Call them flapjacks, griddle cakes or pancakes, Canarsie residents will soon be getting their fill.
This newspaper has learned that IHOP will be opening in the Pathmark Shopping Center on Flatlands Avenue, near Louisiana Avenue, in the freestanding building in the center of the parking lot that had previously housed a Long John Silver’s restaurant.
Bernardo de Jesus, who will operate the new restaurant through his company, Mike’s Hop, Inc., of Valley Stream, N.Y., confirmed that the restaurant would be opening, though he declined to share additional information at this time.
Anthony Barnes, the president of the tenants association at Breukelen Houses, said that he believed the new restaurant — which features a wide menu, moderate prices and table service — would fill a need in the neighborhood.
“I think it will do a good business as long as the food is right,” he opined. “Out here, people love breakfast, particularly. It should do really well right there.”
The Long John Silver’s had not thrived, Barnes said, because, “The food was not up to people’s standards. Maybe it was the wrong spot anyway, for Long John Silver.”
Barnes also said he hoped that the new restaurant would look locally when staffing. “I hope they employ people from the community,” he stressed.
“When a vacant commercial storefront is occupied, it’s always a positive development,” added Assemblymember Nick Perry, who represents the area. “IHOP is a reputable establishment that, I think, generally is an enhancement to any commercial area. It’s the type of operation where you expect the operation will be sustained and contribute a good presence with the kind of traffic it will bring
“It can only be good for the mall that’s there,” he added.
For now, construction is underway, with a little blue peaked roof at the entranceway giving a hint of what’s to come.
The restaurant will be IHOP’s third location in Brooklyn when it opens. Other IHOP locations in the borough are on Livingston Street, downtown, and on Ralph Avenue, in Flatlands.
There are currently over 1,400 IHOPs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The chain, which operates largely through franchises, is based in Glendale, California.
