Bricktown IHOP opens

[Patrick]

Finally, we have a breafast joint in Bricktown.

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"Salous overcomes obstacles to open Bricktown IHOP
by Jerry Shottenkirk
The Journal Record
9/14/2005


Wes Salous has enjoyed the past week.
It was a long time in coming for the International House of Pancakes franchise owner.

Salous was given the go-ahead to put $1.5 million into a new IHOP in December 2004. After a few battles and roadblocks here and there, the IHOP opened on Sept. 6.

The restaurant was originally scheduled to open in May.

"We had to deal with some issues in construction," Salous said. "There are a lot of issues when you are in an older building. We had to redo the whole building. That was the toughest part of this project."

The opening was about four months later than originally planned, but it didn't dim any of the hopes and anticipation of those involved with the 5,000-square-foot restaurant.

"This has really been exciting," Salous said. "Every day we're happy to be here in Bricktown."

Salous said the crowds "have been OK; they've been really good on Friday and Saturday, especially. It's a little dead during the nights right now, but it will pick up when more people realize we're open. We've been really excited to greet people from downtown, the OU Medical Center, travelers and those who visit the river walk."

The new IHOP has a seating capacity of 200-plus.

"We have 60 employees on the payroll, and they are split into three shifts - morning, afternoon and graveyard," he said.

IHOP has wireless Internet access and limited free parking out front on weekdays. Several other parking spots are in the back of the building. There's a charge for parking on weekends.

Dave Lopez, president of Downtown OKC, called IHOP a welcome addition to the area.

"We are looking forward to a time when we can showcase IHOP with events in Bricktown, and it will really be an excellent location, especially when we increase hotel capacity in the area," Lopez said. "We're glad to have another business and look for more to come our way.""

[karlanee]

Just thinking about pancakes after a night in Bricktown makes me want to be sick.

Seriously though, it's a nice addition, since the hotels are not too far away. Will be nice for out of town visitors to have another option. And it adds a late night diner option to the night life!

I love what's happening to Bricktown! It's a great place to spend time (and money).

[Patrick]

I'm also glad to see they decided to locate in an older building, instead of building a modern suburban style structure.

[karlanee]

Me too. I think it adds to the charm of Bricktown.

[BDP]

I think it adds to the charm of Bricktown.

And being that it's an IHOP, it needs all the help in the charm department it can get.

[floater]

I like the Bricktown logo on the window. When people find out about it, I expect it to be packed on weekend nights. It will be a nice breakfast spot for residents of the new housing developments. It's also nice to add another wi-fi spot to downtown.

[HOT ROD]

the free wi-fi is definitely a plus!!!

[jbrown84]

It's a good addition I suppose, just to add more variety. I certainly won't go down to Bricktown just to eat at IHOP, but if I get done at OKC Rocks at 10:30 and want to go hang out somewhere, it will be a good spot.

[TStheThird]

There is nothing like a good breakfast at 2:00am to clear the mind after a night of fun.

[Patrick]

Although IHOP fills a void in Bricktown, I just hope that we limit the number of chains in Bricktown. We really need a good mix of chains and local eateries. Currently, we have that, but a flood of more chain restaurants would ruin Bricktown.