Photo by Maggie Vaughn
The Original Pancake House is a national franchise whose East Side location is a popular breakfast spot in our city. It’s worth pointing out that you can get breakfast all day, everyday. This is a plus for someone who misses the breakfast mark by five minutes and had their taste buds anticipating fluffy pancakes.
The OPH has a unique menu that gained national acclaim for their signature ethnic pancakes and with the first bites you can see what all the fuss is about. The Apple Pancake ($10.95) is oven baked and made with fresh granny smith apples, butter, sugar and Sinkiang (a good-quality Chinese cinnamon with loads of flavor) that create a warm glaze. The delicious smell of apple pie wafted up from the kitchen as soon as it came out of the oven and heads turned as it was paraded to our table.
Two other favorites under the signature items included the Dutch Baby ($10.45) a soufflé-like baked pancake that is as delicious as it is impressive to look at. Smear it with whipped butter, sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar and add a squeeze of lemon for an indulgent treat that is light and airy. The cherry Kijafa crêpes ($10.45) filled with poached tart cherries in a kijafa wine (Danish sweet wine) are heavenly. The crêpes may have been a little thick, but were still light and housed the plump cherries.
If you are looking for pancakes, you are in luck with 15 varieties ($5.95-$10.45) to choose from, including potato pancakes served with sour cream and applesauce; Swedish pancakes (lacey thin square pancakes) filled with lingonberries; and other choices such as Hawaiian, bacon and chocolate chip. There are also seven varieties of waffles ($5.45-$9.45) with house-made batter and cooked to a golden brown. The OPH offers homemade syrups of strawberry, blueberry, apple and tropical, which are a nice complement to the waffles and pancakes and are served with a high-grade whipped butter.
There is a gluten-“friendly,” not gluten-free, option in both pancakes and the waffles. “Gluten friendly” means they use gluten-free batter, but the pancakes (or waffles) are cooked on the same griddle as the other non-gluten-free varieties.
The eggs benedict ($9.95) was served with a light Hollandaise sauce with the perfect balance of acid, but the eggs were a little overdone so be sure to ask for them to be poached easy; the dish is served with fresh home-fried potatoes. A vegetarian version with spinach and tomato is offered for an extra charge. There are many options of omelets and egg dishes ($9-$12) to choose from, all good-size portions with fresh ingredients and cooked well. The fiesta and Mediterranean omelets were two favorites and were filled with fresh vegetables and cheese. The OPH also has a nice lineup of side dishes, including turkey sausage patties ($4.95) that were seasoned well and the thick-sliced bacon ($5.95) weighs in at half a pound for four slices.
OPH started as a family business built on generations of hard work and has maintained its high standards and ingredients since 1953. The OPH on Downer Avenue is no exception and is one of the city’s gems for breakfast no matter what time of day. It’s open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The Original Pancake House
2621 N. Downer Ave.
414-431-5055
$$
Handicap access: Yes
