Dive Brief:
- IHOP made several major changes to its menu on Monday, including renaming its omelette lineup “Stuffed ’N Stacked Omelettes” and expanding its core value menu, the company said in an email.
- The casual chain updated its coffee program for the first time in 20 years, offering a new hot coffee roast, called the IHOP Coffee Blend and refreshing its iced coffees, the company said.
- The menu launches are part of an ongoing menu innovation strategy set to continue throughout the year, Dine Brands CEO John Peyton said during the chain's fourth quarter earnings call.
Dive Insight:
IHOP’s menu innovation is meant to balance value items with premium items that can help drive check, Peyton said.
IHOP also expanded its Value Menu with the addition of a BLT, served with french fries or hashbrowns. The value menu is offered every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. with items priced at $6 at participating restaurants nationwide.
The value platform is meant to complement “check-driving initiatives from our innovation platforms,” IHOP President Lawrence Kim said during the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference in March. He added that the check-driving innovation included the limited-time pulled-pork omelette, which guests have been asking for, and the proprietary coffee platform.
“At IHOP, value is designed to drive traffic, not replace full margin items, and that's exactly what we're seeing,” Peyton said during the earnings call. “The value menu is drawing guests into the restaurant. And once they're here, guests are also choosing premium offerings such as our breakfast combos and LTOs, like our Pumpkin Spice and Coffee Cake pancakes.”
That trend led to average check improving by 150 basis points during the third and fourth quarters of 2025, he added. IHOP’s traffic also turned positive for the first time in several years during the third quarter, momentum that continued into the fourth quarter, helping boost comparable sales by 0.3%.
Kim said during the UBS conference that guests can anticipate more menu innovation from IHOP, particularly in the back half of the year, hinting that a fan favorite will return.
