A woman called a Minnesota IHOP a ‘takeover’ for being full of customers in Somali dress, and one commenter asked if she knew she was ‘also brown’

A video of a woman describing a crowded Minnesota IHOP as a “takeover” because of Somali customers has drawn over one million views on X, sparking debate about immigration and cultural diversity, as reported by the Daily Dot. In the clip, the woman showed herself exiting the restaurant, saying she chose to leave based on the number of Somali people inside.

She mentioned wearing a “Proud to be American” hat and claimed some customers were giving her “dirty looks” because of it. Behind her, a large group of people, many wearing traditional Somali clothing, were visible inside. “There’s literally 50 plus f**** Somalians all over IHOP. I don’t understand. The entire restaurant’s full. Look, I’m not racist, but that’s a takeover,” she said.

She also claimed that two years ago there were fewer Somali people in the area than there are today. After getting into her car, she kept filming and said there were more Somali people outside, adding, “I’m surrounded.” The video does not show why the group had gathered or what the occasion was.

What people said in the comments

The video drew a range of responses. Several users pushed back on the woman’s framing. One asked, “Do you think she knows she’s also brown? Or has the conservative brainwashing made her think she’s white?” Another kept it short: “It’s the INTERNATIONAL House of Pancakes.” Others debated broader questions about immigration and cultural integration. Similar incidents have drawn comparable attention online before.

IHOP was originally named the International House of Pancakes as a nod to its globally inspired menu, which featured pancakes from different countries and cultures. It was founded in 1958 in Toluca Lake, California by brothers Al and Jerry Lapin. The name was shortened to IHOP in 1973 for marketing purposes, though both names remain officially interchangeable.

The chain is owned by Dine Brands, the same parent company that owns Applebee’s, and 99 percent of its locations are run by independent franchisees. It now operates 1,841 locations across the Americas, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Minnesota has the largest Somali immigrant community in the country, with nearly 80,000 residents.

The first wave arrived in the 1990s, fleeing a civil war that had devastated their country. Many found work at a meat-packing plant in Marshall. Minnesota author Ahmed Ismail Yusuf, who wrote the book Somalis in Minnesota, explained how the community grew. “Those people who were hired, they brought their families. And when they brought their families with them, their families of course brought their children with them,” he said.

Somali Americans have since become an established part of the state’s workforce, culture, and civic life. The identities of the people shown in the video and the circumstances surrounding the gathering could not be independently verified.