IHOP Plans To Open New London Restaurant This Year

NEW LONDON, CT — IHOP will open a restaurant in New London. The company confirmed the chain is planning to open a location in the third quarter of 2024.

IHOP currently has 12 locations in Connecticut, though none in southeastern Connecticut. A Stratford restaurant opened last year, joining franchises in Bloomfield, Danbury, Hamden, Manchester, Newington, Orange, Southington, Stamford, Wallingford, Waterbury, and West Hartford.

IHOP will open at 305 N. Frontage St. in New London, which has been home to multiple restaurants over the years.

The address was once home to the Shaking Crab, now listed as temporarily closed. The restaurant's website is not functional. The chain opened in 2021 at the site of the former Outback Steakhouse.

The building has also been home to Restaurant Junction, a food court. The spot is nearby to a Chili's and a Marshalls.

The restaurant's owners will be Deepak Verma and Gulshan Soni, an IHOP representative confirmed.

IHOP's expansion into New London comes as other chain restaurants have announced closings. Red Lobster abruptly closed dozens of locations across the country last week.

Applebee's recently announced it would be closing 25 to 35 restaurants across the country. Several Connecticut locations of Boston Market were faced with eviction last year.

The first IHOP, previously known as the International House of Pancakes, opened in 1958 in Los Angeles.

A marketing campaign introduced the acronym “IHOP” in 1973 and since then, “it’s been the name people know as the place they can enjoy their favorite breakfast experience – any time of day,” according to its website.

In addition to its “world famous pancakes,” IHOP offers a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items.