lincoln square pancake house

fantastic place! gonna be a new favorite! service is fast, good is great, portions are huge, and the price is right!! can't wait to go back! i had the french toast platter. it's just basic french toast but it was some damn tasty stuff and there was enough for 2 meals easily!!

we came in on a sunday morning around 11:30 and the place was packed. it took what seemed like forever to get seated and even longer to get our food, but when we did finally get to eat we weren't dissapointed. you get a ton of food for the money and everything was great. we will be back....we just won't be starving next time we go.

i recently ordered (for delivery) the german skillet which consists of smoked sausage (i substituted sausage patties), german potato pancakes, scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese and country gravy (no to the gravy).

unless you burn them you can't really screw up on scrambled eggs - they were okay. but the sausage - all i could taste was salt!

and the potato pancakes? they did not seem like they were fresh - like they had been pre-made and frozen - and although i could taste a bit of onion, most of what i tasted was too much salt.

these to me were not so much german potato pancakes but hash brown patties. and to enhance the flavor it is customary to add things like parsley and nutmeg. finally my order included cheddar cheese on the potatoes and lots of ketchup packages (presumably for the eggs and/or the potatoes). however, german potato pancakes are traditionally and typically served with applesauce.

if you are going to serve an ethnic food (e.g., german potato pancakes) then honor that culture by using fresh and traditional ingredients. i am swedish on my mother's side and we had lots of potato pancakes when i was growing up so i know of where i speak. one other point, potato pancakes are usually larger and fewer in number than what i was served.

my order also came with toast (unexpected) - white bread which i don't eat and runny strawberry jam (i also don't eat as i am allergic to it).

i ate there one other time when they had recently opened and i had bacon on that day - it was so salty in was inedible.

there seems to be more focus on cutting costs and little concern over providing diners with quality ingredients - they could do so much better. bottom line - i probably won't eat there again. disappointing.

everything was perfect...except for the pancakes oddly enough.. i took my kids to lincoln square last sunday because it was somewhat close to the children's museum. well that was probably a mistake because it was right when the church crowd got let out. regardless, we were actually sat within 5 minutes and my waiter came over and graciously took my entire order immediately (i needed this to happen because crazy kids). although the wait felt like it took a little bit longer than usual for our food, i'm sure it was just because i was impatient with my kids. in reality, the food was out in good time.

i like the fact that they use dinosaur shape chicken nuggets because that's fun for the kids. it's odd how nobody else uses these at the other places i've been to. i got a southwest omelet which was to have chorizo as the main ingredient. this chorizo was odd in the fact that it had the consistency of sloppy joe from a can, not really what i'm used to. but otherwise it was a very flavorful skillet that i can't complain about. the one thing i could complain about was the pancake i got with my meal. this thing was dry as all get out. i wish i had an "after" picture to show you just how much this thing crumbed up on me. i've never had a pancake like before. all of the butter i put on it still didn't make it become softer. then the syrup (i'm not a syrup guy) was also of no help, just making the crumbs stickier as i cut it with my fork.

so i don't know if this was just a fluke in the recipe that day or what, but for a place that puts the word "pancake" in their name, they sure don't have good ones. maybe they should be called the lincoln square skillet house?

very fast service, great food, staff, and selection. love the greek options.

another good breakfast, but chipped beef gravy only okay.. wife and i ate here a couple of weeks ago. we've been here a couple of times already. even when it looks busy, they are able to get us seated within 10 minutes or less. we both ordered the "meat lovers skillet" and it was pretty good like most everything we've had here. however, the "chipped beef gravy" had a very strange after taste and will likely not order again. regardless, everything we've had here aside from the cb gravy has been very good! we'll be back again! pics included!

enjoy!


-----10 nov, 2013-----

very good breakfast!. had been waiting on this location to open for quite some time and heard it finally opened a few months ago. finally got a chance to swing by for breakfast and this place didn't disappoint. i had the "country lady breakfast" which is mainly a country fried steak with gravy, hashbrowns, eggs, etc. very good! wife had the "western omelette" and she loved it! they also serve chipped beef gravy which i'll try next time. our server was extremely good and checked on us just often enough. we'll be back! pics included.

outstanding food and service. come hungry the portions are big.

friendly, fast service w tasty traditional breakfast fare. you can tell its not their first rodeo. fills a niche in the near downtown market for an ihop type eatery. place was clean and airy.

wicked fast. we got really fast serve for a late saturday breakfast. plates are large! had the biscuits and gravy with 2 eggs over easy and hash browns. the eggs were jumbo. the hash browns were fantastic crispy pieces of potato and not greasy in any way. welcome to the neighborhood.