The two times we've been back here since the new owner took over our service has been awful. The first time the waitress forgot half of our order and my sisters entire meal! Water glasses were empty the whole time, she never came back and checked on us. She even had someone else give us our check. (Didn't even comp her meal for waiting longer). So we thought we would go again maybe we just had a bad waitress, but when we went today it was exactly the same. Waited almost ten minutes before the waitress even came over to greet us. Empty water glasses, didn't really check on us either. My sister and I both have been waitresses, we know it's stressful when it's busy but both times it wasn't. Seems like it's a management problem more than anything. The owner is very nice, but management is clearly slacking. read more

In town for a baseball tournament decided to eat here for breakfast between the games. Waited a while to be seated (a party of 6) the server seemed to be a bit overwhelmed with all of the traffic and large groups coming in. Drinks came out rite away but the food took a while to come out so we had to take it to go. Everything was hot and pretty good would definitely go there again when not in a time crunch. read more

Since the pandemic started we have been ordering take out from varies restaurants. Local and big chain businesses. This is the first time ordering from the crystal lake location, usually we go to Mchenry location. I do not recommend this location if you are taking COVID-precautions seriously, staff wasn't social distancing, no gloves , instead we saw as they played along infecting the utensils. read more

Went to IOP for breakfast on a Saturday morning. This place was busy and tables filled up with hungry breakfast goers quickly. Got seated quickly and hot coffee was delivered. Each table had its own pot so wait staff did not have to refill often. Problem was the pot delivered to us was only good for about 3 cups. For two people not enough for a second cup but was quickly refilled. Ordered chicken fried steak which came with eggs,hash brown potato and pancakes. Chicken fried steak was covered with gravy. chicken fried steak need seasoning and was hard to chew. Potato was chewy. The eggs were fine for over hard. Pancakes were fluffy and good with the hot maple syrup which wait staff brought out with the pancakes. Overall , average breakfast nothing special. IOP is fine for a quick breakfast and you would be full when you walk out. read more

IHOP - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Yikes. I'm sorry, but this place is the Walmart of restaurants in Crystal Lake. Just left there and I am so skeeved out by the amount of coughing and sneezing servers and customers....not to mention the large loogie someone spit on the front door (I called after we left to ask them to clean it off...it was THAT large and gross). It's flu and cold season people...need I say more?? Ick!! This was our 2nd visit since it reopened as IHOP and it may be the last. While it was very clean the first visit a few months ago, it's not quite the same today and we were some of the first customers of the day. Kudos to our server who was extremely nice and for the fast service for a Sunday morning breakfast (we got in just in time). Just need to step up the cleanliness factor x10. read more

I have been coming to ihop for a while now. Every time I come, I get great service and the food is always fresh and good! The servers always come check up on me to make sure everything is good!! Thank you to all the servers working during this whole pandemic! You guys rock!! read more

We were in the area and we were just looking for something quick and familiar. I think that this place can seat a s many people as all of the IHOPs in the City limits of Chicago can combined! I have been to some big IHOPs before but this place massive! The place was also packed. The food was typical IHOP breakfast fare. It was what I expected and it was served hot in a timely manner. What more could I ask for? Our server was really friendly and on top of her game. The entire staff did a great job of keeping the flow of people moving and it seemed like they were all on top of their game,. A tip of my hat to the staff and management here. read more

I've been to this location a few times now. Honestly, I am not sure if we have bad luck or what! Every time we have been here our service has been super slow. I am the type that never complains, asks for substitutions or tries to be a pain.... I love IHOP but it makes me sad that the one near our home is just below par. The servers we have had are not attentive and do not check regularly. We wait at least 20-25mins for our food, each time. They haven't come back to check if we needed anything else, only when we were half way done with our meal. I don't know what's going on in the kitchen or what. It would be nice if the servers could keep our drinks filled while waiting. Never had an issue with the food. Just waiting time and servers. Be proactive. Will I come back? Probably.... But I already know I'm not going to enjoy it and it will be a wait. It's more stressful than anything. On the other hand, the shift supervisor seems very nice & attentive. I wish she took care of us instead. They need to train their staff a little better. read more

