Talk about your childhood wishes — from Wonka’s Perfectly Purple Pancakes to the Scrumdiddlyumptious Strawberry Hot Chocolate, and the Dreamy Lemonade with rainbow sprinkles and a puffy pink cotton-candy cloud — you may not eat the actual dishes, but the china is about the only thing on IHOP’s new Wonka Menu that isn’t a real-life everlasting gobstopper of a kid’s dream come true!
For a special partnership with Warner Brothers Studios’ Wonka (starring Timothée Chalamet as young Wonka in an origin story prequel to the Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp versions of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opens in theaters on December 15) the kitchen at IHOP has turned into Willy Wonka’s workshop, with sprinkles, whipped cream, purple and pink frosting, shimmering gold sparkles, and a whole lot of magic pixie dust on a variety of special Wonka-themed dishes.
My friend Lisa and I giggled our way through almost the entire Wonka menu, including the aforementioned Dreamy Lemonade, a prickly-pear-flavored concoction with a cream-cheese-icing rainbow-sprinkle rim and pink cotton-candy topper that was so sinfully pretty and sweet that the only thing that might have improved it was a shot of vodka! Wonka’s Perfectly Purple Pancakes were delicious for dessert (or breakfast, in our case), made with IHOP’s famous buttermilk pancakes layered with creamy cheesecake mousse and topped with purple cream-cheese icing, whipped cream, and gold glitter sugar.
When I remarked to the State Street restaurant manager Chris Archer that I was getting serious kid’s birthday party vibes, he shared that they’ve been getting lots of requests. Other special menu treats include Hoverchoc Pancake Tacos, which are silver-dollar chocolate pancakes served taco-style and filled with chocolate chips, creamy cheesecake mousse, fresh sliced strawberries, and a chocolate drizzle, not to mention enough extra strawberries on the side to make Violet Beauregarde declare this dish a winner. There’s also the Daydream Berry Biscuit, filled with creamy cheesecake mousse and topped with mixed berries, purple cream-cheese icing, and powdered sugar, as well as Willy’s Jr. French Toast Dippers, made with sliced French toast with a side of strawberries, banana, and chocolate dipping sauce.
If you’re sensing a sweet theme, you’re right — it is based on the Chocolate Factory, after all — but on the more savory side, there is also the Jr. Magical Breakfast Medley, which features another Perfectly Purple Pancake, a scrambled egg, a bacon strip, and a sausage link, as well as the Fantastical Wonka Burger, a 100 percent USDA Choice Black Angus beef steak burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, four-cheese blend, avocado, bacon, fried hash browns, IHOP sauce, and a ranch drizzle on a brioche bun. It even comes with your choice of French fries, onion rings, seasonal fresh fruit, buttermilk pancakes, or a side salad.
It’s hard not to feel a bit like Veruca Salt (“I want it now!”) surrounded by so much colorful temptation, and the IHOP folks have made this golden ticket even more enticing for families with a dine-in-only offer that for the duration of the Wonka Menu partnership (through January 7), kids 12 and under can eat their favorite Wonka menu item for free from 4-10 p.m. with the purchase of an adult entrée.
If Wonka-inspired unicorns and rainbows aren’t your favorite flavors, don’t despair. This is not the first, nor last, movie menu tie-in for IHOP, said Regional Marketing Manager Sarah Evans. “In the past, we’ve done tie-in menus with Ant-Man and The Wasp, Minions, and other films. We have a new movie tie-in menu launching next spring, which I believe will be announced sometime in April, and another planned for the holiday season 2024.”
IHOP Santa Barbara, 1701 State St.; IHOP Goleta, 7127 Hollister Ave.; IHOP Carpinteria, 1114 Casitas Pass Rd.
