The IHOP location at 1313 Hillsborough St. closed its doors for a final time Saturday. The 24-hour restaurant moved to its new location on the corner of Hillsborough Street and Dixie Trail, under Stanhope Student Apartments. This renovation is one of many taking place on Hillsborough as more businesses on the street are modernizing.
Since it first opened in 1968, the old IHOP, with its classic blue roof and A-frame style, has served NC State students and families for almost 48 years. Many of them paid the restaurant a final visit on its last days to say goodbye. Customers shared their nostalgia and memories as they waited for their tables.
Mary Allen Mashburn and her husband of 11 years, Ross Stit, had a special reason for saying their goodbyes to the restaurant.
“We have been together for 11 years, and when we first started dating we went to the Long Branch dancing, and we came here afterwards at midnight or whatever and ate,” Mashburn said. “So, we started coming here every Valentine’s Day to celebrate. We never had any trouble getting reservations because nobody wanted to be here on Valentine’s Day, they were always somewhere else. So we came here because it was a very special place to us.”
Mashburn used to take her children to this IHOP the day after Thanksgiving to eat breakfast before going shopping for Christmas presents. She had this tradition with her girls since they were 6 months old.
Juan Harris, who has been working at IHOP for four years, described the staff as a family and said she would miss the restaurant’s sense of intimacy. Harris had worked for IHOP for 14 years before she started working at the location on Hillsborough Street.
“Small and comfy, it’s close-knit, and I’m used to it. That’s mostly what I’ll miss,” Harris said. “It’s like a cafe. It’s not like a big restaurant, so I’m going to miss that feeling of comfort and closeness.”
The new IHOP opened Sunday, and its 3,800-square-foot space has a more modern aesthetic. This new location has more than three times the number of employees than the old location, as 80 new members of the workforce joined the old crew of 15 employees.
Ron Jacobs, the new manager, talked about what makes the new IHOP different from the old one.
“It’s a new setup, a new location and it’s part of Stanhope and NC State,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s going to bring a lot to the campus and how they come in and dine in and dine out a little bit differently than they could before.”
Will Halpern, a junior studying communication, visited the new IHOP on the afternoon it opened. The new location is convenient for Halpern because he lives in the area. He said he has been to the old IHOP a couple of times at midnight with his friends.
“It’s different,” Halpern said. “There’s a little more space. It feels more open, but the old one was very original and had a certain charm to it. You can’t find that here. It was such a landmark on Hillsborough Street and on campus, and I’m definitely sad to see it go.”
The old IHOP is expected to be torn down to make space for a new apartment building. It is considered a landmark and one of the few remaining classic-style IHOP restaurants in the United States. FMW Real Estate will be responsible for the demolition of the building.
