The IHOP Cafe: New Kid on the Block

I needed WiFi and I needed it immediately. My friend had come down for her first visit to San Antonio since I moved here over a year ago, and we were going to the Japanese Tea Gardens for a stroll. Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I had completely neglected to look up directions before leaving the house. I had my iPod Touch with me, but no way to access Google Maps. As we drove the area around my house, my friend spotted a sign on a small café - "Free WiFi!" she shouted triumphantly, pulling into the shady parking lot on Northwest Military Highway and West Avenue. I had driven by the place before, but I'd never been inside. It was smart-looking, its sign bearing the font type and size of one of those uber-trendy-corporate sort of places that have been popping up all over cities like New York and Seattle. It was called the IHOP Café. The association with IHOP itself put me off initially - sure, I had fond memories of spending long, long study nights with my friends, chugging coffee at our local International House of Pancakes until the wee hours of the morning. But the place had never struck me as "trendy," and the fact that it could be converted to a "café" seemed almost laughable.

Free WiFi though, so in we went.

And we were so, so surprised.

The interior of this restaurant is small but well-spaced, with an exposed kitchen filled with clean-looking griddles for all your pancake-eating desires. The cashier's counter had an impressive display of beverages, including dozens of teas and coffees, regional juices, and traditional sodas like Coca-Cola, in real glass bottles. Their menu was an impressively pared-down version of the menu I had grown up perusing at IHOPs all over the country, but something about the menu items was far more mature, more grown-up in a way.

Their range of coffee drink choices is widespread enough to give some variety, but not nearly as overwhelming as the gibberish plastered all over Starbucks and other wanna-be cool cafés. And best of all, it's good! The coffee is tasty, clean, simple coffee, just as I remembered it from my youth. Of course, it's hard to select a coffee option anyway, since they also serve delicious smoothies and milkshakes.

While we were there, sipping our respective coffee and tea, we decided that the Japanese Tea Gardens could wait - we needed pancakes. The pancake options, like the coffee choices, leave little to be desired, even though at first glance they seem paltry compared to the massive pancake menus at the traditional IHOP. First of all, they only serve silver dollar pancakes, in groups of three or six. But there are several different types of pancakes you can choose from (my favorite is the Harvest Grain 'n Oat), and the toppings...oh my, the toppings are amazing. Every conceivable option is covered, from stewed apples to whipped cream to bacon crumbles. The last stop on your way to pancake perfection is the syrup bar, a truly cool piece of architecture that offers up four different classic IHOP syrups, all of which are just as delightful as I remember them to be.

Of course, why only eat pancakes, when you can have a side of roasted potatoes? Don't like potatoes? Try these anyway, because they are, hands-down, the best roasted potatoes I've ever had. Perfectly spiced and perfectly tender, they make an excellent accompaniment to the fluffy, delicious buttermilk pancakes you just got.

Just like at IHOP, you can order the pancakes whenever you like, but for lunch or an early dinner (one of the only negative points is their early closing time of 8:00 pm) you should definitely try one of their melts or wraps, because those are superb as well. Not in the mood for any of those things? Try an omelet!

At first glance, the IHOP Café seems like the weak younger brother of the homely-yet-satisfying powerhouse that is the International House of Pancakes, but it definitely has the potential to become the successful corporate cousin. Interestingly, this location at NW Military Hwy. and West Ave. is the only one of its kind; it's an experiment of sorts.

The IHOP Café is a smart, interesting little place that I patronize as often as possible. Did I mention that the prices are totally reasonable for a trendy café? There's almost no reason in the world not to go!

Visit it today, because I give this restaurant a 95%, losing 5% because they close too early for my taste.