More Than Just A Name

by Mitch Hammes

Breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between is a great time to visit Manager Sherry Lowery and her staff at IHOP, located in the Fry’s/Target shopping center on the northwest corner of 24^th Street and Baseline Road. I’m guessing that IHOP restaurants can be found almost anywhere in America and that most of us have been to an IHOP at least once in our life. But this South Mountain Village location is anything but a faceless, corporate, national chain restaurant.

Almost everybody knows IHOP started out as International House of Pancakes, but you don’t know what you’ll be missing if you think IHOP is synonymous with pancakes. Just about anything you could want to eat is on the menu. And I should know. Over the last three years, I’ve been in Sherry’s restaurant more times than I can count. I’ve had excellent omelets, pancakes, French toast, waffles, crepes, burgers, sandwiches, steaks, soups or salads on every one of my visits.

In addition to the great tasting food, what you can’t see by looking at the menu is what makes the South Mountain Village IHOP special. In an industry that boasts extremely high employee turnover, twins Mike and Carl have been serving customers and making friends at this location since it opened. Sherry is active in our community by keeping South Mountain Village Clean and Beautiful volunteers filled with free coffee during their early morning neighborhood clean-ups and by donating the ice to keep other food and beverages cold.

What do I like most about IHOP? By far, it’s the people who smile, treat me like a friend and make delicious, fresh food consistently. So the next time you or your family are craving good ol’ American food, walk into IHOP and say, “hello” and “thanks” to Sherry, Mike, Carl and the rest of the staff. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll be supporting a neighborhood business that supports our neighborhood.

Mitch Hammes is President of The Hammes Group, a Phoenix-based restaurant and hospitality services company (www.hammesgroup.com). Mitch may be reached via email at: mitch@hammesgroup.com.