Results tagged “ihop”

While the West Coast based In-N-Out Burger isn’t likely to be coming to the city anytime soon, another out of state burger chain has set its sights on Manhattan. The 4-year-old, Northern Virginia-based Elevation Burger has signed a “multi-unit franchising deal” with local business partners Fabian Rosario and John Harris. The franchise is frequently compared to Five Guys, so it might be speculated that the business will grow just as fast here: two years ago—almost to the day—there was only one Five Guys in New York; there are currently eight in the five boroughs and about a gazillion more scattered in the suburbs like chargrilled fallout.

Out of all the International Houses of Pancakes in the nation, only one gives diners the option of sweetening their cakes with authentic maple syrup, for an additional charge of 99 cents. That House is in Vermont, and guess who's jealous? Our own Senator Chuck Schumer, who has become something of a crusader for New York's maple syrup industry. Last month he co-sponsored a bill to help small American producers get access to maple trees on private land. Now he's taken a special interest in IHOP, firing off a letter to CEO Julia Stewart encouraging her to let the 40 franchisees across the state add New York State maple syrup to the menu. Unfortunately, Stewart has yet to respond, so it may take some more sweet-talking from Schumer before we'll be able to drown our Harvest Grain ‘N Nut Pancakes in fancy-boy natural syrup—for now, at least, it's strictly BYOS at New York's IHOP locations around the city.

Today happens to be Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, traditionally the Christian calendar day preceding Lent. The secret forces of starch have essentially rendered this religious holiday into something called Pancake Day, however, which has since snowballed into Pancake Month: a thirty day flapjack frenzy created by a deeply sinister two man consortium of sinister maple tree tappers (one is a ventriloquist). Don’t believe Metromix when they tell you Aunt Jemima had nothing to do with this, too.