Is IHOP Overpriced? Why Costs Have Skyrocketed Since 2020
Going out to breakfast is a singular joy. That might be the case because pancakes seem to taste better at a restaurant — after all, there are several common mistakes you might be making when cooking flapjacks. It would stand to reason that IHOP, the eatery with a parent company known as the International House of Pancakes, is a great place to dig into the most important meal of the day. That is, until you realize that IHOP's menu prices have spiked by a near-unbelievable 82% in the last five years.
Inflation is a fact of consumer life in the 2020s, with average prices around 22% higher in 2025 than they were in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Casual dining restaurants have seen menu prices rise almost across the board, but close competitors like Cracker Barrel, Denny's, and Waffle House have maintained increases between 32 and 37%. Meanwhile, IHOP's 2x2x2 meal soared from $5.49 to $12.59, and a milkshake started at $3.79 and hit $7.99 five years later. What gives?
A few explanations are possible. IHOP's menu was cheap to start with, meaning that, when goods began to get more expensive, prices could only trend upward. Furthermore, IHOP's food is long on inflation-sensitive ingredients like dairy and eggs. The popularity of delivery apps like GrubHub and UberEats has also eaten into in-restaurant upsell opportunities. Still, none of this explains why IHOP's breakfast brethren haven't nearly doubled prices — Cracker Barrel even made news in the height of the egg crisis for announcing it would not charge extra for eggs. The only conclusion we can draw is that IHOP is majorly overpriced.
What do consumers think of IHOP prices?
"Am I insane or are these prices ridiculous? $12 for 2x2x2 is something I'd expect at a local diner, not a subpar chain like IHOP," a Redditor groused on an IHOP-specific forum. "It's quite amazing," another commenter marveled. "[The prices keep] rational people like me from going, yet they're obviously people who will subject themselves to this inferior, subpar, overpriced dining experience." Another Reddit thread featured a very dissatisfied customer experiencing sticker shock: "$6.99 for ONE slice of french toast?! I can get 2 full loaves for that price. Idk if i'll be returning to iHop anytime soon."
Over on Business Insider, the 2x2x2 was again the cause of outrage when a writer discovered that his $18+ breakfast (of which a near-identical option cost $9.28 out the door at Denny's) was part of a promotion that would have cost only $7 before tax and trip, had he eaten on a weekday after 7 a.m. The BI writer expressed frustration with the lack of transparency on the menu and the implication that IHOP was, to an extent, engaging in surge pricing on its meals.
In its 2025 Q3 results summary, Dine Brands Global, parent company of IHOP and Applebee's, reported a modest decrease in restaurant sales. Germane to theories about price increases, the report also prominently mentioned third-party sales. There's no doubt that delivery services are impacting the restaurant landscape, but internet comments seem to indicate that consumers may have a dwindling tolerance for IHOP's price-gouging.