Food review | Laurel Street Special: IHOP Express exactly what it sounds like

Nick Bonadies
Spectrum Editor

Any student who has yet to try their swipes on a meal from the Laurel Street Dining Center – fresh from its grand opening on Oct. 24– might wonder how IHOP Express, the International House of Pancake’s venture into takeout, measures up to an actual IHOP.

Certainly most of the trappings are here: The Laurel Street Dining Center offers cozy cheap-chic booths that sing against your thighs as you sit, just like the real thing; the syrup flows from plastic tubs instead of plastic jugs, but still flows plentifully, provided you collect enough tubs at the register.

And perhaps the integral facet of the IHOP experience– squatting a booth and nursing coffee until the sun rises– is present to an extent. IHOP Express doesn’t close its counter until 3 a.m., though the smell of unlimited coffee and buttery fresh-made pancakes is here replaced by the distinctive aroma of a high school cafeteria.

Ambience aside, Laurel Street’s IHOP offers a diverse-enough smattering of the “real” IHOP menu that, sure enough, tastes remarkably like it came from a “real” IHOP.

The difference lies in plastic trays vs. ceramic plates, and perhaps fact that the food arrives lukewarm during the late-night rush. But for a swipe’s worth, IHOP’s offerings are a decent amount of food, with all the delicious grease and sugar any IHOP regular has come to know and cherish.

One reviewer described the ham and cheese omelette as “suitably warm,” with the cheese melted to an appropriate degree in the omelette’s goopy center. Another meal combo, a “French Toast Stack,” drew comments such as “the greasiest sausage I have ever consumed,” which may or may not have been a criticism; the toast itself would “be great if it were warmer” but satisfyingly moist. (Both of the aforementioned items are available for a swipe.)

Fittingly for the International House of Pancakes, the pancakes themselves are evenly-mixed, fluffy and otherwise delightful with a tub or two of “old-fashioned” pancake syrup.

Resist the temptation to envision a vast vat of eggs in the kitchen waiting for consumption: For the collegiate midnight munchies, IHOP Express is as good a choice as any to use a meal plan. If it really bothers you, take it home to the microwave.

Compiled from Spectrum staff reports

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Laurel Street Special
This Commonwealth Times food review is the first of three courses in the Laurel Street Special– extensive review and commentary of the new dining options in VCU’s Laurel Street Dining Center, served up by the most qualified and discerning of CT gourmands. Check out additional reviews of Croutons, Salads & Wraps and Raising Cane’s in each Monday CT leading up to Thanksgiving.

Photos by Mel Kobran