Well, its an IHOP. However, some of the meals are a ton of food for a small price. The omlettes are huge. The kids would eat here everyday if we would allow it. The service is slow sometimes. The wait staff seems to gossip in the kitchen a lot. Either they forget that people can hear them, or they just don't care. Overall, its still just IHOP. There is tons to pick from, just don't except too much. read more

Today, we ordered a Southwest Chicken Bowl. Asked for the tomatoes on the side, no bacon, and rice pilaf instead of hash browns. The waitress came up to us and said that the cook made our order wrong ... he added the tomatoes and the bacon. So, very patiently we waited again for our food. Finally, after 1-1/2 hours of waiting, our food was served. The order was wrong AGAIN. This time tomatoes were on the side and no bacon, which was fine. BUT, the cook forgot to add the scrambled eggs and the rice pilaf! We were really ticked off at the whole experience. So we ate what we could, which was a very small amount. Oh but the waitress said that she could have the cook make our eggs and rice pilaf to go. WHAT? Wait again, and who knows for how long? So, the waitress told the manager, Alenjandra what happened. All she did was give us a 20% discount. Why did she even charge us for this meal that was not our fault? Should have been free or we should have been given discount vouchers for our next visit, which now, is never going to happen. This I-Hop used to be managed by Jody, then by Sydney, who were really great at their jobs. Now, this girl, Alenjandra, from Mexico comes in and tries to manage a restaurant, in which she cannot do. My advice is to stay away from the Crystal Lake, IL I-Hop. They have a very quick turnaround of employees. read more

I love Ihop in general, because I'm addicted to lingonberries. First thing I notice as we were being seated, was an older waitress joking around with a group of customers that would stereotypically not be treated well. I was impressed! We had a different waitress who was just as fantastic! When my Swedish Crepes came out with just a tiny eensy bit of lingonberry butter and maybe 6 actual lingonberries, our waitress pointed out the skimpiness of the kitchen before she even set the plate down - she went back to the kitchen and brought me out the lingonberries and butter that should've been on my crepes to begin with. YAYYY!!! If it wasn't an hour and a half away, this would be my fav Ihop! They also gave us coupons for discounts upon return, but alas, too far. read more

So... I've eaten here many more times since my last review and it's past due for an update I think. Probably the best way to experience this place is to go in the morning (duh, right?). Seems like that is when they have the "A" team working. Pretty much you order your food and (if it's not too terribly busy) it comes magically out of the kitchen in less than ten minutes. Fast is good! I think this place is "great" for kids (they love all the different types of syrups) but I don't not as great for groups since things slow down the busier it gets in there. read more

Only gave two stars over one because the service was quick and the hostess was friendly. Other than that, went totally downhill. Placed a pickup order and Jesus, is it possible to get everything wrong? My wife got a strawberry cheesecake crepe; without strawberries or any sort of cheesecake flavoring. Just a plain crepe. I got pancakes that were cold and there was zero syrup given for either order, so it was super fun to eat dry pancakes/crepes. Put my wife in a great mood, so thanks for that one. Not only that, my steak tips were cold and the container wasn't sealed so the au jus it was once in was all over the bag. Cmon guys, I was hungover and just wanted a solid breakfast, and instead I got garbage food and an angry wife. Not cool IHOP, not cool at all read more

Even throughout this pandemic we continue to order for you from Ihop and we have been absolutely amazing staff is great and attentive to when we pull up to do a curbside pick up read more

If I could give this place 0 stars itd be easy, 0 people had a mask on inside of the store and they wouldn't let me pay and pick up my food because I didn't have a mask even though they had 100 customers inside without masks on and had listed online that we could call when we got there and their damn phone # was out . Absolutely horrid restaurant and terrible service. read more

