North Carolina Diners Can Check If IHOP Prices Really Jumped 82%

Remember what a pancake breakfast cost in 2020?

One study says IHOP’s menu prices rose 82% by 2025. That is close to double.

Here’s how it got that number, and how North Carolina diners can check it against their own receipts.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Restaurant menu prices are subject to change.

How FinanceBuzz Ran the Numbers

FinanceBuzz researchers got IHOP’s 82% by pricing menu items twice. They did it once for 2025 and once for 2020.

At each chain, they priced a sampling of 10 menu items. Only items sold in both years made the cut.

For the 2025 prices, they used each restaurant’s mobile app or website.

The 2020 prices came from FastFoodMenuPrices.com, with help from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

For national inflation, they used the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.

FinanceBuzz published the study in March 2025 and updated it that June. So this is a look back at IHOP’s prices, not a current price list.

If you saved a receipt from 2020, it comes from the same year the study started with.

Here’s how that 82% stacks up.

IHOP Against Inflation

Say you paid $20 for breakfast at IHOP in 2020. If it rose like the study’s 82%, it would cost about $36.40 by 2025.

National inflation over those years was 22%. At that pace, the same breakfast would cost about $24.40.

So IHOP’s rise runs nearly four times the national figure.

A price that doubled would be a 100% increase. IHOP’s 82% comes close.

The average across all the chains it reviewed was 39%. IHOP’s rise is more than double that.

Spread evenly over the years, 82% works out to roughly 13% a year. The national figure works out to roughly 4% a year.

If you ordered at IHOP in 2020, that year’s price is the starting point for all of these numbers.

Texas Roadhouse and the Rest

IHOP’s 82% topped the ranking. Texas Roadhouse came second at 46%, which is 36 points behind IHOP, according to FinanceBuzz.

TGI Fridays followed at 45%. Applebee’s rose 41% and Chili’s 39%.

Denny’s rose 36% and Olive Garden 30%.

At the bottom of the ranking, Longhorn Steakhouse and BJ’s Brewhouse each rose 26%.

Even those two beat the 22% national figure. So did every chain in the ranking.

That is a 56-point gap between IHOP and the chains at the bottom.

If another chain is your usual spot, you can check its price rise the same way.

IHOP Locations Near You

IHOP's locator lists 51 restaurants in North Carolina.

Charlotte has four of them, and Greensboro has three.

Asheville, Fayetteville, Jacksonville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem have two each.

Your nearest IHOP is likely one of them.

If you eat at one of these 51, your own receipts are the best check.

IHOP's 82% is a single figure from the study. A receipt from any of these restaurants gives you a North Carolina data point to set beside it.

Checking Your Receipts

IHOP's 82% comes from a sampling of 10 menu items. So the best check is the items you order.

Start with a 2020 receipt, a saved takeout confirmation or a photo of a bill.

Then find the same items on your most recent receipt.

Match item for item. Swapping a combo for a different plate tells you nothing about the menu.

Skip any visit where you ordered something that's no longer on the menu. That item has nothing to match.

You can run this check with an old receipt and a phone calculator.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a free inflation calculator.

It shows how inflation changed what money is worth. Use it to compare your result with general inflation.

What the Study Can't Show

IHOP's 82% comes from prices FinanceBuzz collected in the Tampa, Florida, area. The study says menu prices at some chains may vary by region.

That means your receipt may land somewhere else.

The figure also describes a sampling of 10 menu items, not every plate on the menu.

The page also has an editor's note about a fix involving another chain.

FinanceBuzz also collected the two years of prices in different ways.

A result far from 82% doesn't mean you made a mistake. Your order isn't FinanceBuzz's 10 items.

A price check can't show if a plate got bigger or smaller over those years.