Review: Sonic the Hedgehog X IHOP Menu – Blueberry pancakes and onion rings are a winning combination!

Sonic the Hedgehog speeds his way back into restaurants with a Sonic themed menu at IHOP (aka The International House of Pancakes), and SEGAbits was there to sample Sonic’s offerings! Longtime readers of the site might know I have an affinity for Sonic food promotions, so much so that I dedicated a YouTube series to chronicling past promotions. When SEGA emailed me to tell me about the limited time menu, I had to make plans to visit my local IHOP to see how the promotion was rolled out.

I have not been to an IHOP in decades, so I did not know exactly how they operated, but it’s a sit down diner with table service. The restaurant was surprisingly clean, and I say that because I’m used to the more mom and pop diners which prefer to show a little more grease. As far as Sonic decor, the menus at the tables were all the branding I saw. I was hoping for maybe some window decals and posters but a quick search on their website did reveal that Sonic branded gift cards also exist.

The menu itself does not offer anything new or unique to Sonic, as all the items are existing menu items with new names. I will say, however, that they are all very appropriately selected with either the character’s color being referenced (Sonic’s Blue Blur Special being blueberry pancakes), a pun being made (Knuckle’s Chicken Sandwich) or a characters favorite food being utilized (Amy’s Sweet Strawberry Delight). The Sonic nerd in me noted that the menu was using renders from 2010’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and in Amy’s case, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)! This isn’t a complaint, it just was kind of wild to me that I was sitting in a restaurant in 2024 and was looking at renders for a game that was released the year SEGAbits started.

One omission from the physical menu that does appear on the IHOP app is the mention of making your meal “Sonic Style” which adds a side of onion rings. This little bit is probably the one addition that pushes the menu over the top for me. Pancakes and onion rings are such a bizarre combination that the food promo fan in me totally loved.

As you can see above, I went with Sonic’s Blue Blur Special and I asked the waitress to “Sonic it up” with some onion rings. I also added a side of fruit to create the illusion of eating healthy and had a side of coffee. The pancakes were quite good, and the onion rings were a special treat.

I even managed to take some “ring portal” photos with one just because I was in a silly mood. The promotion did not end with the menu, as a QR code invited guests to join the IHOP rewards program. New members received 5 points, and you receive 1 point for every $5 spent. After my visit I managed to rack up 13 points which I could redeem for various digital codes of newly released Sonic games or an exclusive Amy Rose costume for Sonic Superstars which sees Amy in a retro diner costume.

I’ve seen some fans online complaining about how the costume is tied to buying food from a restaurant, which is just baffling to me. The costume exists as a promotion for IHOP and the intention is to get new customers in and expand reward club memberships. Without the IHOP cross promotion there would be no retro diner DLC! The fun is in eating a Sonic themed pancake and leaving with a unique Amy Rose costume. It’s like in the early 90s when you had to buy Cookie Crisp to get a little plastic figure of Sonic standing on a skateboard.

Overall, I’d highly suggest Sonic fans run over to their local IHOP and check out the menu. It’s fun to have a Sonic infused breakfast and getting some DLC is a special treat. Here’s hoping we see more Sonic food promotions in the near future, my fingers are crossed for another Sonic movie Happy Meal this December.

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