IHOP anew after last year’s blaze

Nearly a year ago, the signature blue roof of the IHOP in Valley Stream was charred black in some areas, and completely gone in others.

A fire that began in the kitchen of the restaurant located at 180 E. Sunrise Highway ravaged the interior and exterior of the building, forcing the Valley Stream IHOP to be shut down and rebuilt. The blaze, which began at 6:30 a.m. last Jan. 8, required 100 firefighters from seven companies to put out. The fire took three hours to extinguish and one firefighter injured his back after slipping on ice.

On Dec. 19, the pancake house opened its doors for the first time in 345 days. “It’s been received very warmly and guests are happy to see us back and open,” said Patrick Lenow, a spokesman for DineEquity Inc. “Business has been brisk.”

While business may be brisk since the reopening, the rebuilding process was far from it. The fire that began in the kitchen after an employee turned on the grills before the restaurant opened quickly made its way to the attic above. Fueled by all the oxygen in the large open-air space, the flames engulfed the length of the pointed roof and created a massive hole once firefighters extinguished the blaze.

The restaurant suffered extensive damage because of the collapsed roof and subsequent water damage, even though a good portion of the building did not burn last January.

Despite the large task of rebuilding a restaurant, Lenow said the Valley Stream IHOP is back and better than ever. “A rebuilding process is always complicated, but we’re proud to have been able to open a restaurant that offers our newest and most contemporary look,” he said. “[There is] all new equipment and additional enhancements for the guest.”

The patrons of the Valley Steam IHOP are happy to see the restaurant open for business once again. “My family couldn’t wait for IHOP to reopen,” said Linda Catalan of Valley Stream, who has a husband and three children. “We took our daughter there on her first birthday and second being that that’s all I craved while I was pregnant, but couldn’t for her third due to the fire.”

A typical IHOP has approximately 40-50 full-time and part-time employees. Despite the restaurant being closed for 11 months, many members of the workforce at the Valley Stream location came back. Lenow said the franchise owner of the Valley Stream eatery also owns other area IHOPs and was able to retain a vast majority of his employees.

Spencer Nimmo, a Valley Stream resident for 34 years, said he has seen a lot of changes in his hometown, but this new building is a change he was welcoming. “It looks like the old one, but just clean,” Nimmo said.

The fire in January marked the third time the restaurant has caught fire, with the previous occasions dating back to the late 1980s.