The coffee was fantastic.
We weren't greeted when we entered, and we stood in the
vestibule waiting for someone to notice. It was about 9pm on a Sunday night,
and the restaurant wasn't close to being crowded. After several minutes, I
stepped through the door of the entryway, hoping to catch someone's attention
and finally, a cook in the kitchen saw me standing there and spoke to a server
who led us to a table.
The IHOP in Harker Heights is only a few years old, making
it our choice over the older, less well maintained nearby Killeen IHOP. They
didn't have much help that night, which is understandable, as Sunday nights in
late December are not generally a busy time. When we were finally seated, they
took our drink order almost immediately. It was late, and we wanted decaf
coffee – often an afterthought in restaurants, and usually not very tasty.
Not this time – the coffee was fantastic.
Sorry, I don't often gush about coffee, but that's because
coffee in restaurants usually is nothing to write home about, especially decaf.
For whatever reason, that night, the decaf was the best I've ever tasted. The
food was nothing to rave about; it was good, but not great. My eggs were a bit
overdone, the gravy wasn't very tasty, but the hash browns were perfect. It was
a fairly typical IHOP meal, and overall, everyone in our party enjoyed their
food.
The server was friendly and attentive once we were finally
seated, and she made sure we had what we needed. She stopped by the table
several times, and like a good server, took care of us without being obvious or
intrusive about it.
And the coffee was fantastic.
Okay, sorry. I won't mention the coffee again.
Like I said, the food was good, the service was very good
once we were finally seated, and the atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed. In
fact, we lingered longer than we planned, specifically to have another cup of… that
stuff I promised I wouldn't mention again, because… well… you get the idea.
Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist.
His books include: 'Twisted Logic: 50 Edgy Flash Fiction
Stories', 'The Toughest Hundred Dollars & Other
Rock & Roll Stories', 'A Sports Junkie', 'The Avery Appointment', 'Between the Fuzzy Parts'. His books are available in paperback and
e-book.
He also writes about
sports for Season Tickets, food and travel on Miles & Meals, and music/guitars on The
Backbeat.
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