IHOP

IHOP Restaurants LLC(US:/ˈaɪ.hɒp/EYE-hop; acronym forInternational House of Pancakes) is an American multinationalpancake houserestaurant chain that specializes in American breakfast foods. It is owned byDine Brands—a company formed after IHOP's purchase ofApplebee's, with 99% of the restaurants run by independentfranchisees.
While IHOP's focus is on breakfast foods, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items. The company has 1,841 locations in the Americas (United States,Canada,Mexico,Panama,Peru,EcuadorandGuatemala), the Middle East (United Arab Emirates,Kuwait,Saudi ArabiaandQatar), South Asia (IndiaandPakistan),and Southeast Asia (Philippines), including 161 that are owned by area licensees and 1,680 that are franchised.While many of its locations are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the chain's minimum operating hours are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Jerry Lapin, Al Lapin, and Albert Kallis founded International House of Pancakes in the Los Angeles, California area in 1958 with the help of Sherwood Rosenberg and William Kaye. The first restaurant opened on July 16, 1958 at 4301 W. Riverside Drive inBurbank, California.The second and third locations at 8555 Vesper Avenue in Panorama City, California and 3625 Stocker Avenue in Baldwin Hills, California (a formerBrown Derbyrestaurant) are still open for business.
The first prototype design for IHOP building was a steep-roofedA-framebuilding with a distinctive blue roof; the last such location to be built was completed in 1979.  While most IHOP locations no longer use the A-frame buildings, several still exist around the U.S.
In 1973, the chain's name was shortened to "IHOP" for marketing purposes,using a cartoon kangaroo in its commercials at the time, and since then the full name and acronym have been officially interchangeable.
In 1976, International Industries was renamed to IHOP, Inc; and IHOP Corporation was founded as a new holding firm for IHOP, Love's Wood Pit Barbecue, and Original House of Pies (which was later sold shortly after).In 1979, it was purchased by Wienerwald Holding, the owners ofWienerwaldandLum'schains.Wienerwald later declaredChapter 11 bankruptcyin 1982, and sold IHOP Corp to SVIDO in 1983; who hadn't been involved in the restaurant business prior.
The breakfast food menu later expanded (especially in the 1980s) to include standard lunch and dinner items found in similar restaurant chains such asSambo'sandDenny's. In 1976, at the same time as reorganization International Industries became IHOP.In December 2019, IHOP announced plans to launch a chain of fast casual breakfast restaurants called Flip'd.
On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corporation announced a plan to acquire the bar-and-grill chainApplebee'sin an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US$2.1 billion.In the arrangement, Applebee's stock holders would receive $25.50 a share.IHOP stated it would franchise most of Applebee's 500 company-owned facilities. Applebee's had 1,943 restaurants worldwide at the time, including those operated by franchisees.
Applebee's shareholders approved the acquisition with a 70% vote. A number of executives from Applebee's voted against the offer. The chain's largest individual shareholder, Applebee's director Burton "Skip" Sack, called the IHOP offer unfair to its shareholders and stated he planned to sue IHOP for a higher price to be paid to him. As part of the purchase, a brand remarketing scheme and revitalization of the Applebee's image was intended.The buyout successfully closed on November 29, 2007,and the corporate entity IHOP changed its name toDineEquityon June 2, 2008.
While IHOP's focus is on breakfast, serving pancakes,waffles,French toast, andomelettes, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items such as sandwiches, burgers, and salads.Some IHOP locations also feature coffee bars, where guests can order espresso drinks.
The company has 1,841 locations in the Americas, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Franchising agreements withM.H. Alshaya, an international restaurant-franchising firm, resulted in an agreement for Alshaya to open as many as forty IHOP locations in the Middle East, beginning in 2012. By the end of 2018, IHOP restaurants operated in six Middle Eastern countries:Kuwait,Qatar,Bahrain, theUnited Arab Emirates,Saudi ArabiaandLebanon.In 2016, IHOP expanded into Central America, opening in Panama,and later in 2019 into South America, opening three locations inEcuadorand one location inPeru.
IHOP Express' first location opened in 2011; they are a quick service version of the chain offered at locations such as airports,school campuses,military food courtsand travel centers.The first standalone public location of the concept opened in downtown San Diego in 2011.
In 2019, IHOP announced plans to open a fast-casual restaurant, Flip'd by IHOP. Flip'd would include a menu serving pancake bowls, burgers, and fried chicken.
A franchisee opened a hybrid Applebee's/IHOP restaurant in downtownDetroitin mid-2018.In March 2024, Dine Brands announced it was exploring Applebee’s-IHOP dual-branded restaurants within 12-24 months, following the successful introduction of prototypes in international markets.
In June 2015, IHOP introduced an updated logo, removing its decorative elements and adding a curved line under the "O" and "P" letters to resemble asmiley face. The company said that the previous logo looked too much like a frown.
In June 2018, an IHOP marketing campaign announced they would "flip" their name to "IHOb"; it was ultimately revealed to be a marketing campaign for its hamburgers, in an effort to address perceptions that IHOP was still primarily oriented towards breakfast food. The tease of the campaign led to speculation viasocial mediaregarding the intent of the change.IHOP parodied the campaign the following year to promote a new hamburger that includes a pancake as an ingredient, jokingly stating that they would refer to their burgers as "pancakes" because people wanted IHOP to "stick to pancakes".
In early September 2010, IHOP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles againstInternational House of Prayerand six other defendants, allegingtrademark dilutionand infringement.The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.