My family and I had spent the evening enjoying Halloween activities and decided to end our night at the Ihop to enjoy the Addams Family themed food. The restaurant was about 1/3 full...approximately 10 tables, one large table. It took about 12 minutes before anyone greeted us at the table and took our order. He took our drink orders and well as food. Another 15 minutes went by and we finally got our drinks. Another 45 minutes went by and I asked to speak to a manager. There was only 3 of us. The kids ordered the webcakes, and myself a wrap. I couldn't understand what was taking 45 minutes. Our waiter wasn't attentive enough to check on our food himself, he was simply no where to be found. I finally found a manager and asked where our order was and why we have been at the restaurant for over and hour and simply have drinks. She said there were training two people in the kitchen. Perhaps, but other tables who were seated after us were eating 15 minutes ago. We finally got our food. A table of 8 was seated behind us. They had their drinks, some of them were shakes, in 5 minutes...their food in approximately 10-12 minutes. A table of 8 mind you. When it was time to leave I had to go retrieve my own "to go" boxes as I didn't see our waiter again. We didn't get the bill, I had to go to the register and ask for it. As I had plenty of time to observe other tables and servers we were the only ones experiencing this awful service. It ruined our otherwise wonderful evening as no one was even hungry anymore and ended up taking most of our food home. We sat there in silence at the table. I will never come back, and will be sure to spread the word. read more

This place is terrible. Went there this morning for breakfast. Waited at the front lobby for over 12 minutes with NOBODY acknowledging my wife and I. Other people waiting to pay their bill with no acknowledgement also. Several of us told them to just walk out that maybe that would get somebody's attention. Observed a waitress in the back yelling at the top of her lungs that it was time for her to go home but she had to serve these people and literally pounding on 1 of the computers. Place also smelled like a sewer backup. Needless to say we did not stay and left. Will not be back and health department notified for the sewer smell that others were complaining about. read more

Disgustingly slow service, had to ask several times for drink, food took long to come out. Poor quality, poor management, and understaffed all the time. read more

Very good breakfast yet our server wasn't the best today, Sidney was his name. 3 times after we were seated he kept telling us I will be right with you. Sat around for about 10 mins till he approached us. I had ordered a reg Apple juice, yet I got a big one and charged for a large. He dropped our food and left. We had to ask for butter,jelly,more sugar and cream from a different server. And after we were done eating he took our plates but never asked us how the food was. Or to have a nice day or how we were. Which are key parts in a servers aspect. Yeah I won't be back. read more

Wow, was the food and service bad here-ZERO STARS. Ordered crispy bacon got wimpy. Hash browns tasted like oil was bad. Ordered over medium cooked eggs and whites were not even cooked through. Waitress delivered toast with a dot of butter in middle, had to ask for more butter and wait a long time. No jelly on the table, had to ask for that and wait a long time. Not in Crystal Lake often but will never return here. read more

What a horrible mistake we have made today! We decided to try something different and go to ihop. We waited forever in a freezing cold lobby only to be seated at a table with not enough silverware. We waited 11 minutes for someone to come to our table. We have now been here for 1 hour and 4 mins and our drinks are empty and still no food! This place should be closed for lack of ability to run a restaurant!!! What a miserable experience! First and last time! I had to give it one star to get this to post but it does not deserve one star! read more

Plain and simple, this place sucks. I've given it a shot 3 times, and been served the worst meals each time. The food comes out on disgusting plates not to mention looking like a pile of grey goo. The staff is massively undertrained, as well. I wish I could rate it at zero stars. I want my money back. read more

such a dang nice man 2nd time i've come here and he's just so nice lol just makes it a lot better there

Don't bother ordering anything but pancakes. They serve rotten produce, especially spinach. You can ask for broccoli instead, or just eat somewhere else. The service is pretty bad too. read more

Shitty food. Shitty service. Around the Clock is down the street and even though costs a little bit more it is more then worth it.

Honestly, it was pretty good. I have to say it had top notch service and the food was actually pretty satisfying. I will definitely go again! read more

I entered the establishment and stood there looking around for a greeter. No one said a word to me. Finally, someone came to seat me. I was seated only to wait another 15 minutes for someone to take my order. By the way the waitress that took my order wasn't even my waitress, and I had to tell her I had been waiting for 15 minutes. Then, my waitress actually showed up but didn't greet me. All she did was take a wrapper off of the table. Worse service ever. Would've received one star if food wasn't still good. read more

Had a great experience with James. Fast, friendly service with great food, even somehow better than the other IHOPs in the area! Will definitely be coming back for this great server and awesome experience. Who knew IHOP of all places would make you feel so welcome? read more

Very bad service. Slow. Forgetful. Food was not very good either. Very surprised because we never have bad service here.

