🥞 July 14, 1958 – IHOP (International House of Pancakes) Founded

Brothers Jerry and Al Lapin (with partner Albert Kallis) opened the first International House of Pancakes in Burbank, California on this day. The tiny breakfast shop specialized in pancakes and other American breakfast favorites, aiming to offer a welcoming, family-friendly experience. The immediate popularity of the fluffy pancakes and all-day breakfast concept spurred rapid growth through franchising, making IHOP a familiar roadside sight with its distinctive steep-roofed A-frame blue roof architecture in the 1960s.

IHOP’s affordable comfort food and approachable diner atmosphere helped it expand across the United States and eventually internationally, living up to the “International” in its name. By the 1970s, the company officially embraced its nickname, shortening the brand to “IHOP” in marketing (even featuring a cartoon kangaroo mascot in commercials). Decades later, IHOP would even acquire the Applebee’s grill chain, showing its evolution into a large restaurant franchise group. Today IHOP serves nearly 1,800 locations worldwide, a testament to Americans’ enduring love of pancakes any time of day.

Interesting Fact: The name “International House of Pancakes” was more aspirational than literal at first – IHOP didn’t open its first location outside the United States until 1969. It wasn’t until 1973 that the company officially embraced the acronym “IHOP,” complete with a kangaroo mascot in its ads, to simplify its image for pancake-loving patrons