IHOP taking over Ruby Tuesday's old space in Medford, while Syosset eatery delayed
The former Ruby Tuesday location in Medford last week. An IHOP is due to open there this summer. Credit: Morgan Campbell
IHOP’s expansion on Long Island will continue into Ruby Tuesday’s old digs, while the pancake chain's restaurant planned for Syosset has been delayed.
An IHOP will open at 700 E. Patchogue Yaphank Road in Medford, in Sunshine Square, said Maria Pace, spokeswoman for Brixmor Property Group Inc., the Manhattan-based real estate company that owns the shopping center.
A Ruby Tuesday restaurant vacated the 5,800-square-foot building in November 2020 after more than 14 years there, Pace said.
A franchisee will open the IHOP in Medford this summer, said an IHOP corporate representative, who declined to provide more information about the planned eatery, including the owner’s name.
Dine Brands Global Inc., based in Glendale, California, owns the IHOP and Applebee’s restaurant brands.
There are more than 1,750 IHOP restaurants worldwide, all of which are franchises.
Of the 19 existing IHOP franchises on Long Island, four have opened in the last five years, including locations in Farmingdale and Riverhead.
"We have passionate franchisees in the Long Island area, and they are excited about expanding their local businesses in the area. We’ve worked with the franchisees to execute long-term development agreements to continue to serve the Long Island communities," the IHOP representative said.
Delay in Syosset
In November 2019, Newsday reported that IHOP franchisee Daniel Chun paid $2.5 million for a former Midas auto repair shop in Syosset that he planned to turn into an IHOP. The 5,000-square-foot building is on a half-acre lot, at 220 Jericho Tpke.
IHOP initially said that the restaurant was tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2020, but it said on Monday that the eatery will open in 2023.
The company did not answer Newsday's inquiry about why the opening has been delayed.
Chun, who operates several IHOPs on Long Island and Staten Island and in New Jersey, did not respond to Newsday's requests for comment.
A site plan application for the Syosset IHOP was submitted to the town of Oyster Bay's Planning Division in March 2020, town spokesman Brian Nevin said.
But the town issued a code violation in December 2021 for nonmaintenance of the property, for overgrown vegetation, that must be resolved before the site plan application can be referred to the town board for a public hearing, Nevin said.
The IHOP project has received all other approvals needed to refer the plans to the town board, including a town Department of Public Works approval on Jan. 3 and a no-objection letter from the New York State Department of Transportation on Dec. 16 because the property is on a state right of way, he said.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
