IHOP Cafe

The place was Denver.  The time was 2am, Christmas morning in the late 1980s.

While the world was asleep, dreaming of sugarplums, two families walked down the aisle of a marble-clad downtown church.  The choir had just completed the "Hallelujah" chorus.  Thousands of lights sparkled on towering Christmas trees.  The children were getting hungry.

They were adorned in all of their Christmas finery - the mothers in fur, the girls in patent leather shoes.  The boys had ties, loosened and unkepmt after a long Midnight Mass.  The fathers smelled of incense, as they had served at the altar and been surrounded by the sweet, prayerful smoke for the past two hours.

The families walked outside into the dark, bitter cold, and the mothers pulled their furs around their bodies a little tighter.  Holding the smaller children's hands, they walked across the deserted street to the parking lot.

No one was ready to go home to sleep.  Perhaps the children thought that they would get a glimpse of Santa.  Perhaps they were lured by the promise of pancakes.

This was the Christmas of my childhood.

One particular year, we made plans with another family to go to the International House of Pancakes after Midnight Mass.  I was excited for so many reasons - the promise of presents in the morning, the thrill of being dressed up at a pancake restaurant, but most especially, because the cute altar boy that I not-so-secretly liked was going with us.

The steep, orange roof of the restaurant was dwarfed by a five-story abandoned factory next door.  We walked into the International House of Pancakes (no one called it IHOP then), and stood out among the few customers that were dining at this desolate hour.  A haze of stale cigarette smoke hovered, and a discontent waitress resented that she was there. 

You've come a long way, baby.......

The pancake house of my youth bears no resemblence to the IHOP of today.  And, the IHOP of tomorrow bears no resemblence of the IHOP of today.

When we think of this iconic eatery, we think of crowded tables, smiley-faced pancakes, and children all over. 

But not the IHOP Cafe.  This is the Starbucks of pancakes.

The IHOP Cafe, located at NW Military and West in Castle Hills, opened just recently, and is the pilot location for the whole country.  That's right, the only one in the world is right here in San Antonio.

The IHOP Cafe is clean, fresh, and has a contemporary neighborhood vibe.  Small, but bright, this is an ideal place to meet a friend for a casual breakfast. 

The reduced menu still has hearty offerings, smoothies, and coffee.  Your order is taken at a counter, and you wait in a shiny red seat for your order to be ready.

Inexpensive and quick, and equipped with free Wi-Fi, this is an experiment that is sure to succeed in our era of troubled economy and hurried pace. 

We may just see one on every corner in upcoming years, just like a certain behemoth coffee house.  Aren't we lucky to get to try it out first?

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IHOP Cafe
Click here to visit the IHOP Cafe Website!
2195 Northwest Military Highway
San Antonio, TX 78213
210-524-9960