The Original Pancake House is the Best Breakfast Offering in Milwaukee [REVIEW]

Service: 5/5

Setting: 5/5

Food: 4 / 5

Value: 4 / 5

Overall 4 ½ / 5 

2621 North Downer Avenue

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211

(414) 431-5055

Mon-Fri: 7 am-2 pm, Sat-Sun: 7am-3pm

Cuisine Type: Breakfast food

 Price per entree: $6.99-$20.99

Reservations: No

Payment: Cash and Card  

This isn’t my first rodeo with the Original Pancake House as it has been one of my personal favorite breakfast spots in Milwaukee since I moved here. The moment you step foot into the door you get that cozy cottage-like feeling especially during Christmas time when it is decorated and lit up all over. The place has a beautiful wooden interior filled with charming art all over the walls and a very welcoming group of employees. Of all the years I have dined there, I can safely say I have never had an issue with one of the employees. The managers must be very careful with who they hire as it seems like one of the requirements is to be extraordinarily nice and this is very welcome. Like I said before this wasn’t my first time at Pancake House but once again just an incredible display of kindness and enthusiasm from all of the employees. Being a former server myself, I know it can be hard to keep a smiling face the whole time but I appreciate all of the employees and their decency to treat every customer as best they can.

One thing that has turned people off in the past is how small the restaurant actually is, and it can get very cramped very quickly. In particular, when walking down the aisles, it’s so closed in that it can be difficult to get up and move around sometimes. The restaurant also fills up very quickly so if you plan on having Sunday brunch I would highly recommend calling ahead of time to see how long you wait could be as. But this is a very minor complaint and does not by any means affect the actual experience of the restaurant. Plus you hopefully won’t have to get up for any reason besides the bathroom being as the food will keep you at your seat the whole time. The food itself is absolutely fantastic and again I have yet to have a bad eating experience. Their food is made with precision and finesses to perfection in order to give each customer a memorable experience.

For me, my go-to pick is always the famous bacon and eggs ($11.99) as the eggs are always fluffy and the bacon is crispy. If you order yourself scrambled eggs then expect the egss to be exactly as scrambled and well cooked as they should be.  But of course, you can’t name yourself the Original Pancake House without having excellent assortments of pancakes. Ranging from regular buttermilk pancakes to mint chocolate chip there is a kind of pancake for everyone and at a reasonable price (between $7.99-11.99). You get 4 pancakes if you’re just ordering the pancakes and you get 3 if they’re if you choose them as a side. Of course, they also give you the option for a la carte and add other things to your meal so I personally always add another egg to my meal to make sure I have enough. Basically, you will always be satisfied with whatever you get and although I have heard a couple stories of people not enjoying their food it is a very rare occurrence. As I said before I have been there many times and have yet to have a bad dining experience.

When I think about what makes a sit-down restaurant “good” is customer service, speed, and quality of food. It’s safe to say for me that Pancake House checks out each of these boxes. By the time you sit down, you will have a server at your table ready within 5 minutes or less and as I stated before they are always very friendly. The servers will also help you decide what to get if you can’t figure it out and they all seem to be very familiar with the menu which is very helpful for more indecisive people. They take your order and it will usually take about 15-20 minutes for your food to come out which I see as a precisely perfect time frame to get your food. Occasionally when it is very busy it may take as much as 30 minutes to get your food but again this rarely happens and even on a busy day, you will still get your food in a timely manner. Then you finally get your food and get to enjoy the delicious breakfast food they have to offer and in the words of Leslie Knope of Parks and Rec “why would anybody eat anything other than breakfast food?”.