NEW YORK — The menus are not a misprint.
IHOP enthusiasts can now enjoy an adult beverage at select locations after the pancake house chain confirmed it is rolling out custom alcoholic offerings to help offset steep losses suffered during the height of COVID-19 restrictions.
The company unveiled its “Bubbles, Wine & Brews” menu Thursday, featuring “curated and locally sourced beer and wine options, as well as Bud Light, Blue Moon and Corona, and mimosas and wines from Barefoot–Bubbly Brut, Bubbly Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon,” Forbes reported.
The menu additions are currently available at only two New Mexico locations - with a San Diego site on tap for a September launch - but nine more restaurants scattered across New York, Rhode Island, Maryland and Ohio are expected to follow suit by the end of the year, IHOP President Jay Johns told CNN Business.
Ultimately, all franchisees across the company’s 1,750-site footprint will be given the option, and Johns anticipates about 1,000 locations will choose to let the spirits flow.
Alcohol “is clearly something that’s right in our strategy of ... coming up with more ways that people can enjoy us for dinner” or lunch, Johns told the network.
He did acknowledge, however, that obtaining a liquor license - which can cost anywhere from $300 to $14,000 - may be cost-prohibitive for some franchisees.
“As we continue to roll out to more locations, we hope the optimizations and key learnings [from the test] will continually offer franchisees the tools needed to successfully launch in their markets,” Johns told Forbes.
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