IHOP

Brothers Jerry and Al Lapin, and commercial artist Albert Kallis co-founded International House of Pancakes in the Los Angeles, California, area in 1958 with the help of Sherwood Rosenberg and William Kaye. Kallis and his wife Trudy were early investors and it was said Trudy came up with the name after giving birth to their child. The first restaurant opened on July 7, 1958, at 4301 W. Riverside Drive in Burbank, California. The second and third locations at 8555 Vesper Avenue in Panorama City, California, and 3625 Stocker Avenue in Baldwin Hills, California, (a former Brown Derby restaurant) are still open for business.

The first prototype design for IHOP building was a steep-roofed A-frame building 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 sold shortly afterwards). In 1979, it was purchased by Wienerwald Holding, the owners of Wienerwald and Lum's chains. Wienerwald later declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982, and sold IHOP Corp in 1983 to SVIDO, who hadn't been involved in the restaurant business previously.

The breakfast food menu later expanded (especially in the 1980s) to include standard lunch and dinner items found in similar restaurant chains such as Sambo's and Denny'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.

Acquisition of Applebee's

On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corporation announced a plan to acquire the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's in 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 to DineEquity on June 2, 2008.

Menu

While IHOP's focus is on breakfast, serving pancakes, waffles, French toast, and omelettes, 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.

Locations

The company has 1,841 locations in the Americas, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Franchising agreements with M.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, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. In 2016, IHOP expanded into Central America, opening in Panama, and later in 2019 into South America, opening three locations in Ecuador and one location in Peru.

In June 2026, it was announced that IHOP would open its first location in El Salvador, situated at Plaza Santa Rosa (also known as Distrito Santa Rosa) in Santa Tecla, La Libertad. The announcement was made by the mayor of La Libertad Sur. The restaurant will be located on Avenida Diego de Holguín, near the intersection with Bulevar Sur and the Los Chorros highway.

Lawsuit

In early September 2010, IHOP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against International House of Prayer and six other defendants, alleging trademark dilution and infringement. The lawsuit was dropped on December 21, 2010, with the dispute resolved out of court.