dennys, ihop & waffle house.

like most folks, i enjoy a nice dining experience. when it comes to sit down breakfast joints i tend to either frequent a mom & pop joint or a chain, notably the big 3: dennys, ihop or waffle house.

all three are open 24/7 and feature full menus all day.

of the three i feel that dennys seems to be my favorite. they offer more food for your buck. ihop's menu is just as expansive with menu choices as dennys..maybe even more expansive.

as far as breakfast goes, ive arrived at the conclusion that dennys serves up better eggs and ihop makes better pancakes. (hence the last letter of their acronym)

dennys pancakes arent airy enough and sometimes feel like youre chewing on rubber.

ihop tends to have more of a confectionary style to their food, esp their breakfast items such as omeletes, pancakes, french toast..something always seems to be garnished in fruit toppings or whipped cream.

waffle house has a very abbreviated menu, and annoyingly enough just about everything you order comes with a spherical hash brown patty. breakfast, lunch, dinner...doesnt matter, its coming with that hash patty.

there are no other side items to choose from. there isnt a vegetable of the day. there arent any season veggies. no buttered corn with peas. there only exists that hash brown patty and nothing else to accompany your burger or whatever you ordered. say it together with me: hash-brown-patty. ...know it, respect it, EAT IT!

but waffle house offers something dennys and ihop doesnt, which is their small, quaint dining atmosphere so you can chat up the day's news with the short order cook at the grill...hey..some folks enjoy that type of thing, thats why they have 12 barstools lined up just for that reason.

waffle house makes waffles, all types, any type. if you want a peanut butter waffle they will make that too. but no matter what you order, it comes with a rather hefty price tag considering the rather low amount of food you recieved. to say they have the largest profit margin of the three isnt too far fetched. esp, since they have the lowest overhead as well.

ihop is good and you can tell they put forth great attention to detail in their food items, but ive also put forth great attention at noticing that just about every location ive frequented seems to have an arabic propreitor. i guess thats why its called iranian house of pancakes, silly me.

just about every dennys out there seems to be located next to a la quinta. not sure if the two have a commercial partnership or if they coincidentally seem to always buy property next to each other, but thats always the way it seems to pan out.

dennys has their classic: grand slam. im not so sure why its called a "grand slam" to begin with. seems theyve latched onto the american subculture lexicon firmly by implying that its "grand". heck, just about every other geographical feature in the united states has grand labeled onto it: grand canyon, grand tetons, grand rapids, etc.

grand slam,.huh...thats about as bad as "dodge ram". i guess when you label something with a colorful adjective and a powerful noun it tends to captivate a consumer's wallet and lures them to spend. maybe i should come up with a product and call it the huge slap, or giant smack.

all it is is just 2 pancakes, 2 sausage links, 2 bacon strips, and 2 eggs. the whole meal costs less than $1 to make, which is why dennys was handing them out for free with an ad saying so during last years super bowl.

anyways. i like all 3 of them, but dennys still is my fave. whats yours?

I like turtles.

I like Sambo's.

Jimmys egg

I like Sambo's.

You're dating yourself now (is that legal in OK?)! Isn't Sambo's what Denny's evolved from? I remember the one on Classen across from Memorial Park.

Jimmys egg

Rules. Whenever we come back to OKC to visit, there are two places I have to eat at. Jimmy's Egg, preferably the one on lower N. May; and Del Rancho for a Steak Sandwich Supreme (tm)

why is waffle house even in the discussion here?

You're dating yourself now (is that legal in OK?)! Isn't Sambo's what Denny's evolved from? I remember the one on Classen across from Memorial Park. I not sure about the "evolve" but, I ate at the one on Classen , the one on S.W. 74th & May and one in Tulsa. Oh..Yeah..there was one (I think) over on S. Western & what ever that st. is that runs by CHHS.

why is waffle house even in the discussion here?

cause its a 24/7 breakfast joint just like the other two aforementioned.

Girlies' Pancake House FTW! (They're stacked better!)

Jimmy's Egg or IHOP. I haven't visited a Denny's or a Waffle House in years.

i vaguely remember sambo's... i don't think they evolved into denny's but was a competing chain. i do remember that sometime in the early 80's they were pressed to change their name for obvious reasons... i seem to remember the one on sw 74th and may being called seasons afterward. ok... i gotta look this up.

oh... and put my vote in for jimmy's egg. if we're talking 24 hour national chains, then put me in the denny's category. but if i had my druthers, i'd like an einstein brothers bagel within driving distance.

