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IHOP expected to open in Riverhead next March

International House of Pancakes — better known as IHOP — is coming to Riverhead, according to a company spokesman. 

“I’m happy to confirm that an IHOP Restaurant is scheduled to open in the Riverhead, New York, area in March 2018,” spokesman Adam Korn said by email.

Its location will be the former Joe’s Crab Shack site in the Riverhead Centre shopping center. Joe’s Crab Shack opened in July 2013 and closed in September 2016.

The IHOP will seat approximately 200 guests, Mr. Korn said. The scheduled hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight on Friday at Saturday, he added.

The new restaurant will bring between 70 to 100 jobs to the community for all positions — cooks, servers, service assistants, hosts and assistant managers — and applicants may apply directly at the restaurant once construction is complete.

The closest IHOP is currently in Port Jefferson and there are at least 10 throughout Suffolk County, according to the company website.

No application to convert the Crab Shack building into an IHOP is currently on file with the town, according to chief building inspector Brad Hammond, although he said there have been inquiries from architects.

Mr. Hammond said the same is true of two other vacant buildings on County Road 58, one formerly occupied by Sports Authority, and the other being the former Waldbaum’s at Riverhead Centre.

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