I hop, you hop, we all hop for IHOP! Just kidding, nobody likes IHOP.
If I just offended you, I apologize ... but not really. If you have a soft spot for the International House of Pancakes while living in New Jersey, the diner capital of the world? Then quite frankly, you deserve to be offended. IHOP serves mediocre food in dining rooms that are so sticky from spilled syrup that you need to shower after you visit.
Know what I do like, though? Weird sodas. And IHOP just teamed up with Pepsi to make a whacky one.
What started as a social media giveaway in 2022 finally made its way to actual IHOP locations Monday, but it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day prank. It was legit. And I had to have it.
Ever since I had my first vanilla Coke at Holsten’s as a kid, I have been fascinated by uniquely flavored soft drinks. Pepsi Blue? Drank it until my whole mouth was blue, and that commercial was iconic. Surprisingly, Coffee Coca-Cola wasn’t that bad. And even though I have a strong disdain for Peeps, I couldn’t help myself when Peeps-flavored Pepsi came out last year.
So yeah, maple syrup Pepsi was enough to get me to swallow my pride and hit an IHOP.
The staff seemed excited when I confirmed that they indeed had the sweet stuff. I ordered the maple syrup Pepsi, along with a maple syrup Pepsi float and a single pancake — partially because I didn’t want to look like a crazy person sitting at an IHOP booth with two drinks and no food, and partially because even I admit IHOP pancakes are the single food item they do decently. And if there’s one thing to order with a maple syrup Pepsi it’s pancakes, right?
I smelled the Pepsi before I even tasted it, the strong maple notes hitting my nose as soon as it got to the table. It wasn’t any less subtle when I sipped it. But the cola flavor was so strong and sweet that it didn’t taste overpoweringly maple — it just tasted really sweet. I honestly liked it more than I expected to, but the maple flavor is simply too similar to the cola flavor to stand out. With vanilla and cherry cola, the added flavor contrasts the main soda note. Not so much here.
The maple Pepsi float was also a far cry from anything I’d had at Holsten’s (their root beer floats all but shaped my childhood). But the addition of vanilla to the mix amplified the maple flavor and made it more enjoyable overall.
And fine, the pancake was really good.
Am I glad that maple syrup Pepsi made its way from social media giveaway to actual menu item? Sure. Is it better than I expected? Honestly, yeah. But you won’t catch me running out to IHOP anytime soon to have it again.
Now, if Waffle House made a soda, on the other hand...
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Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com and followed on Twitter at @J_Schneider and on Instagram at @JeremyIsHungryAgain.
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