IHOP With Full Bar Lets Diners Create, Cure Hangovers In One Place

Greasy-spoon diners (specifically, New Jersey's Summit Diner and the Mark Twain Restaurant) were the savior of many a bleary-eyed morning for early-20s Kate. When I moved out of the Garden State though, independent diners were supplanted by IHOP, where I soaked up the previous night's whisky mistakes with fluffy pancakes. Now comes news that Phoenix residents can both create and solve a hangover in the same damn place, as Phoenix is the first city to welcome a standalone IHOP with a full bar.

ABC-15 brings us a glimpse inside this unique International House Of Pancakes—yep, they've ditched the stupid IHOB burger thing—which owes its singular liquor license to the location's former identity as a Lone Star Steakhouse. When Romulus Restaurant Group took over that strip-mall storefront, the existing bar and liquor license inspired them to pitch the idea of a full-bar IHOP to corporate. IHOP HQ subsequently gave them the green light. But don't expect more of these locations; ABC-15 reports this is likely to remain the only boozy IHOP. (Though the Arizona Republic points out that some airport IHOPs do serve alcohol.)

The bar offers local beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails including a mule-mimosa hybrid, a Bloody Mary, and a frozen strawberry margarita. Though the restaurant is open 24 hours, alcohol is served only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. My trip to spring training 2019 is sure to be even more boozy and be-pancaked than past years'.