The service was fine.. The food however was awful. Watery omelette. No flavor. Wouldn't recommend to anyone sober.

Manager Jon, that was on duty this evening was outstanding. Excellent with his customers, keeping on top of things, checking to make sure everything was great. Awesome. Way to be a leader and have customer service skills! read more

All the servers look like they're on drugs. Our waiter was an older gentleman, very nice however he reaked of cigarette smoke. I'm sorry but when I'm eating the last thing I want is the person who's handling my food to smell like cigarette smoke. Completely disgusted and probably won't return. Have higher standards for your employees , ihop. When I worked in a restaurant the employees were not allowed to have cigarette breaks for that very reason. read more

This is our 2nd time here and both times our experience was bad. The 1st time it started fine but the waitress never checked up on us after dropping off the food and after we finished we had to wait at least 10 mins to get her attention to bring us the check. The 2nd time we were seated and waited at least 15 mins for the waitress to come and take our drink order, by then we just ordered our drinks and food all at once. We waited 45 mins and the food had not arrived and once we got our coats on thats when the waitress showed up with our food which by then it was too late and we left. I don't blame the waitress I do blame management for either not having enough personnel to wait the tables or enough cooks. I definately will not be returning to this location!!! read more

Almost every time I have gone there the food came out cold! They barely come to the table and even when my bc and I were the only people in there they were no where to be found! read more

This is my first time back since they reopened again as Ihop. Very disappointing, service is slow. Took over 5 minutes to have the waitress stop by and take order. I explained that I was in a hurry and only had 45 minutes. I ordered the pancakes with eggs and sausage. It took 15 minutes to get to me and when I asked for extra butter I waited another 7 minutes before asking again, by that time my pancakes where cold..... the butter finally came with a hair in it! I showed it to the waitress who just looked at me and just took the hair away and didn't say anything. Needless to say I will not be back! read more

Terrible planning and service. Said wait would be 45 minutes but several tables sit open. Explanation...told they can't accommodate the rush. Really!!! Need better management or instructions on how to run a restaurant. Not worth the wait read more

I've been here several times. Decent food, service, prices, etc. Go later in the day past the lunch crunch or evening when they are less busy. Then you'll have a more relaxing and less noisy experience since folks tend to bring their kids in the middle of the day to places like this. read more

There was orange juice within the menus that made the whole table sticky. Thanks IHOP. So I gave it another try a couple of months later, and they gave me my refill for my lemonade. The first cup was delicious, tart and sweet. The other cup was literally like they ran out of lemonade so they filled half with the juice and the other half with tap water. Realllly? read more

Waited a half hour to get serve coffee after we were seated after we play start order at least eight other people came in after us got served and left before we got our food by then I lost my appetite very unprofessional read more

What a disappointment! We used to enjoy our visits to IHOP but the last several times we have visited we have walked away disappointed. Out visit started with several minutes of waiting when we arrived. We were the only ones in line. Not like they were busy seating people. One male server (who like to rub his head a lot) told me that they were short staffed. However, they were not very busy and certainly not hustling! My husband ordered a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. Sounds good right.... very disappointing. The waffle was over done... dark colored and extremely dry. Our waitress not once came over to us to see if we needed anything. When she finally did it was to bring our check. I shared with her about the dissatisfaction we had and was told there was nothing she could do now. I should have told her sooner! Well, I would have loved to have told her sooner but I never saw her again. Between watching the male server rubbing his head then bringing me my food and the poorly prepared dishes we were served, I think my days of being an IHOP customer will be no more. The topper of it all when I paid my bill and voiced my opinion the gentleman didn't care. He just keep saying they were short staffed. I am sorry they had to work a little harder or felt they did but we have all been in that situation at one time or another. Service needs to step up. Staff should be better trained and not left alone without the proper management. This is probably the second time I've placed a review on Yelp. My first was full of Praise. I don't normally do this but I could not let this go! You will never hear me recommending Crystal Lake IHOP. Step up employees and employers. Your restaurant is failing! read more