Albany native John Burke IHOP’s Franchisee of Year

ATLANTA — John Burke got his start with the International House of Pancakes as a teenage busboy, cleaning tables in the restaurant chain’s Albany franchise, owned at the time by his parents.

Perhaps those who have trouble believing the “fairy tale” of a dreamer starting at the bottom of an organization and working his way to the top should take a look at Burke’s story.

The Albany native and Westover High School graduate recently was named IHOP’s Franchisee of the Year at the company’s annual convention in Phoenix. He was lauded for the 10 pancake franchises he owns in the Savannah and Columbia, S.C. markets.

“It was really a great honor,” Burke said in a phone conversation from his Atlanta home. “There were a lot of quality people nominated. I feel fortunate to be part of the largest family dining company in the world. I’d been with the company’s corporate side for 25 years and decided I wanted to try it out on my own. Working with corporate was great, but I’m happy with the decision I made.”

Burke signed a football scholarship with The Citadel after graduating Westover and landed a position with IHOP shortly after earning his degree. He worked his way up to regional director with the company, overseeing franchises from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans before opting to take over the Savannah and Columbia markets.

There, he’s opened 10 successful franchises and has tentative plans to open as many as 10 more in those markets.

“This (award) was not all about me,” Burke said. “I’m fortunate to have great operators in the field, folks that I can count on. We’ve won regional awards twice before, so it was a pretty big thing to take the next step. There are 365 franchisees in the (IHOP) system, so we we were up against some tough competition.”

International House of Pancakes is part of the DineEquity corporation, which also owns the Applebee’s chain of restaurants. In all, the company owns more than 3,600 restaurants in 17 countries.

“You never know where life’s going to take you,” Burke said. “This all started for me when my parents opened the Albany IHOP in 1972. It all started right there in Albany.”