When IHOP on East Broadway closed its doors on Aug. 31, students may have feared they could no longer eat a towering pile of pancakes at 2 a.m. But Todd Beckenhauer and his family came to the rescue and recently opened another breakfast diner in IHOP’s place at 355 E. Broadway.
Todd’s Place, which opened on Sept. 2, will serve entrées similar to IHOP’s, including steak, eggs, bacon, pancakes and other breakfast items. The restaurant will not, however, serve stuffed French toast, German crepes and other IHOP trademarks.
IHOP closed during the summer because its lease expired and corporate officials decided not to renew the lease, said IHOP spokesman Patrick Lenow. Company officials have no immediate plans to open another IHOP in Eugene, he said.
“We’re always looking to expand and will look into the Eugene market in the future,” Lenow said.
The closure of IHOP meant a new opportunity for the family who had been operating the restaurant.
Todd’s father, Roger Beckenhauer, operated the East Broadway IHOP franchise and was originally going to walk away from the building, Todd said. Roger suggested that his children – Todd Beckenhauer and Eliisa Coch – open another breakfast diner at the same location. Roger doesn’t hold any ownership in Todd’s Place and continues to operate the Gateway IHOP in Springfield.
Beckenhauer and Coch struck a new deal with the landlord, but Beckenhauer would not disclose lease details.
When University student Rigo Hinojosa drove by the former IHOP on East Broadway Friday, he said he was surprised to see IHOP had closed.
“It seemed so sudden,” Hinojosa said.
Hinojosa said he first noticed the bright yellow roof on the A-frame building, which was recently painted black and yellow.
“I didn’t know it was going to be that bright,” Beckenhauer said as he chuckled. “I’ve had people say they love it or hate it, but to be totally honest, we’re not going to fork out the money to change it right now. We want to keep costs down for the customer.”
Beckenhauer and Coch are still remodeling the building and plan to remove all IHOP colors inside the building.
Beckenhauer said he wanted to keep Todd’s Place open 24 hours per day to attract students, who will still receive the 15 percent discount that the former IHOP offered.
“You can have anything on the menu anytime,” he said. “The whole concept is similar to an IHOP or Shari’s.”
Beckenhauer said operating as an independent business has its advantages because decisions can be made locally.
“We don’t have all the overhead from a franchise, so we can give a better quality product for a better price,” he said.
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