Gary Kelbert - Creating a Great Dining Experience at IHOP

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart. And eventually, everything falls into place. This goes true for Gary Kelbert, who has been successfully running operations at IHOP, Surrey for more than two decades.

For Gary, it all started back in 1987. “I was working for Canadian Airlines when an opportunity came up to manage an IHOP restaurant with the possibility of one day owning our own restaurant. My wife and I gave it a lot of thought and decided to go for it. Back then, I started with managing the Langley IHOP for 7 years and then the Surrey location came available for ownership and we jumped at the opportunity in 1995.”

Ever since then, Gary has never looked back and has put his heart and soul in running this iconic place. He gives the credit of his success to his hard work and a great team. He said, “When opening a new restaurant, you put in a lot of long hours. 60 -100 hours a week became the norm initially. You need to rely on others and eventually hire managers to help. Most of the staff members have been here for 15 to over 28 years. They know how I like to run things; I can rely on them when I need to take time off.”

He not only appreciates the hard work and effort that his staff puts in at work; but he also lends a hand at work whenever needed. “At times it can be busy. You’re trying to get the people in as fast as possible, running to clear, wipe, and set tables, but then, there are a few moments when we are waiting for tables to become available, and I can go around filling customer coffee cups and chatting with them,” he said.