IHOP recently came out with something amazing: Pancake Tacos, and the tasty salsa that comes with these filled tacos is nothing other than IHOP’s famous syrups. The promotions seemingly never end at this 24 / 7 chain café, so for the month of July, they decided to turn things on their heads, or, well, their sides! From July 5-30, 2023, they will be offering a variety of these Pancake Tacos at the price of $6 for three. They even went all out for this, making a whole webpage for it, a social media “is it a pancake or taco?” campaign, and a special physical menu (see pictures). It’s all quite amazing how much effort was put in especially since this promotion is so short-lived!
Beginning this review, we first must take note of the exceptionally low prices of these pancake tacos. Clocking in at just $2 each, one must think there is a compromise somewhere, whether it be the quality itself, or perhaps the fillings or size. However, after trying the offerings, I can confidently say that none of these are true, in fact, I found the quality to be top tier and the portion sizes… are they losing money on this?! They must be! These things were beyond generous! The quality was there, and really, no corners were cut when trimming down these prices.
What’s being offered are four different types of Pancake Tacos: Strawberry Cheesecake, Caramel Banana, Breakfast, and Country Chicken and Gravy. The Strawberry Cheesecake and Caramel Banana are similar with both centered around having a cheesecake mousse but then with different toppings. The Breakfast variant, as the name implies, is breakfast-based with chunks of scrambled egg and a topping of cheese and bacon. The Country Chicken and Gravy, aside from the chicken and gravy, has an appreciable amount of cut-up hashbrowns and cheese, then finally topped with pickles.
With these four variations, I was able to try three of them, all except the Caramel Banana. With that, here are my reviews:
🍓 Strawberry Cheesecake
Score: 7 / 10
The thick layer of cheese mousse tasted exactly like semi-sweet cheesecake with the consistency of a very thick yogurt. On top were a few small but adequate strawberries, a light amount of chocolate chips, and a dollop of seemingly unnecessary whipped cream. Compared to the others, this was my least favorite, but it was still tasty as I love cheesecake! It was semi-sweet overall and the outside pancake added to that sweetness while also providing an interesting taste combination. I do wish they added something else, I’m not sure what, but compared to the others, it wasn’t as stuffed and felt like it was missing something to make it perfect.
🥚 Breakfast
Score: 8 / 10
This was breakfast galore. A large amount of scrambled eggs was crammed inside with a hearty topping of cheese and bacon. It felt overstuffed, in a good way! The combination was absolutely delightful and it felt like “if I ever wanted to eat my entire breakfast fast, this would be the most efficient way.” Tastes and textures really complimented one another and when I tried it with ketchup and syrup, it was just so, so good.
🍗 Country Chicken and Gravy
Score: 9 / 10
My favorite! The thick pieces of crispy chicken tenders were layered on top of cutup hashbrowns and even on top of that, there was gravy, an overabundant amount of tasty cheese, and a few slices of pickles. It was so thick and filled I could hardly get it in my mouth! It tasted like a wonderful crispy sandwich but instead of a bun, a soft, semi-sweet outer layer was provided by the pancake. Basically, if you’re into chicken sandwiches, especially ones with too much cheese and gravy, this is a pancake taco to try!
Long story short, IHOP’s Pancake Tacos are cheap, tasty, and a fun way to try everyday foods a bit differently. No matter what you’re into, there’s likely at least one of the tacos you’ll want to dig into. My only criticism is that this promotion was too short-lived especially with all the effort they put into the promotions. Hopefully, one day, they’ll bring it back.