-M

on the n.w corner of reno and midwest blvd, there was a sambo's that became a seasons, then goldies, then mama lous, then got torn down and became walgreens....hot piece of real estate property? location, location, location.

All three have their own charms, and their own distractions.
No particular favorite, and if I have a choice between a mom-n-pop and a chain for breakfast food, I'll more often than not hit a m-n-p, even if it is outta the way.

However, back in the day, Sambo's in Tulsa was my fav place for post midnight grub. Back then 12:30 am - 4:00 a.m. was just about the only time I ever bothered to drink coffee or eat breakfast food.

I was in the food industry at the time. After our doors were locked and the younger staff were sent on their way to friends, dates or their mamas, I'd take the end of day work and head over to Sambos down the way.

Sambos got me out of our place, let someone else take care of my coffee habit while I crunched what needed crunching, and put fuel in da belly which was different than what we featured. Never packed but there were regulars, and between their regs and staffers there were plenty of folks to be social with now and again who likewise enjoyed starry nights over blue sunny skies.
Good food, fair pricing, good company, couldn't knock it.

To me breakfast is breakfast. Breakfast foods are hard to screw up. Only two things come in to play when it comes to where I grab eggs and pancakes. The restaurant must be clean and the wait to grab a table must be less then 15 minutes.

I mainly go to IHOP and sometimes Waffle House. I have not been to Denny's in awhile because on each visit the service was lousy, the food was cold or the place was just messy. I have no tolerance for sticky tables and messy carpets. It takes less than a minute to bus and clean a table. In my eyes, the condition of the dining room reflects the condtions of the kitchen.

Jimmy's Egg, 3 egg omelet with roast beef, asparagus and cream cheese, home fries and raisin toast. You got to try it.

My favorite greasy spoon breakfast place is Classen Grill. Fresh OJ and beignets! Yum! Jimmy's Egg is OK, too much like Denny's I guess. Good prices though.

When I'm on the road, and I don't have the energy for experimentation to try an M-n-P, I'll go to IHOP, 4 syrups, you can't beat that. And a giant coffee pot at the ready. Every Waffle House I have ever been to has been 10 shades of nasty, I refuse to step foot in one ever again. Just thinking about the last one I went to is giving me nightmares. Denny's is OK I guess in a pinch.

I think a common mistake people are making is going into a Waffle House sober. I don't advise it. That said, the times I've been there it hasn't been too bad all things considered.

Classen Grill, Jimmy's Egg, & Beverly's.

I think a common mistake people are making is going into a Waffle House sober. I don't advise it. That said, the times I've been there it hasn't been too bad all things considered.

hahaha very true indeed

Jimmy's, Classen Grill, The Diner (on Main Street in downtown Norman)

I think a common mistake people are making is going into a Waffle House sober. I don't advise it. That said, the times I've been there it hasn't been too bad all things considered. Agreed.

nah, nuttin' wrong with goin' into a WH sober.
If only so the cook doesn't feel all alone.
8^)

Denny's is open 24/7? News to me.. Ohh well, I will never eat there again for as long as I live.

Jimmy's Egg trumps all!

Denny's is open 24/7? News to me.. ...

Can't speak for all locations, but the last time I went to the one it was.



... Jimmy's Egg trumps all!

Can't go that far, but JE does make for a tasty option.

Jimmy's Egg and Village Inn are my favorites. Next would be Denny's I think. I love Shoney's all you can eat breakfast bar when traveling. I have eaten at the Classen Grill, but not in along time.Maybe I'll have to go back. Beverly's used to be good before they moved. They should have picked a better location and not gone in with Madison's.

Lees' Skyline Restaurant. I've always been satisfied with their food & service.

Skyline Restaurant - Inner City Southside - Oklahoma City | Urbanspoon (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/46/501381/restaurant/Inner-City-Southside/Skyline-Restaurant-Oklahoma-City)

lol at the op not even mentioning jimmys egg

I like Sambo's.

I remember Sambo's in Dallas a long time ago. it became an IHOP after they all closed. Is there still a Sambos around somewhere?

I remember Sambo's in Dallas a long time ago. it became an IHOP after they all closed. Is there still a Sambos around somewhere?

Just the orginal location in Santa Barbara, CA.

Sambo's Restaurant Santa Barbara (The Original) (http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/)

Denny's is open 24/7?


I've never known a Denny's not to be open 24/7/365.

I like IHOP because they leave the coffee pot on the table and they have flavored creamer.

Mimi's on Memorial.

We eat breakfast at Neighbor's (39th and MacArthur) nearly every Saturday.

We eat there almost every Sunday after church.