When I heard we were having breakfast at the Original Pancake House, um, this news was the opposite of good. Come again? This was the moment the driver told the truth about the behavior in which I was behaving. “Why are you such a food snob?” This question has an answer. The answer is actually reasonable and believable. Pinky swear in the air.
Growing up in South Carolina was great. Really. I mean, sure, people drove around town with Confederate flags attached to mud-dogging trucks, but home is where the heart is. We all ate at Shoney’s breakfast bar on the weekends without hesitation. This was all fine and dandy until grease squirted on my face. The food was actually a super-duper disgusting explosion of none other than grease. Understanding the nastiness most breakfast-restaurant-chains contain, who could blame anyone for being a breakfast-restaurant-chain food snob?
The Original Pancake House lecture immediately began. “Do you realize how great the Original Pancake House is compared to most chains? Why are you judging this place just because it is a breakfast-restaurant-chain? This place is original.” This caused a frown like Charlie Brown. Like when Charlie Brown misses every single time he tries to kick the football, then Lucy laughs uncontrollably at his repeated failure. Inside my body was a deep, snobby, lonely restaurant-judgment feeling, which was fortunately short-lived.
After pretending to be sorry for sixteen seconds, since I still wasn’t buying what he was selling, we entered the pretend-original chain restaurant. Is it possible to be original while still being a massive chain restaurant? Probably depends who you ask, right? No one likes to be prejudged. At least no one in our car that fateful day.
We were handed a buzzer while the friendly hostess quickly promised it would buzz soon. Something felt different about this place. Things seemed clean mixed with a possible health vibe. Could there be not one single health violation? People beside us were happily eating the most gigantic pancake probably in Dallas and the surrounding areas. Pancakes were hanging from every edge of the biggest pancake plate possibly possible.
I ordered a mushroom omelette while minimally begging for it to be healthy, along with a side of fruit. Even if I had not attended Le Cordon Bleu, I do know this omelette was beyond a necessary level of fluffy. Maybe, just maybe, it was the fluffiest omelette I’ve ever eaten. Cutting this breakfast win in half confirmed its fluffiness. Customers who love fluffy will hear choirs singing from the heavens with fluffy-joy because this seriously contained all kinds of fluff.
Not to be an omelette-downer, but the Original Pancake House omelette was over-cooked from the teaching standards of Le Cordon Bleu. Please do not disagree because my chef-teachers know all about the almighty omelette. True story.
The others ordered regular pancakes, instead of gigantic pancakes, because their pancakes fit inside the boundary of the plate area holding each pancake order. They even had room for eggs and sausage.
Times have changed since eating at the almost Original Pancake House. There’s a lesson to be learned from eating at a breakfast-restaurant-chain after all these years. Relax and leave your food snob in the car. Enjoy your table mates & have a nice day.
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Original Pancake House
4343 W Northwest Hwy
Ste 375
Dallas, TX 75220
United States
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