If you happen to be on White Plains Road looking for breakfast or even a late night snack, stop by the new IHOP that opened on Wednesday, February 8.
The restaurant, located at 1001 White Plains Road, at the corner of Bruckner Boulevard, is the third location Bronx franchisee for IHOP Dominic Broccoli, has opened since 2007.
“We opened the first one in 2007 at 1817 Allerton Avenue,” he said. “Then we went on to open one at 961 East 174th Street, and now we have this one on White Plains Road.”
Broccoli said he chose this location because it is in a good area with good visibility from the highway.
“For five years I’ve been looking in this area and the opportunity finally came up,” he said. “This is a fabulous location, and I was able to build this building from the ground up. Before I built this IHOP, there was a gas station on the site.”
In order to increase the amount of seats in the restaurant, Broccoli bought out the Chinese restaurant, The Golden Lobster, next door to the IHOP and converted the space into a kitchen.
“Originally we were supposed to have 160 seats, but with the addition of the extra space, we now have over 200 seats,” he said.
The other two franchises are doing well, according to Broccoli, and he is excited about his lates venture.
“This one opened up with a bang,” Broccoli said. “I love the community we are in. We are right across the street from a large shopping center and we are also very visible from the highway, which makes us a lot more attractive to customers.”
The new location has plenty of on-site parking, which may also make it more appealing to customers.
“With the purchase of the Golden Lobster, we also acquired 14 additional parking spots, which gives us about 30 parking spots all together,” Broccoli said.
Broccoli said the new restaurant in much the same as the other two, with an area to dine as well as an area for take out, but there is one thing different about the new location.
“The hours will be different,” Broccoli said. “We will be open from 6 a.m. until midnight, and our to go area will be open 24 hours a day. The other two locations close at 10 p.m.”
The opening of the new location was a soft opening, so Broccoli said he is thinking about plans for a grand opening a little later in the month.
“We are going to wait until the dust settles a little,” he said. “We’ll wait until the end of the month, then I would like to get the local elected officials to come and have a ribbon cutting ceremony.”
Broccoli said things have been a little hectic with the addition of a third location, so for now he will focus on the three he has opened.
The opening of the third IHOP would not have been possible with out his team of chefs, managers and servers, according to Broccoli.
“None of this would have been possible with out my team, my Chef Luis Arenas, Millie Ramos, Tawanda Watson, Charmaine Anderson, and especially my wife Donna,” Broccoli said. “We currently employee over 250 people. We have certainly grown since our Gino Cafe days.”
