crowded, but the host efficiently took our names, and we were seated within twenty minutes. It was clear that the restaurant was short-staffed, and we can empathize with that. However, it was quite inappropriate for the servers to yell and criticize the host in front of customers. Their comments were not private; they were shouting at him, which was not acceptable.

I had a fantastic experience at this restaurant! The communication about seating and potential delays in service was excellent. The manager personally seated us and attended to our needs, even while helping her staff manage larger groups. Our drinks were never empty, and she made sure to get our order right. She also checked on us regularly, which made for a lovely dining experience.

I would advise against dining here! I placed a curbside pickup order that was supposed to be ready by 10:14 AM. By 10:34 AM, I went inside to check on it. There were only two cooks working and not many customers, yet they couldn’t refund my money. It turned out my order was ready, but they were out of potato pancakes. I requested regular pancakes as a substitute, but they instead handed me more potatoes. As a result, I ended up with cold, congealed scrambled eggs, cold hash browns, no toast, and an additional order of potatoes that were so hot the plastic container had melted. My experience was quite frustrating.

Waited to be seated and the server just looked at us and walked away. After being seated took about 15 minutes to get drinks. Ordered and waited almost an hour to still receive NOTHING. Left without being served. No one came to check on us throughout that time. Nor did anyone apologize for the the wait or explain why it was taking so long when there were only 4 families 2 of which had already received their food.

Worst IHOP experience ever! Waited for our food for one hour. The inside of the restaurant is full of flies. The restaurant is empty and they seat us right next to the kitchen entrance. I would not recommend this location to anyone.