"I usually try to give restaurants the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong, especially if they fix the issue quickly. Unfortunately, my experience at the IHOP in Dumfries, Virginia was an exception. I was greeted and seated by a large gentleman who was wearing an overpowering cologne, even though I was wearing a mask. He was dressed all in black, but his clothes appeared quite dirty. I waited 13 minutes before he returned to take my order, and then my food took another 25 minutes to arrive. My meal included two pancakes, but he forgot to check if I had syrup. By the time I noticed there was none on the table, he had disappeared, so I started eating, hoping he would come back soon. After I had eaten about 75% of my meal, he finally returned, and I asked for syrup. He kindly brought some over from another table. While the rest of my meal was good, the pancakes had a terrible texture and almost no flavor. I would suggest adding vanilla extract to the batter for improvement. Overall, I would rate this visit a 2 out of 10."
