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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2001
Perkins vs. IHOP
RESTAURANT REVIEW
All-night diners offer varied fare for post-partiers
BY THOMAS HOLLAND
From left, University of Kansas freshmen Peter Crevoiserat, Topeka, Jessica Turner, Omaha, Neb. and David Kitchner, Topeka, enjoy a late-night breakfast with friends Friday night at Perkins. 1711 W.23rd St. "It beats crackers and Cheeze Whiz." Kitchner said.
Pop quiz, hotshot: You've just spent a night out with friends at a bar, and the urge for food hits you. What do you do?
Fortunately, you have a couple of options. If you're lucky and quick, you might be able to hurry to a fast food drive thru and get a burger and fries or maybe even a taco.
And for those more adventurous souls, several grocery stores in Lawrence are open all night and sell products necessary for, say, a sunrise barbecue.
Sometimes, though, you just want to sit down and take it easy. Two all-night restaurants stand out in Lawrence - Perkins, 1711 W. 23rd St., and the International House of Pancakes, 3102 Iowa St. - both of which have menus offering breakfast and dinner fare.
But be prepared: Students and Lawrence residents heavily frequent these restaurants, so late on Friday and Saturday nights there may be a 10 to 45 minute wait for a table. But both try to have tables ready for customers in less than 20 minutes.
As a college student, money always seems to be in short supply. Both restaurants offer the same types of food and both offer reasonable prices. The average cost for a late-night meal is around $7. And each restaurant excels at a number of dishes.
Perkins is promoting a new variety of pancakes with fruit filling baked into them. Dishes of five pancakes are available for fewer than $5.
Perkins also has added pasta to its selections as part of the seasonal menu promotion. Guests have the option of topping penne or linguine pasta with Cajun chicken breast or seasoned shrimp.
Another big seller at Perkins is the "Tremendous Twelve." It offers an array of country breakfast items including eggs, sausages, bacon and pancakes. This is recommended for those of you who may need to get food back in your stomachs.
A personal favorite at Perkins is the "Shrimp Boat Dinner," along with a
side of seasoned rice. Kansas isn't exactly known for its seafood, but Perkins can fry shrimp with the best of 'em. For $8, it's a good meal to head to bed on.
But sometimes you may not be in the mood for waiting for a hot meal. Instead, you may just need to feed a sweet tooth.
Perkins has a bakery offering almost 15 different pies and 10 types of muffins. The bakery's cinnamon roll is a wonderful treat. It also bakes a killer lemon meringue pie that serves up easy and fills you up quickly.
IHOP is a newer restaurant to
Lawrence that opened less than three years ago. It also specializes in breakfast foods, but has more country-style recipes on the menu.
IHOP also offers a choice of condiments. Four syrup choices greet you when you sit down at your table, and a variety of hot sauces—some from as far away as Mexico are brought out when your food comes. It's amazing the kick a squirt of IHOP's Choholua adds to a meal.
IHOP's old-fashioned pot roast meal is an example of the country cooking the restaurant offers. It comes with a side
choice — the red potatoes are a recommended option.
Sometimes after a hard night at the clubs, stomachs call for a big ol' hamburger, and IHOP can deliver satisfaction. Its burgers are a good deal and big enough to stop any hunger.
The biscuits and gravy meal is another safe bet. The biscuits get a little stale sometimes, but the sausage gravy adds a good taste and softness to the meal.
The Philly cheese steak is also an IHOP staple, but the meat is a bit dry and not quite to par with the same offering at Perkins. When slathered with the ever-
present condiments, though, the IHOP sandwich soon becomes edible.
But when you go to a restaurant, you don't go simply for the food. The ambiance is important as well. You want to have a good time at any place you eat, and both Perkins and IHOP have their special niches.
IHOP seats more than Perkins, and would be a better place to go if you have a large group. But the crowd at IHOP, other than college students, is generally a bit older than the crowd at Perkins. The customers at IHOP may be heading in for breakfast while the partiers are heading out for sleep.
A large group of friends joke around while eating a 2 a.m. meal after going out Friday night. Perkins is one of several late-night restaurants that cater to the weekend post-party crowd.
AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
Perkins dedicates itself to customer satisfaction. The "Perkins promise" is that all food will be out at the table within 8 minutes after being rung in.
But both restaurants have enough college-student patrons that you may think you've just hopped to another party.
Servers at Perkins also are authorized to discount items on the bill if any item takes longer than 25 minutes. The staff wants everyone to leave with a good impression of the restaurant.
But similar to the party scene, people may be a little rowdy, so you might stumble into a fight among patrons at either restaurant. Perkins has undercover security on the premises to help escort any Fight Club wannabes out the door. The Lawrence police also do regular sweep-throughs to scan the parking lot for any trouble.
IHOP also has had its share of fights. In addition to brawling, one waiter said a young woman did an impromptu strip tease in the dining room one night.
No matter what edibles you look for after a night at the clubs, both restaurants offer good hot food that will help aid in the healing process.
The bottom line is that Perkins might be a better bet for its tasty food and quick service, but the more you have had to drink, the less it really matters between the two.
Contact Holland at 864-4810