Illinois Pancakes

I spotted this on Kiplog's food blog: a recently launched blog devoted to pancakes ordered in restaurants around Illinois, named, simply

Illinois Pancakes

So far, they've visited spots in Aurora (their home base), Darien, Batavia, Downers Grove, Park Ridge, and Big Rock.

Well documented with photos and lengthy writeups.

Enjoy.

HI,

Much to my amusement, the very first post I see is for Country Cafe, which I have already visited and reported on.

It's a small world, isn't it?

Regards,

Speaking about pancakes...

A long time ago I would visit a local restaurant named George's with a little breakfast club I was in. There used to be a breakfast special called a Pancake Sandwich.

They would take ham off of the bone, a couple of eggs and sandwich it between a pair of pancakes.

The salty ham along with the sweet pancakes coupled with the runny yoke (I perfer my eggs, sunnyside up), a pat of butter and no syrup was a pretty good breakfast.

I do not see it on the menu anymore but I bet they could whip one up for me.

George's Restaurant
145 S Oak Park Ave
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 848-4949

Panther in the Den wrote:Speaking about pancakes...

A long time ago I would visit a local restaurant named George's with a little breakfast club I was in. There used to be a breakfast special called a Pancake Sandwich.

A pancake sandwich is a diner classic. You can find it in lots of diners across the country.

Hey - does George's fry up some decent cakes? Right down the street from me. Love a good pancake once in a while.

And speaking of non-traditional uses for pancakes, I was in New York last week and had a Pancake Benedict, a traditional Eggs Benedict served on buttermilk pancakes rather than English Muffin (with some asparagus, to boot). I was skeptical, but it really worked. Anyone know of a place that serves Benedict here on cakes?

And I guess the other question here is who has the best pancakes in Chicago? My favorites are the thin and chewy 49ers at Walker Bros. and just about anything at the Bongo Room.

Lucky Platter has excellent whole wheat pancakes. When I had a lot of family in town a few weeks ago, they insisted on going there for breakfast two mornings in a row.

Lucky Platter
514 Main St., Evanston
(847) 869-4064

I love the Original Pancake House (Hyde Park branch). Three caveats: they don't have evening hours, there's a 15+ minute wait on weekends, and you will need a nap after your meal.

I like the lignonberry pancakes, but it's hard to go wrong. The toppings aren't really up my alley (I prefer savories to sweets), but the pancakes are as fluffy and buttermilk-ey as you could ever want.

The omelets and the Andouille hash are also good. Avoid the cream sauces (as if I needed to tell you that).

Original Pancake House
1517 E. Hyde Park Blvd.
773-288-2322

peterc wrote:I love the Original Pancake House (Hyde Park branch). Three caveats: they don't have evening hours, there's a 15+ minute wait on weekends, and you will need a nap after your meal.

On a driving trip through the back roads Out West in the mid-1980s, my wife and I came upon the town of Liberal, Kansas, which a sign proclaimed as "The Pancake Capital of the World." So we stopped. Imagine our surprise when the menu at the place we chose (can't remember the name), and indeed the execution of the cakes actually served, turned out to be identical to those at Walker Bros. in Wilmette!

riddlemay wrote:

peterc wrote:I love the Original Pancake House (Hyde Park branch). Three caveats: they don't have evening hours, there's a 15+ minute wait on weekends, and you will need a nap after your meal.

On a driving trip through the back roads Out West in the mid-1980s, my wife and I came upon the town of Liberal, Kansas, which a sign proclaimed as "The Pancake Capital of the World." So we stopped. Imagine our surprise when the menu at the place we chose (can't remember the name), and indeed the execution of the cakes actually served, turned out to be identical to those at Walker Bros. in Wilmette!

There used to be some sort of business connection between Walker Bros and Original Pancake House. When I lived in Seattle in the late '60s, there was an Original Pancake House near Lake Union. That was the first one I ever tried.

seebee wrote:Hey - does George's fry up some decent cakes? Right down the street from me. Love a good pancake once in a while.

It has been years since I had a pancake there. Usually I get the corned beef hash with eggs on top.

