IHOP reopens Bluffton restaurant. Beaufort’s location expected to follow ‘soon’
IHOP’s Bluffton location reopened last week after being closed since the summer.
Monica Rivers, crew chief at the restaurant in Belfair Town Village along U.S. 278, said the IHOP franchise has a new owner.
The IHOP location in Beaufort also is expected to reopen, she said. A date for that reopening was not available.
A spokesperson for IHOP would say only that the closed locations in the area “are anticipated to reopen soon.”
Hours at the Bluffton location this week are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Businesswire reported in mid-October that Guillermo Perales’ Suncakes LLC, a subsidiary of Sun Holdings, had acquired 41 IHOP restaurant franchises in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The restaurants previously were operated by CFRA Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. Court documents cited by Restaurant News state the bankruptcy was related to a downturn in business because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster ordered restaurants across the state to close their dining rooms for in-house meals. That order was relaxed in May, when restaurant dining was permitted with limited capacity or at outdoor tables.
Restaurants earlier in October were given the OK to seat customers indoors at full capacity.
IHOP’s website says its restaurants will continue to have reduced seating levels to maintain social distancing. Other changes include providing syrups and condiments in single-use containers and one-time-use paper menus.
The Bluffton IHOP location does not have outdoor seating.
There are more than 1,800 IHOP restaurants in all 50 states and in at least a dozen other countries. The company is based in Glendale, California.
