IHOP is offering free all-you-can-eat buttermilk pancakes as part of a limited-time promotion that began on Monday, January 5, tied to select breakfast orders.
The deal runs through March 30 and applies when customers order qualifying breakfast combos, including Chicken & Pancakes, the Steak & Egg combos, or a breakfast sampler. The offer is limited to buttermilk pancakes. Other pancake varieties, such as the chocolate chip, blueberry, or specialty varieties, are excluded.
The promotion taps into something bigger than breakfast deals: the 24-Hour IHOP Challenge, where fantasy league losers spend a day eating pancakes to reduce their time served. It’s become a staple punishment in leagues across the country. The restaurant chain is now leaning into this cultural moment by turning the punishment into a nationwide celebration.
Turning a Tough Season Into a Punchline
The promotion was recently announced through a short commercial featuring New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers. “Every year, thousands of fantasy football leagues make their last place teammate spend 24 hours in IHOP eating pancakes and IHOP wants to help,” Nabers says in the clip.
The ad also references Nabers’ abbreviated 2025–26 season. He tore his ACL in Week 4 and did not return to play. In the spot, an IHOP server and a young fan jokingly roast the star receiver for letting down their fantasy lineups, with a child famously telling him, “I wasted my first-round pick on you!”
The all-you-can-eat pancake promotion is available at participating IHOP locations nationwide. Along with the endless refills, the pancake house has brought its signature syrup caddies that were removed during the pandemic back to tables, featuring the usual four flavors: Old-Fashioned, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Butter Pecan.
January marks the tail end of fantasy football season, so the timing is far from accidental. It’s that time of the year when leagues hand out their punishments, and social media fills up with videos of players completing their IHOP sentences.
Source: People