The Original Pancake House on Lake Street makes some really good ones. I usually have them as a side along with my ...

originalpancakehouse.com wrote:Mushroom Omelette
Our fluffy omelette filled with fresh mushrooms and topped with a rich mushroom sherry sauce.

Another thing not to miss there is ...

originalpancakehouse.com wrote:Apple Pancake
Oven baked with fresh granny smith apples and pure Sinkiang cinnamon glaze

Big as a dinner plate and tastes great! Get it to go!

The Original Pancake House
954 Lake Street
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
(708) 524-0955

(I did not know there were so many locations!)

As a birthday treat to myself, I went to the Original Pancake House Oak Park location a few weeks ago. I have always enjoyed the Swedish Pancakes with the great slab bacon they serve. Well I wasted my money. Pancakes tasteless and overcooked. The bacon limp and undercooked. Coffee bad. Service confused. And in a place I always remember as being busy, I was one of two tables being served. Further investgation found that the building has been sold. So they appear to be coasting along until the doors close.

At any Original Pancake House or Walker Bros., I get the 49er Flapjacks. Sometimes they are great. And the other times they are better than that.

The Olde North Pancake House on North Avenue in West Chicago has pumpkin pancakes this time of year, along with pumpkin-flavored syrup.

Ooh, man. Good stuff.

Olde North Pancake House
27w751 North Ave
West Chicago

630-293-4774

Olde North - great memories of hitting this place after a wake and bake as a high schooler. Almost a pancake eating contest.

thick wrote:As a birthday treat to myself, I went to the Original Pancake House Oak Park location a few weeks ago. I have always enjoyed the Swedish Pancakes with the great slab bacon they serve. Well I wasted my money. Pancakes tasteless and overcooked. The bacon limp and undercooked. Coffee bad. Service confused. And in a place I always remember as being busy, I was one of two tables being served. Further investgation found that the building has been sold. So they appear to be coasting along until the doors close.

Very interesting.

Last week, my wife and I decided to go out for breakfast, something we rarely do these days. We hit this OHOP, and yes, it was surprisingly bad. The apple pancake came out completely underdone. So bad we sent it back. A big problem was, when we wanted to complain, we could not find anyone even close to a manager. I kinda wrote that meal off as an abberation from a generally decent (but no Walker Brother's) spot. I guess not.

An entire blog dedicated to Illinois Pancakes?! That's fantastic! Believe it or not my favorite joint to get pancakes and an endless cup of insomnia is an oldie, but in my opinion, a goodie.

Here's a familiar hint.


Golden Nugget Pancake House(s)

4229 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 777-7107
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2720 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 929-0724

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2406 W Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-8903

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3953 W Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 227-4346

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4747 N Ravenswood Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 769-6700

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3001 N Central Ave
Chicago, IL 60634
(773) 725-5510

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3234 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 267-1987



~GS

Hot-cake challenge
Local woman and boyfriend to visit all of Illinois' pancake houses

November 6, 2006
By Isaac Wolf Staff writer

Amanda Steiger, of Lemont, has a tall stack of a task ahead of her: Eat in each of Illinois' pancake houses.

"We want to get to each place in the state eventually," Steiger said. "It'll be tough."

Steiger, 24, along with her boyfriend, Joe Niemczyk, 27, of Aurora, started an online diary of their flapjack samplings in September. The couple have eaten countless breakfasts at pancake houses but so far only have chronicled eight restaurants.

"We start with the breakfast places that are close to us," Steiger said. "When we're driving, if something catches our eye, we have an excuse to stop."

Flapjack houses dot the Southland, speaking to the region's penchant for five-egg omelets and syrup-drenched hot cakes. Over lunch at Lumes Pancake House in Orland Park, the couple explained Illinosians' love affair with griddlecakes.

More at: http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/1252 ... 06.article

I've always found the buckwheat pancakes at Victory's Banner to be quite good. Although you have a somewhat cultish atmosphere to put up with when you're there!


Victory's Banner
www.happycow.net
2100 W Roscoe St
Chicago, Illinois 60618
(773) 665-0227