Pancake Circus

Review by: Erika & Jon

When we first drove past the sign for Pancake Circus, we were disappointed. The sign clearly stated breakfast, lunch and dinner, but at 6pm the place was deserted. But further research, and a trip for breakfast, clarified the issue: Pancake Circus does indeed serve lunch and dinner; it simply closes at 3pm every day.

The sign does not disappoint. As we waited briefly for our seats, we noticed that the circus motif – clowns, balloons, and more clowns – runs throughout the restaurant. The restaurant itself is quite large; the lengthy counter is filled with locals, and the booths are well-worn. The staff is efficient and very polite. Our food arrived within minutes of our seating, and my coffee cup was never empty. We also appreciated the helpfulness of the staff, particularly when one of us mistakenly ordered from the discounted senior citizen section of the menu.

As you might guess, the specialty here is pancakes. Nearly all of the main breakfast options are either centered around pancakes (such as the pancake sandwich, which consists of three pancakes with eggs and bacon/sausage between the cakes) or come with four of them on the side (you can substitute toast and hash browns in place of the pancakes). The pancakes are worth the visit: plate-size behemoths that manage to remain light and fluffy with just the hint of buttermilk. Other offerings are good but not quite notable. The pecan waffle, while loaded with pecans both inside and on top, is slightly crispy and very thin. Lacking much porky flavor, the bacon and sausage are both greasy. We also managed a breakfast faux pas: we somehow managed not to order hash browns, which passed us on the way to another table, and looked like a perfectly golden-brown version of the shredded potato variety.

The large menu at Pancake Circus also includes biscuits and gravy, burgers, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, and pork chops. We’ll return for the pancakes, and we suspect that Pancake Circus may be better suited to serving our breakfast needs than our lunch/dinner needs. However, given the number of locals that frequent this place, we’ll certainly give the other meals a chance.

What To Eat

Pancakes

DISH
Waffle

DISH
Sausage

DISH

Pancake Circus Recipes

Discuss

What do you think of Pancake Circus?

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