Astorians Flip Out Over IHOP Opening

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Astorians are flipping out over the opening of a popular pancake restaurant chain in the neighborhood.

IHOP, which is famed for its breakfast menu, is slated to open its first location in northwest Queens at 21-65 31st Street this week, reports show, at the site of a former grocery store that’s been closed for several years.

News of the opening, however, drew criticism from locals on social media, many of whom lamented the number of chains that have opened in Ditmars Steinway during the past couple of years — critiques that also came up in response to news of a nearby Krispy Kreme.

“COVID took out a ton of family run places and gave chains the opportunity to fill the gaps,” speculated one neighbor, who is displeased with the number of “s****y chains” popping up in Astoria.

Other neighbors described the area as filled with “corporate monstrosities,” and one said that it is becoming “Williamsburg 3.0.”

“It’s become the same cookie cutter gentrified neighborhood like any other diverse neighborhood that got overrun,” they wrote, lamenting expensive restaurants that have replaced some family-owned shops, and waterfront high rises that have been built up in lieu of affordable housing.

Another gripe voiced by many Astorians is the proximity of the IHOP to other local diners, including Mike’s Diner, Neptune Diner, Family Corner, Tasty’s Diner, and more.

One neighbor made a jab at IHOP, writing that these local places are “a million times better than ICRAP.”

Another described area diners as “all much better places than those corporate garbage food stores that [have] sprung up in Astoria.”

A third echoed frustrations about the emergence of “corporate America” chains in Astoria — in lieu of local stores — and encouraged neighbors to “always choose a mom and pop locally owned restaurant over a corporate one like IHOP.”

The chain did not immediately respond to Patch's inquiry about when its Astoria location will open, though online reports suggest IHOP will open its doors on Thursday Aug. 26.