GLENDALE Calif. IHOP has added three barbecue platters and seven other items in a menu overhaul intended to provide more variety at all three mealtimes, franchisor IHOP Corp. said Monday.
But the breakfast specialist isn’t neglecting its traditional stronghold, with six of the menu additions featuring variations on familiar morning fare. Those choices include three new pancake selections.
The new menu also suggests a greater emphasis on more healthful choices, with many of the new breakfast items featuring fruit as components. Those choices include Double Blueberry Pancakes, Strawberry Banana Pancakes, Strawberry Banana French Toast and IHOP for Me Create-A-Face Pancake. The latter, available on the chain’s health-oriented menu, features a buttermilk pancake, strawberry “eyes,” a banana “mouth,” and a dab of whipped cream where a nose would go. It’s served with a tube of strawberry yogurt.
New selections presumably targeted at lunch and dinner patrons include BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken and a platter combining the two proteins. All are served with seasoned fries, garlic bread and cinnamon apples.
Also added is the Grilled Tilapia Hollandaise, a seasoned, grilled fillet of the mild white fish topped with hollandaise sauce. The fish also is offered on IHOP’s Senior Special, IHOP for Me and kids’ menus.
Prices for the new items were not disclosed.
“IHOP’s new menu retains the classic favorites our guests love, while also providing fresh, new items that can be enjoyed any time of day,” chief marketing officer Carolyn O’Keefe said in a statement.
The statement noted that the menu rollout is part of IHOP’s continuing effort to “re-energize” the brand.
Asimilar revitalization strategy has been proposed for Applebee’s, the casual-dining brand that will join IHOP’s fold through the pancake company’s $2.3 billion purchase of Applebee’s International Inc. That deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
IHOP consists of 1,328 family-oriented restaurants, most of which are franchised.