IHOP

What it is:  Now, I figure most of our readers have heard of IHOP (The International House of Pancakes).  This breakfast chain has been serving breakfast all day for years.  So, why should I include it on the blog?  Well, I stopped by with a friend and her kids this week and figured out how to make it the perfect stop for an easy meal with the kiddos.

My kids are fairly picky, but one of the easiest meals is always breakfast.  I can usually get them to eat pancakes, eggs, fruit, and usually bacon or sausage.  So, after a long morning playing on the playground, it sounded like the perfect stop.  I had never been to this stop located near Costco off of the Guess Rd. exit of I-85, but I figured they would have pancakes so we would be all set.

Well, I was all prepared to order the standard kids meals for the kiddos and then a plate for me.  They had quite a few kids' meals that sounded very reasonable.  However, then we found it-the perfect plate of pancakes for our little group.  They had a 3 pancake meal and this meal came with 3 pancakes, 3 eggs, hashbrowns, and we added 4 slices of bacon for an extra few dollars.  All of this food was about $8.50.  My friend ordered the same for her family and we topped it all off with a large bowl of fruit for around $5.  Turns out, it was more than enough to feed everyone.  Plus, the kids devoured everything, which is rare for mine when they eat out.  I thought it was remarkable that everyone in our group of 3 could order and eat for $11.  Plus, the kids thought it was really fun that they were getting breakfast for lunch!

The South Durham Moms' Meetup Group which always has great ideas for things to do in the area and is a great group of people has one outing that they will go on where they head up to IHOP for an early breakfast with the kiddos and then head just a few miles down the road to the Museum of Life and Science for a morning of fun.  What a great idea!

What I liked:  I loved how we could split the one meal and have enough to feed three of us.  Plus, the waiter didn't have any problems bringing us plenty of extra plates so we could split everything up.  They also had four different kinds of syrup just sitting on the table for us to use, and the kids loved that!

What we would change:  We did have to wait a while for our food once we ordered, so you might bring something to entertain the kids while you wait for your food.  Plus, I've driven by on the weekends and I can see that it gets pretty busy.  However, when we went on a weekday at around 11 it was fairly empty.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.ihop.com/

Address: 1821 N. Pointe Dr., Durham

Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 6am-12am, Friday and Saturday: 24 Hours