Comments on: Original Pancake House in the Gardens: Give It Time – Lots

By: Hostel Lodz

Hostel Lodz — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:28:27 +0000

Great comments guys, thanks

By: Ken Steinhoff

Ken Steinhoff — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:24:12 +0000

I saw Julie’s comment and it jogged my memory. I ate at an Original Pancake House just west of St. Louis when I went up to visit my brother in the last year.

We got there on a Sunday just before they shut down for the day. Service was fast and friendly; food was excellent and quantities were in the I-can’t-walk-after-all-that category.

When I passed the sign down here, I was hoping the St. Louis experience would transfer to FL.

Based on these reports, I think I’ll wait until I go back to St. Louis for my Original Pancake House experience.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:23:16 +0000

I have been there twice during the week around lunch time . Both times it was a disaster. Ist visit the eggs in the eggs benedict were raw with a tastless fake sauce on top, the canadian bacon was nothing but fat…Ugh!!! 2nd visit I could swear the waitress was on drugs and the whole crew didn’t seem to know what they were doing. The place is too big and spread out for this type of place.

By: Annette Jones

Annette Jones — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:44:57 +0000

Thanks for this review. I pass this place on a daily basis during the week and I never have time to stop. After seeing that Dutch baby picture and then visiting their website, I have to at least try them out.

By: Jan Norris

Jan Norris — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:38:55 +0000

Some are so mom-and-pop, and can’t afford advertising, they lose out because no one knows of them.
My writing about them gives them at least a chance.

By: ksteinhoff

ksteinhoff — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:35:50 +0000

If they came and went in less than 30 days, then why bother to write about them?

I used to use a variation of the 30-day rule when erstwhile friends (REAL friends don’t ask you to shoot their wedding) asked me to shoot their wedding.

I’d say, “OK, but you don’t get the prints until your one-year anniversary. If the marriage doesn’t last that long, then you’re not going to want them anyway.”

By: Jan Norris

Jan Norris — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:29:44 +0000

I used to follow a rule of “never before 30 days” but, a) A great many came and went in 30 days without my ever getting to try them! and
b) My readers got upset when I took so long to write about a new place and would bug me about it – so I succumbed to earlier visits, but still do recommend a wait.

This also led to conversations about: Is it fair to review a restaurant that’s been open only 3 weeks?
My response: Are they charging full price for meals — or offering a “honeymoon” discount – money off for those willing to come in while they’re still getting their “mojo working” as you say…?
That’s the fault of many restaurants: They do little to no training before they open – and wonder why they’re bashed for service…amazing to me.

By: diane

diane — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:23:36 +0000

I noticed the change to the Pancake House I am in that area almost every day and my rule of thumb is with a new restuarant is:
NEVER go there the first 40 days, always wait till they get the cobwebs worked out and their mojo starts working. this is always worked for me

By: Jan Norris

Jan Norris — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:54:57 +0000

Well, when I said I wanted to write about it, I had hoped the food and good service would be the focus. Alas…

By: ksteinhoff

ksteinhoff — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:52:29 +0000

Sounds like you had the right idea in Paragraph Two, Sentence Two: “we should have turned tail right then.”

Life is too short to put up with bad service.

(Unless you can get an easy column out of it.)