Waffle House vs. IHOP

Ihop logo is from http://goo.gl/pqOsyC & Waffle House logo is from http://goo.gl/wzhSkl

Before this past weekend, I had never been to a Waffle House before. I had seen the signs with the big yellow letters, but had actually never been inside to eat there. Since I love the IHOP, I figured I'd give Waffle House a go.

There is no comparison: IHOP is awesome, Waffle House sucks. Here's why:

1. The IHOP has SO much more food to choose from! I looked at the Waffle House menu and thought, "This is it?" I even asked for the larger menu, which probably only had a handful more items than their basic menu. There are so many delicious breakfast foods, and I was sorry that I was so limited in my choices. Like, no omelets? What?!

2. Waffle House barely offers anything on their a la carte menu. I wanted to add an egg to my waffle order, and I just couldn't see on their menu where to find ONE egg! You either got two eggs, or some combo, but nothing simple. It was impossible to build my own breakfast! I either had to get one of the few combinations they offered, or get a single waffle.

3. I ordered a peanut butter waffle, since I love peanut butter and figured I had to order a waffle at Waffle House. I assumed "peanut butter waffle" meant peanut butter cooked into the batter. Uh, no. It was a handful of miniature peanut butter chips sprinkled on top of a plain waffle. Wow, like I couldn't do that at home...

4. The restaurant was quite small. It was like a tiny diner, where you can see the staff making the food. I don't want to see that. The waffle irons were dribbling batter down the sides, you see how long food sits there before it actually gets to the customer...Ew. The IHOP keeps the kitchen staff hidden so that I can enjoy my 1,000-calorie meal in ignorance of how it's actually made.

5. The service at Waffle House was so slow! I was sitting at the counter (the best view of the kitchen mentioned in #4), so you would think it would be easy enough for one of the seven people back there to notice that I had been sitting there for 15 minutes and had yet to be helped. And then it took another 20 minutes to whip up a glass of orange juice, some hash browns (plain), and the sorry excuse of a peanut butter waffle. I mean, really? I was in a rush, so then I had to scarf all that food down in ten minutes. Yum.

Going to the IHOP always makes me so happy. This single trip to Waffle House practically ruined my day. So the winner is clear. IHOP, you're awesome. I love you.